Envision the New World you want to see after this is over

~

I wrote this “The ideal world” way back on May 2, 2013 and it’s interesting as we go through this lockdown and I do ceremony and pray regularly that this is pretty much what I have been praying about for our new world.

 

This now feels even stronger than ever as this pandemic has exposed the inequalities that many turned a blind eye to and so no one can stay in denial anymore and there’s this enormous opportunity for us all to envision what we want in the new world when this is all done.

 

The ideal world I see is one where people live in harmony – which each other and all creatures, honouring the earth, honouring each other.

 

A place where people openly care for one another and don’t hesitate to show it… and all are supported in the community regardless.

 

A place where all people have access to the basics of life – safe, clean, good water and healthy safe non-gmo food, safe good raw dairy, safe clean air, good, affordable housing… and access to a good affordable or free education.

 

A world where there is acceptance and tolerance and all people are free to express who they are, however they want to… in myriad forms of creative self expression.

 

A world where there is no such thing as war or abuse – no verbal, mental, emotional, spiritual, ritual or sexual abuse.

 

A world where people don’t value money and appearance as being so important. Where people are real and don’t wear masks and/or play games.

 

Where religion is moot. Where no one even thinks to see the colour of a person’s skin. A world wherein all people are celebrated for who they are; our differences and our diversity embraced and valued for keeping life interesting, our world varied, and recognizing that honouring everyone’s inherent gifts and sharing them with the world, makes us stronger.

 

A world where people grow old holding on to a beginner’s mind – always open to learning and carrying the wisdom that each person on the planet has something unique that only they can teach and share and being open to learning from one another.

 

A world like this to me… would be bringing the concept of heaven on earth, into being. If I lived in this kind of world, I wouldn’t often feel the longing to go home to spirit… to the oneness of creation… to my pure self… as I do now.

 

I’d already be living out my soul purpose, living in my spirit self every day, enjoying and acknowledging the pure spirit self of my fellow human beings too… as we celebrate life and beingness; the gift of living in a body and all that offers us, each and every day together… honouring mother earth and enjoying nature and the precious sacredness that this life is.

~

I am happy to say seven years later I do feel I am living my soul purpose now more than ever before in the healing work I do, the circles I host and the Compassionate Inquiry counselling I offer.

 

Also, I don’t long to go Home to Creator as much as I did most of my life but if we go back to the old world that was called normal but was anything but, I definitely don’t see myself in that world so something big will be changing and if that’s me passing then so be it.

jan 13 2020 #poetry #truth #healing #indigenous #colonization #storytelling #idlenomore

~

the sun swallows a comet

metal snakes scar our land

carrying toxic oil

from tar sands

against our will

any day now can spill

world leaders enraged

children encaged

bush n wild fires rage

homeless ignored

innocent die thousands more

we gotta even the score

between the 99 and the 1 percent

can’t pay the rent

inter-generational systems of colonial entrapment

gotta end the stifling silence

systemic violence

our women and girls stolen every day

we gotta find a way

speak your truth

shine a light in the darkest places

reality is proof

people have to face our truths

Indigenous ways our sole defence

nothing can ever fully compense

what we’ve lived through

but this is what we can do

tell it like it is

tell it like it was

raise awareness

causing a buzz

because we cannot stop

what people do not know

sharing our stories

gives us hope

helps us heal

and is a way to grow

aug 25 2018 #micropoetry #vss

sky has cleared
no more bitter tears
shed in colonized fields
of bison remains
settler games
political aims
genocidal frames
cdn govt maims
via survivor claims
human traffickings
child apprehension
starvation
toxic water
these are just a few
of their favourite things

juxtaposition #poetry

the juxtaposition
of a privileged white male
cranking his celtic music
and opening his car doors
in response to my drumming
on the same spot I’ve drummed for years
in prayers and in ceremony
for my people
for our world
including people like him
and how his colonial mind
just couldn’t seem to grasp
it wasn’t a competition
and after a half an hour
him backing up his car way back
to have a real good look
before leaving me
in a cloud of his pot smoke
and the drumming continued
and the winds picked up
and spoke to me
the sky opened
and I received validation
my prayers were heard
with a soothing hug
like a gentle rain
on a parched desert

