APTN National News
OTTAWA — Under cloudy skies and cool temperatures, thousands of people joined residential school survivors and their families in a walk from Gatineau, Que., to Ottawa’s city hall.
People drummed, sang, held hands and carried signs of apology during the walk.
On the sidewalks along the route, people applauded.
The walkers crossed the Ottawa river, passed the Parliament Hill before gathering outside Ottawa’s city hall for speeches from Truth and Reconciliation Commissioner Murray Sinclair and other dignitaries.
The final TRC event officially begins tomorrow at a downtown Ottawa hotel.
In keeping with other national events, there will be sharing circles and other areas where survivors can share their stories.
On Tuesday, the three TRC Commissioners will issue their final report detailing what they heard from thousands of survivors and read from school documents from across the country.
The report is expected to reflect many of the findings from the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples which issued its report in the 1990’s.
150,000 First Nation, Metis and Inuit children were taken from their homes starting late in the 1800’s and sent to residential schools, at times, thousands of kilometres from home.
The last school closed in Saskatchewan in 1996.
Thousands of children died in the schools.
They were buried on school grounds and never returned home.
