Canada鈥檚 first Truth and Reconciliation Day is Thursday, Sept. 30, and many people 鈥� including members of the Lower Similkameen Indian Band 鈥� are wondering what the day is supposed to mean.

The Similkameen Review reached out to Chief Keith Crow to speak with him and how he is approaching the government鈥檚 new holiday.

鈥淚鈥檝e been getting asked by a lot of people, 鈥榃ell what does this actually mean?鈥� and honestly, I haven鈥檛 been able to give them an answer,鈥� said Crow.

鈥淚鈥檝e been getting different government agents calling me and asking what they鈥檙e supposed to be doing.鈥�

The federal government announced shortly before the election that Sept. 30, would become the new statutory holiday.

Little direction or conversations were provided by the government following that announcement on how the holiday should be observed, which is leading to many questions. Even within the LSIB, there are different views between different people on the day as well as on Truth and Reconciliation itself.

Many of those questions have arisen from the national conversations that contributed to the holiday declaration following the Indigenous children鈥檚 graves that were discovered this year.

鈥淭hink about Thanksgiving. There are so many different aspects to what Thanksgiving actually is but in my family, we鈥檙e thankful for what we have, where we are and what family we鈥檙e with and that鈥檚 how we celebrate it,鈥� said Crow.

鈥淗ow do you celebrate a Truth and Reconciliation Day? How do you celebrate the death of all these children that died in residential schools, how do you celebrate that?

鈥淚t鈥檚 like Remembrance Day almost, which is thanking the ones that gave us the freedom that we have, but how do we do that with the death of children?鈥�

Crow spoke on how he personally felt disappointed with exactly how the holiday came about and its timing, and the lack of substance around the government鈥檚 part in what is supposed to bring awareness.

鈥淚鈥檓 speaking personally here, not for my community, it鈥檚 hard. It鈥檚 a hard discussion,鈥� said Crow. 鈥淔or me, there has to be education behind it.

鈥淚t鈥檚 difficult, because if you want people to know the truth, then the proper education has to be out there to understand what it means, and right now, a lot of people can鈥檛 handle that conversation.

One example of a conversation that Crow had with a member of the government looking for guidance highlights the lack of knowledge and understanding of the knowledge behind the government鈥檚 reasoning for the holiday, particularly for the events and the around the residential school system that only officially closed in 1996.

鈥淚 told the one guy, go be with your kids. I want you to think about this; imagine being told that you had to put your kids on this truck, to ship your kids away to a school where you know they are going to be abused and they may not come home, and you don鈥檛 have an option. And if you say no you鈥檒l be arrested. He couldn鈥檛 think of it.鈥�

Going forward, Crow expressed his hope that there is more than just a single day, and that more education will lead to actual truth and reconciliation beyond a single holiday.

鈥淪tep up to the plate government, how are you going to right your wrongs,鈥� said Crow.

鈥淭ruth and Reconciliation is an action, it鈥檚 not a day off.鈥�

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