Series of #Haiku on #TRC #HonourTheApology #IndianResidentialSchools #micropoetry #vss

.

exposing old truths

words long hidden; on paper

colonial crimes – public

~

truths written in blood

of those that never came home

may their souls find peace

~

many documents

honouring survivors’ truths

but millions held back

~

hear their voices; truths

indelibly imprinted

on hearts who read them

~

on hearts that hear them

hearts that feel their painful truths

honour survivors

~

may there be healing

honour these truths being shared now

know there are more truths

~

survivor prayers

when creator knows it’s time

more truths will be shared

~

thank you for your truths

peace/love to those that survived

and those that did not

~

may the cycle end

may minds be decolonized

may there be peace; love

~

©Clear Wind Blows Over the Moon

The above are a series of haiku I wrote on the TRC release of their report on the history of Indian Residential school abuse – I am an inter-generational survivor of these colonial institutions that created unfathomable trauma that is still being recovered from and healed from to this very day (last one closed in 1996).

Here are the reports and findings. Please note they are incomplete as the Harper government refused to release millions of documents until the very last minute (they had to be court ordered before they would release them and then dragged their feet). So the truth/fact is there wasn’t enough time or manpower for them to be fully documented and investigated. Therefore, more truths will come to light in time.

Feel free to share this link and/or this post far and wide, you can download them and learn the true history of Canada; the truth to date:

http://nctr.ca/reports.php

#haiku  #trc  #HonourTheApology  #IndianResidentialSchools #micropoetry  #vss

Breaking down colonial mind #poem

I’m not an Indian

I’m First Nations

I’m not extinct

What do you think

I’m alive

I thrive

I decolonize

Breaking down colonial mind

One deed, word or line at a time

Smashing racist stereo-type

What’s with all this anglo-hype

Not living a life of crime or doing time

Dancing outside of Indian Act dime

#INM #IdleNoMore

1200 Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women in Canada – Not High on Harper’s Radar #MMIWG

I don’t know that an inquiry will tell us anymore than what all the other studies have already told us – it all comes down to the colonial mind that pervades and rules Canada – in our government, the huge dehumanizing corporations, our medical system, legal system, et al.

The systemic racism and violence of Indigenous people must end. It was born in our shared history of the colonialism of Canada. It will only end when we get to the root problems of these racist institutions. E.g. the Indian act is racist and archaic yet it is still is the law that dictates the majority of First Nations people’s lives.

Plus, an inquiry will serve to give over control into the very hands of those who are the problem so they can sit on it some more and do nothing or create new policies that are empty talking heads to make people feel better.

Like the TRC – The govt can pretend to resolve the issue of the painful history of Indian Residential School and the majority of people believe in it and actually believe this will be some kind of resolution.

Yet this is the govt that withheld the necessary documents for the TRC to be able to complete their govt mandated report on the history of Indian Rez School. The Harper govt had to be sued by the TRC to get millions of documents released so they could complete their report.

The govt did finally release SOME of the documents recently, but only under SCOC (supreme court of Canada) order – they made sure to drag their feet and only do it last minute so there’s no time or man power to have people go through the many millions of documents in just a few months.

So yet again, the truth will be withheld. The truth will be fashioned to suit colonial rule. The TRC will assure us they did their best and that the report is accurate and comprehensive yet they themselves have said there is not enough time.

You can bet when the TRC releases their report – people will be outraged at what they learn happened in those schools but they will get over it quite soon as the majority of people will applaud the govt and naively believe they did all they had to do.

Meanwhile, only a fraction of the truth will be revealed – just the tip of the iceberg.

But all will be forgotten since people will finally have an excuse to no longer feel bad about our shared history.

We need new solutions to these very old issues at the root causes and not just more spin doctoring by the government.

Don’t let them control the truth and outcome of the #MMIWG like they have with the history of Indian Residential School.

