National Day for Truth and Reconciliation marked in Pembroke

Friday, Sept. 30th was the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation in Canada, a day to honour the children who never returned home and the survivors of residential schools, as well as their families and communities.

To mark the day, Family and Children’s Services of Renfrew County and The Circle of Turtle Lodge held a bannock and drink drop-in and ribbon cutting ceremony at the Waka-ehi  Lodge on Isabella Street in Pembroke. This was followed by the placing of shoes and drumming ceremony at Saint Jean Baptiste Roman Catholic Church at 2:30 p.m. and a community walk to the Pembroke marina where a candlelight vigil was held.

Earlier in the day, the City of Pembroke partnered with The Circle of Turtle Lodge and Algonquin College to present the “KAIROS Blanket Exercise.” The Blanket Exercise is based on Indigenous methodologies and the goal is to build understanding about the shared history of Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples in Canada by walking through pre-contact, treaty-making, colonization and resistance.