How to talk to children about residential schools and the 215 Indigenous children found buried in mass grave
After the horrifying discovery of the remains of 215 Indigenous children in British Columbia last week, many parents across the country are struggling with how to talk to their children about it.
First Nation leaders in Waterloo Region say it's important to keep the conversation age appropriate.
Amye Annett-Werner, of Six Nations of the Grand River Territory and member of the Cayuga Nation, Wolf Clan, says she eased her children into the discussion before attending a memorial in Brantford.
"It was a very heavy experience, to see that, to be there, to place it," she said. "We had a discussion and I asked them how they were feeling and we came up with some solutions of what we could do as a family to honour the memory of the children, their families and their communities."
For elders at Anishnabeg Outreach, the trauma of Canada's residential school system is an all-too-familiar household conversation.
"It isn't just surviving, it's, it's blood memory. Residential school is a blood memory from the beginning," said spiritual healer Shkaabaawis Sagassige Giizis.
Holistic consultant Jane Burning says the grim discovery is a reminder of family trauma.
"They have not found the words to be able to share with their children about what has happened yet," she said.
Burning hopes education and open conversation can lead to a better understanding between the two cultures going forward.
"We can learn from them about that connection and for these children not to focus on the trauma and the pain and the injustice but to see how we can connect as a whole and become something more," she said.
For Annett-Werner, experiencing the Brantford memorial helped her family come to terms with the grief.
"Anger, sadness, everything, everything just different waves of it," she said. "It's something that my parents didn’t have a choice to tell me either. What I would ask people is to step out of that privilege of not having the choice and to sit down with their kids."
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'My family doctor just fired me': Ontario patients frustrated with de-rostering
Dozens of Ontarians are expressing frustration in the province’s health-care system after their family doctors either dropped them as patients or threatened to after they sought urgent care elsewhere.
An apartment block collapses in a Russian border city after heavy shelling, injuring over a dozen
An apartment block partially collapsed in the Russian border city of Belgorod on Sunday, leaving at least 19 injured. Officials blamed Ukrainian shelling and said there were also likely deaths.
'Reimagining Mother's Day': Toronto woman creates Motherless Day event after losing mom
Mother's Day can be a difficult occasion for those who have lost or are estranged from their mom.
Millions of Canadians have been exposed to potentially toxic chemicals, and they're not going anywhere
For decades, North Bay, Ontario's water supply has harboured chemicals associated with liver and developmental issues, cancer and complications with pregnancy. It's far from the only city with that problem.
Flash floods and cold lava flow hit Indonesia's Sumatra island. At least 37 people were killed
Heavy rains and torrents of cold lava and mud flowing down a volcano's slopes on Indonesia’s Sumatra island triggered flash floods that killed at least 37 people and more than a dozen others were missing, officials said Sunday.
Swiss fans get ready to welcome Eurovision winner Nemo back home
Swiss Eurovision fans were getting ready Sunday to give a hero's welcome to singer Nemo, who won the 68th Eurovision Song Contest with "The Code," an operatic pop-rap ode to the singer’s journey toward embracing a nongender identity.
Canada Post cracks down on Nunavut loophole to get free Amazon Prime shipping
Amazon's paid subscription service provides free delivery for online shopping across Canada except for remote locations, the company said in an email. While customers in Iqaluit qualify for the offer, all other communities in Nunavut are excluded.
'It was violent': Police tear down U of A pro-Palestinian encampment Saturday morning
Multiple people at the protest camp torn down at the University of Alberta campus Saturday say police's actions against protesters were "violent" and "disproportionate."
Michael Cohen: A challenging star witness in Donald Trump's hush money trial
He once said he would take a bullet for Donald Trump. Now Michael Cohen is prosecutors' biggest piece of legal ammunition in the former president's hush money trial.