I believe the government should create a fund for a grassroots initiative where the power is given to the people to resolve the issue, so we can be sure it involves honour, integrity and respect and a true focus on resolution.

Harper cares more about cats than 1200 missing murdered Indigenous women.

Healing and Reconciliation

1200 Missing Murdered Indigenous Women in Canada

father sky bows

mother earth opens

in aching embrace

of the spirits of our stolen sisters

the stars listen to the chaos

the sky weeps

for the 1200 missing and murdered indigenous women

#MMIW #stolensisters #sistersinspirit #INM #idlenomore #VAW #itendshere! #wewillneverforget

Oh Canada… Our Home on Native Land…

Poem – I walk between worlds…

I walk between worlds
of spirit and the physical
of First Nations, Métis and white
government definitions are meaningless
my Creator knows who I am

Extended Version:

I walk between worlds
plumbing depths of oceans, skimming surfaces of delight
embracing my darkness and equally, my light

I walk between worlds
experienced and beginner’s mind – knowing and naivety
growing up before my time – love and human depravity

I walk between worlds
the childhood war zone; all the lost lives – lucky to be alive
ever peaceful world of spirit calling me home – so my soul can again freely roam

I walk between worlds
small limited human self in this narrow level of being
vast infinite spirit dancing in the unseen

I walk between worlds
of First Nations, Métis & white
government definitions disregard my human right

I walk between worlds
meaningless labels, definitions – I will not defend
my Creator knows who I am and I’m at peace in the end

©2014 Clear Wind Blows Over the Moon

Artist statement for baby moccasin vamps I created #MMIW #HonourtheApology #WWOS

 

Below is my artist statement to go with these baby moccasin vamps I created: 

 

I feel deeply honoured to do this work to honour the babies and children that didn’t make it home from Indian Residential School.

 

This was my first time beading so it took me a while to figure it out and to teach myself what to do, calling on the ancestors for help.

 

I prayed while making them…

 

For the babies and children that were killed or died in Indian Residential School.

 

For the unborn babies from forced abortions, miscarriages, forced sterilizations, still births and for the girls that came home from Indian Residential School so damaged (physically or otherwise), they could not have children.

 

For the three babies that died in my childhood abuse; abuse that wouldn’t have happened if it weren’t for Indian Residential School. This is the deepest pain I carry in this earth walk; I chose three colours to represent these three babies.

 

As I worked on these baby moccasin vamps, I shed tears as I spoke to all of them in spirit and let them know their lives are sacred and we honour them, we love them and we will never forget them.

 

They reside in our hearts, thus why I chose a heart as my central design. The blue arch is like a big hug and the white beads are like the little spirits that are in heaven.

 

Each stitch, each bead, each hole through the suede was a prayer.

 

There are 4 elements to the design, the three parts done in different coloured beads and the unfinished bottom. 4 represents the 4 directions, 4 parts of the medicine wheel, 4 stages of life (child, youth, adult and Elder), 4 seasons, 4 elements (earth, air, water and fire), 4 races of people (red, yellow, black and white) and 4 divisions of time (day, night, month and year).

 

The 4 elements of the design plus the 3 colours = 7. 7 is a sacred number as it represents the 4 directions and father sky, mother earth and the place of center; the heart that resides within.

 

I left the bottoms open and unfinished to represent the unfinished lives of these babies and the children that didn’t come home.

 

 

I pray for the Indian residential school survivors and their families as we work hard to recover from the devastating effects of colonialism. I pray that all the documents be released and that the entire truth comes out about what was done, and the links from these government institutions to crimes done and that are still happening today, all come to light and that it stops now.

 

I pray for the over 1,186 MMIWG (missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls) that the government is not willing to do anything about. I pray the entire truth comes out, including the corruption and cover ups that have enabled our sisters to be stolen. This continues today, with more and more being taken all the time and it has to stop now!

 

I pray for the stolen children and babies; those taken by the government and placed into foster care in the sixties scoop and since, and for the ones that are still being taken today by CFS (child and family services) in the guise of help. I pray that the entire truth comes out and that our families be restored.

