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piizunn · 7 months

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september 30th, 2023

People who are not First Nations, Métis, or Inuit will never know the sickening feeling of finding out the playground you used to go to is the site of a former residential school, a school still in use by the town of Fort Smith, NWT.

fig. 1. Joseph Burr Tyrrell Elementary School in Fort Smith. Sarah Pruys/Cabin Radio.

First, I’d like to make clear that to my knowledge none of my my immediate family members are residential school survivors, I share community and space with many people who are and I personally attended the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and I will only be speaking on my own experiences. I descend from 7 historic Métis Otipemisiwak families by the names of Berthelet, Caron, St. Germain, Larivière, Dazé, Dubois, and Boudreau, who come from the historic Red River Settlement and Batoche. I come from Amiskwaciywâskahikan, Treaty 6 and I now make my home in Mohkinstsis on Treaty 7 land. I introduce myself in this traditional way of the Métis Otipemisiwak to contextualize my knowledge and experiences, honour my family, and situate myself on this land and in this conversation.

Today is Orange Shirt Day, a day that honours Phyllis Webstad, member of Stswecem’c Xgat’tem First Nation (Canoe Creek Indian Band), and survivor of the Residential School system. Her story is what has inspired this national day of honour and action. Beyond wearing orange I would like non-Indigenous settlers to really consider the history around them and the experiences of survivors and those who lost their lives. I would like you to physically step up for us, be there for us when we are being beaten down, sit with Elders and listen to their stories, learn about their joy as well their pain.

I attended Grandin School, an elementary school in Amiskwaciywâskahikan (Edmonton, Alberta) before it was renamed to Holy Child. For anyone outside of the area I will describe it; the school is over one hundred years old in a historic neighbourhood. Near the school is an LRT station underground and on one side of the platform was a large mural depicting Bishop Grandin, a nun holding a native child, an Indigenous family at camp, and a residential school. Based on the fact that Bishop Grandin spent time working in Saint-Boniface of the Red River Settlement, Fort Chipewyan in what is now Alberta, and Île-à-la-Crosse in what is now Saskatchewan, it can be assumed that the family is either First Nations or Métis, however it must not be forgotten that the Inuit of the north also suffered these institutions.

A quote from Bishop Vital Grandin haunts me to this day, more now than ever.

“We instil in them a pronounced distaste for the native life so that they will be humiliated when reminded of their origin. When they graduate from our institutions, the children have lost everything Native except their blood.”

- Bishop Vital Grandin, 1875

Fig. 2. “A mural depicting Bishop Grandin at an Indian Residential School is located at the Grandin LRT Station in Edmonton.” Image courtesy of Jake Cardinal and Alberta Native News.

I remember teachers taking us to the Is platform to sse the murals but it was not a critical conversation they were very much pro church and viewed residential schools from a sinister paternalistic perspective.

The mural was eventually covered up but the narrative in grandin elementary was that they were "helping native families. I remember inside the school by the main stairwell there was a portrait of Old Grandin and it was literally so scary to me hated walking past it so much I would sprint up the stairs whenever I walked past him alone.

I attended the seventh and final Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s national event in March of 2014, at the end of one of the days I was there I took the train to see my old elementary school, to see the mural and to really consider what I had been taught in school versus what my community and family has taught me. Again, none of my direct family are residential school survivors but many Métis are and this history is often hidden. Prayers up and tobacco down for every single survivors, living and in spirit form.

Fig. 3. The mural depicting Bishop Vital-Justin Grandin at an Edmonton LRT Station was covered in orange Tuesday, June 8, 2021. Kirby Bourne, Global News

First Nations, Métis, and Inuit have been talking about their family members who did not come home and the abuse they experienced. This is not new information, and you have to sit and listen no matter how uncomfortable you are because nothing is more uncomfortable than colonial violence. When news came out about the children of Kamloops in 2021 it was devastating how many people I knew personally that were completely ignorant of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and the history of residential schools. What happened in these institutions are absolute atrocities many people would rather not face even the knowledge of what happened to these children, both alive and passed on. Like the survivors, the perpetrators of these horrors live on and have never been held accountable.

Continue to honour your community, stand up and show up for First Nations, Métis, and Inuit. Learn about the history of settler-colonial occupation of this land and how you yourself are directly benefitting from this ongoing genocide. Residential school survivors and the children who never came home are in your community; they are the kind kokum down the hall as well as the middle aged man living on the street, their children young adults, teenagers, kids, babies, they still carry these experiences and memory down to the atoms that make up each of their cells.

works cited

Bourne, Kirby. ‘Mural at old Grandin LRT Station to be removed this fall,’ September 23rd, 2021, Global News.

