By Maisha Hasan, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Grandmother’s Voice and its collaborative partners will host a walk at Bronte Creek Provincial Park on September 30 from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. in recognition of the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. The gathering will honour residential school survivors and remember the children who never returned home.
September 30 is also Orange Shirt Day, a grassroots, Indigenous-led initiative that began in 2013, while the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation was established in response to Call to Action 80 of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada.
Grandmother’s Voice is an Indigenous organization based in the Halton area that aims to amplify Indigenous voices and ancestral insights while fostering healing and unity. Their services focus on cultural and regional practices that share Indigenous knowledge and support wellness.
Jody Harbour is a co-founder of Grandmother’s Voice and shared more information about “A Walk To Remember The Children” and the importance of the event for the urban Indigenous community. Answers lightly edited for flow and clarity.
Grandmother’s Voice first held a walk in 2021. What does it mean to continue leading this gathering five years later?
Our first walk was back in 2021 when we hosted the residential school survivors of the Mohawk Village Memorial Park — these are the residential school survivors of the Mohawk Indian Residential School (the “Mush Hole”), now known as the Woodland Cultural Centre. Back then, we had several hundred people attend.
We are the only urban Indigenous-led organization in the region, which we created to fill a gap of having no urban Indigenous centre for the gathering of urban Indigenous people, including those who may not have a connection to their homelands or nations. It is important that we are seen in our community because for decades, we have been unseen, invisible even. And we need to lead this work of gathering the people; the Elders say it is a part of the healing process and liberation.
Why is it important for the broader community to participate in events like this?
To be continuing the work five years later shows our commitment to reconciliation and to inviting the community to grow with us, learn and understand what it means to heal together. The Elders have taught us that the healing is for everyone; we have all been affected by the genocide. Truly, it has taken over 10 years for society to really understand what reconciliation means as well as learning about the history and then what to do with it when you know. We have created that space and event for people to take part in, no matter how much they know or don’t know.
In the past, when people have joined our walks, they expressed their emotions and need for being in community to walk alongside the Indigenous community while we too learn about the past harms that affected our families. This walk provides that safe space for them to be vulnerable, feeling welcome while not having to speak or apologize or do anything more than show up.
Many get stuck in the space of “What do I do, where do I go, how do I ask?” This is why Grandmother’s Voice was created, to fill that void.
The event begins with a ceremony followed by a reflective walk. What can people expect, and what is the significance of gathering in this way?
The children are at the centre of it.
We are so honoured that some of the schools have registered again [to participate]. The children are inside the circle, and the rest of the community creates a circle around them.
We have been guided by traditional Elders, Knowledge Keepers, and urban Indigenous community members who have a connection to their homeland communities. They have guided us on how to do round dances, drumming and singing, ceremony, and how to transfer knowledge without appropriating ceremonies that would take place within traditional communities. The significance of Grandmother’s Voice being at the centre of September 30 in our community is that it creates unity for all people. True reconciliation is the people leading this.
The ceremony always begins by inviting the guests to turn off their phones and connect to the natural world around them: the grass and land under their feet, the sun, the birds singing, the people around them. It also includes a Thanksgiving Address. We offer words about reconciliation and how important it is to return to a community in a circle like this. We offer the medicine of tobacco, and people can offer it to the sacred fire or hold it and offer it onto the land as we walk together.
We will have a path that the Bronte Creek team chose for us to walk together. And then we will return, and everyone usually greets each other, mingles, has a snack, and then makes their way on.
The ceremony brings everyone together and creates the energy and intention of sending gratitude and love to the children who never returned home from residential school and to their families. And to the children and families who survived.
Members of Grandmother’s Voice will share words, songs and teachings.
We have many confirmed guests, including multiple elected officials, who never ask for a place to share words; they just show up as a community wanting to support our collective vision for unity and healing.
I am also honoured to say that many front-line organizations that operate within the Halton region join us. Some organizations have sent their whole team. That is so meaningful to us. Being in relationship with Grandmother’s Voice and showing up like this exemplifies their desire to support the urban Indigenous people in our region the best they can. This is so important as some urban Indigenous people themselves are “still finding their way home,” as the Grandmothers say.
This year, I am also very happy to have some larger local corporations who have contributed to the walk by engaging Grandmother’s Voice in professional development opportunities as their call to action. This is something Grandmother’s Voice has done: engage the local business sector to have a better understanding of what is happening in the community their offices are in. Getting them involved and aware of the local community really creates an understanding of urban Indigenous people and their needs.
For more information on the event and Grandmother’s Voice, visit their website.