 

I pray that the links between all of the above and the government’s ongoing agenda to genocide our people are all exposed and that it ends now.

 

I pray for the families of the Indian Residential School survivors and the families of the 1,186 missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls and the families of the foster children that have been stolen.

 

While I worked I prayed for all of the souls impacted by the above to be at peace. I prayed that any lost souls know it is their birthright to go home to the light regardless of the lies that were taught in Indian Residential School to the contrary. I prayed they go home and that they are all at peace.

 

~Clear Wind blows over the Moon

 

This photo shows the size:

 

You can read more about this beautiful and sacred gathering here:

 

http://www.saultstar.com/2014/05/10/walking-with-our-sisters

 

http://www.saultstar.com/2014/05/08/remembering-missing-murdered-women—robinson

 

http://www.sootoday.com/content/news/details.asp?c=72661

 

http://www.sootoday.com/content/news/details.asp?c=71783

 

This commemorative art installation will be travelling across Canada the next few years – check out the ‘exhibit tour’ page here to see when it may be near your city:

WWOS Collective

 

We Are All Joined By Soul Sinews

~

All things are our relatives. What we do to everything, we do to ourselves. ~Black Elk 

This is a direct message to those that dump garbage – know that I see you… and to those that lash out with rage inflicting violence on another, and especially on the women… and to the extractive industries (mining, fracking, oil, et al) destroying our planet.

We are all connected by soul sinews.

When you judge me, you judge yourself.

When you lash out in anger and violence against me, you are lashing out in anger and violence against yourself.

When you try to shame or silence me, you are shaming and silencing yourself.

When you try to dictate and control how I life my life, you are dictating and controlling your own life.

When you rape Mother Earth, you rape your mother.

Don’t buy into colonial mind.

Don’t buy into might is right.

Don’t buy into greed and a belief in lack.

Don’t buy into judgement and gossip to put another down in an attempt to make yourself feel better.

Don’t buy into the limited mind set that there is only ‘one’ way to do something.

Don’t buy into your abuser’s mentality of the crab bucket keeping your brother or sister down so that no one can climb out.

Don’t buy into racism and sexism.

Don’t buy into selfishness.

I pray for all my enemies, all my abusers and all the leaders (including Harper).

We are connected and thus you are me and thus I have the very same capacity to put out negative energy and to do harm as you do… but the difference is, I choose not to.

You can choose too.

Gardiner Museum Show to End Violence Against Women with images of my process in clay

Gardiner Museum Show to End Violence Against Women (with images of my process in clay)

I took part in a show at the Gardiner Museum some time back to help raise awareness and end violence against women.

It was for survivors of violence. We used clay to give creative expression to our voices.

I had never worked with clay before and found it very grounding. It was an intense process. I took pictures almost the whole way through the process that I want to share. Some are poor quality as they were on my cell – these were the raw ones of the clay I had just formed. I will let the rest of the images speak for themselves.

I created a Grandfather Sun, a Grandmother Moon to reflect my spirit name and a turtle to honour the life of the First Nations Elder/Healer who was very dear to me that recently passed away; to honour her life as she was of the turtle clan.

I opened the show by presenting and reading a statement about the violence I came from and about my father living through Indian residential school and the negative impacts that had on him, which in turn, he acted out on me as a child.

I spoke of how the cycle of violence ends with me.

I then talked about the over 800 missing and murdered indigenous women and girls that the Harper government refuses to do anything about. Then I drummed in honour of them.