Cardinal, Jake. ‘Edmonton Paints Over The Grandin Mural’, Alberta Native News, June 10th, 2021.

Grandin, Vital-Justin. On the goal of residential schools, 1875.

Pruys, Sarah. ‘MLA calls for new Fort Smith schools, citing residential school legacy’. Cabin Radio, March 5th, 2023.

Webstad, Phyllis Jack. Phyllis’ Story In Her Own Words, OrangeShirtDay.Org

#my heart is there for all survivors and families that lost their babies #truly heartbreaking stuff #truth and reconciliation #orange shirt day #riel text #Indigenous #heavy day

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lars-canyon · 17 days

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youtube

GGST – 03-22-24 – LeonaDX (Sol) vs VoidActress [Ramlethal]

Heavy Day on Tír na nÓg

[ submitted by @directivexero ]

#ggst #sol badguy #ramlethal valentine #heavy day #tir na nog #match footage #submission #Youtube

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es-r-aa7 · 6 months

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‏صباح الخير لكُل الأشياء التي لازالت تسير في صالحنا ولازالت باقية وصامدة بالرغم من تعثرنا. : )))

#mine #heavy day

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grippysockedtoebeans · 22 days

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Sometimes everything just feels heavy, and you have to pretend you don't exist for a day.

#mental health #mental illness #depression #clinical depression #heavy day

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lastofthemessengers · 1 year

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10 am and it's one of those days

#audio #heavy day #guilty gear xrd #Spotify

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defleftist · 2 years

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Some days are heavier than others, that’s okay. Give yourself grace to rest when needed, cry when needed, and laugh at the mess of the world when needed.

#leftist #leftblr #mental health matters #mental health counseling #counselor #counseling #therapy #therapist #therapy is cool #mental health #mental illness #rest #relaxation #heavy day #gun violence #us gun violence #black lives matter #blm #racism

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fatimahere · 6 months

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"What if I never forget you? What if, all my life, when I meet someone new, I can never fall for them because they aren't you?"

#poetry #sunset #autumn #vintage #vibes #heavy day

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redeyeflyguy · 8 months

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Wonderful Things That May or May Not Be Wonderful!!! There are many fighting games but there aren't many like Guilty Gear Xrd. When it was shown off, it wowed audiences with its awesome anime art style that replicated the look and feel of 2-d sprites but allowed for all the versatility of 3-d models and space. It may have set the bar for fighting game visual styles going forward but woe be to the onlooker who thinks Xrd is just a pretty face. This is THE anime fighting game. Variety is the spice of life and the smell of the game. There are a slew of characters to choose from each completely different from one another and packing a slew of attacks and special moves to pound faces in. On top of that are plenty of universal mechanics and options like combo breaking bursts, faultless defense, and the trademark Roman Cancel meaning that no matter who or how you play, you always have a way to strike back. And that is just the tip of the iceberg for this fast and flashy fighter. The best set of tutorials ever, the best soundtrack ever, an arcade mode where every character has exclusive cutscenes, a story mode that is essentially a built-in anime movie, unlockables, fishing, this game has everything a fan of multiplayer punch em' up games could ever want (except stable netcode and an english dub). One of my favorite fighting games and 100% wonderful to boot. Heaven or hell? Doesn't matter. Let's rock!

P.S. Rev2 is the best version hands down. If you are interested, get that one.

P.P.S. My main is Axl Low with Sol Badguy and Raven on the side.

P.P.P.S. The first version "Sign" actually has an English Dub but aside from one or two of the stages, that version is completely inferior to "Revelator" and "Rev2" and its version of the Story Mode is available for free on Youtube.

P.P.P.P.S. Yes, these names are weird. It's an anime game. It comes with the territory.

P.P.P.P.P.S. The game is called "Xrd" because there were games before called "X" and "XX". "Xrd" is simply a combination of "X" and "Third". Beats the alternative right?

P.P.P.P.P.P.S. Should I stop these extended P.S. sections? This is getting ridiculous.

P.P.P.P.P.P.P.S. I think I've beaten my record now. PETE TOWNSHEND!!!

P.P.P.P.P.P.P.P.S. Guilty Gear Strive is also wonderful and deserves its own post. Actually, it deserves more than that but I'll get to it when I get to it.