Day of the show at the Gardiner Museum – My 3 pieces on display

Second piece I made with clay part 2 – fresh out of the kiln

Third and last piece I made with clay part 2 – just glazed

Third and last piece I made with clay part 7 – ready for the kiln

First piece I ever made with clay part 3 – Glazing

Third and last piece I made with clay part 4 – detailed carving I did in the glaze

Second piece I made with clay part 1 – greenware

Second piece I made with clay part 3 – binding the two parts together

First piece I ever made with clay part 6 – Glazing 4 – Ready for the kiln

First piece I ever made with clay

Third and last piece I made with clay part 6 – detailed carving I did in the glaze – new technique I taught myself

Second piece I made with clay part 4 – painting over the binding

Third and last piece I made with clay part 3 – detailed carving I did in the glaze

Third and last piece I made with clay part 1

Day of the show at the Gardiner Museum (I was working on my pieces up to the last minute!)

First piece I ever made with clay part 5 – Glazing 3

First piece I ever made with clay part 2

First piece I ever made with clay part 4 – Glazing 2

Third and last piece I made with clay part 5 – detailed carving I did in the glaze

Day of the show at the Gardiner Museum – peek a boo

 

My New Healing Website #healing #drumming #counselling #therapy

~

 I am very happy and excited to share my new healing website! 🙂

I’ve been intending to do this for over two years so it feels great to finally get it out there! I’ve been doing this work since the 90s and it feels wonderful to finally be putting it out there fully.

http://soulpurposehealing.weebly.com/

Please check it out and feel free to share it and like it if you feel so compelled.

 

As a First Nations woman, I’m 5 times more likely to experience violence than non-FN women #VAW #MMIW #INM

As a First Nations woman, I am five times more likely to experience violence than non-FN women.

I came from violence but I’ve worked on my recovery and healing for decades to ensure the cycle of violence doesn’t continue.

I have been speaking out about the over 1,200 MMIW (missing and murdered indigenous women) since as long as I can remember. I wear a Sisters in Spirit button from the annual vigil and my Idle No More button I made and whenever anyone comments on them, I jump at the opportunity to educate them about this critical yet ignored situation in Canada.

I point out how the Harper government continues to deny the funding for a proper inquiry and investigation and how if it was 1,200 caucasian women, you can bet there would be a lot more public outrage and this huge issue would be addressed immediately.

I started to make/paint a T-shirt to wear to help raise awareness.

I have done so much work to ensure there is no violence or abuse in my life yet I recently was sexually assaulted in broad daylight in front of others.

It sent me into humiliation, denial, pain and isolation and left me spinning. Then, as I was trying to deal with the shock of this violence, a dear friend who I had trusted with more of my painful history than anyone else on the planet, lost it with me in public, and in community, yelling at me. This abusive behaviour, yet another act of violence… left me spinning even further.

But once I came out of denial and started to face up to the pain and the devastation and to find my voice again, I got strong and got to a place of no more violence – it ends here! I now speak out and openly on this topic because I want other women who have experienced acts of violence in their lives to know they are not alone and they are not to blame!

I wrote this poem while I was heavily in the midst of all of this. I was at the Toronto FAC (Feminist Art Conference) spoken word and art gallery opening March 6, 2014 and I was inspired by the powerful women I heard share and thus I came home and wrote it.

I again went to TO FAC March 8th and heard more powerful women discussing critical topics of identity, intersectionality, sexual assault, racism, sexism, etc… thus I was further inspired to speak my truth.

So here it is… (**new better track added March 19, 2014 on a brand new profile so no blasting loud at end – *some profanity) – turn up the volume to hear it, please:

Hearing the next day how the government has yet again decided to refuse funding for a national inquiry on the MMIW added to my agonizing pain over this issue that touches on abuse that I experienced in my childhood as I grew up in the Vancouver east side. There’s more about what I know, but this is enough disclosure for now… as my life has been threatened if I tell and as it is, sharing this will flood me with painful memories so I have to manage it… one day at a time.

#MMIW   #StolenSisters    #VAW    #IndianResSchool    #INM    #IdleNoMore    #ItEndsHere

And this is one of the spoken word sharing I heard at Toronto FAC that inspired me by Mahlikah Aweri:

It was in a powerful drum journey Monday night (March 10th) when buffalo came to me and was telling me to continue on my work with the big drum in reclaiming it for women, that I got given information that even if the government were to fund the inquiry, the cover up would continue and it would end up being the colonial government yet again dictating what my people need to do and blaming the victims. It would be more obfuscation and denial about what has really happened.

So now I am thinking we need to fund our own investigation and I hope to connect with others that feel this way so we can act on this as soon as possible so we can stop it once and for all – It ends here!

A Year Later and Harper Refuses to Release Court Ordered Documents to #HonourTheApology! #INM

A year has passed and yet the Harper government still refuses to release the critical court ordered documents so that the truth can be heard about Indian Residential School and its survivors!

Postmedia News has learned that Prime Minister Stephen
Harper’s government, a full year after being ordered by a court to
produce the records to the commission, hasn’t even issued a
request for proposal (RFP) for outside firms to bid on a contract
to sort through the documents at federal archives so they can be
passed along.”

Source: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/ottawa-ordered-to-find-and-release-millions-of-indian-residential-school-records/article8001068/

Canada’s obligation under a settlement agreement signed in 2006 with the school survivors, the government, the churches that ran the institutions, and others, is straightforward, Judge Goudge wrote.

“It is to provide all relevant documents to the TRC,” which was created as part of the settlement agreement, he wrote. “The obligation is in unqualified language unlimited by where the documents are located within the government of Canada.”

The department of Aboriginal Affairs has turned over a million records and promises hundreds of thousands more. But 23 other departments have refused to do likewise. It is estimated that millions of school-related documents in the archives could occupy 6.5 kilometres of shelf space, and finding them could cost as much $100-million.

Justice department lawyers said employees of the TRC were welcome to search the archives themselves. But the commission, which is running on a budget of $60-million over five years, says it has neither the money nor the resources to do so.

Justice department lawyers said employees of the TRC were welcome to search the archives themselves. But the commission, which is running on a budget of $60-million over five years, says it has neither the money nor the resources to do so.

Aboriginal Affairs Minister John Duncan said on Wednesday that the government is reviewing Judge Goudge’s ruling.

“The decision is anything but clear cut,” Mr. Duncan told the Commons. “The discussion in terms of relevant documents is left somewhat open by the judge. We believe that we have been meeting the spirit and intent, but if there is a slightly different interpretation, we will obviously meet the spirit and intent of the judge’s decision.”

That suggests the government may be contemplating an appeal.

Julian Falconer, the commission’s lawyer, said any appeal would be “unfortunate” and urged the government not to engage in gamesmanship.

“Canada may well have thought that it was honouring the agreement even though it did not turn over the federal archives. But that state of ignorance is no longer available to them,” Mr. Falconer said in a telephone interview.

“The obligation to turn over the federal archives is unequivocal,” he said. “There is nothing unclear about the judgment. This is about control over history. And Canada has to be willing to relinquish control over the history that is residential schools to the survivors and their families as was contemplated in the agreement.”

Mr. Justice Murray Sinclair, the chairman of the TRC, said in a statement that he welcomed the decision. “We’re grateful to be able to continue the commission’s work of gathering and protecting for future generations documents that are relevant to the history of the Indian residential schools in Canada,” Judge Sinclair said.

Shawn Atleo, National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations, called the ruling a significant victory. “Reconciliation is about achieving real change that must come from increased and improved understanding of our shared history,” he said. “These documents are essential to the truth-telling and truth-sharing work of the TRC, and all of us.”

About 150,000 aboriginal children attended the schools during the 130 years they were in operation – many of them forced away from their families as part of a campaign to “take the Indian out of the child.”

Prime Minister Stephen Harper apologized in 2008 on behalf of the federal government for the residential-schools experience, but the Assembly of First Nations says the refusal to release the documents could undermine that gesture.

A year has passed and yet the Harper government still refuses to release the critical court ordered documents so that the truth can be heard about Indian Residential School and its survivors!

Postmedia News has learned that Prime Minister Stephen
Harper’s government, a full year after being ordered by a court to
produce the records to the commission, hasn’t even issued a
request for proposal (RFP) for outside firms to bid on a contract
to sort through the documents at federal archives so they can be
passed along.”

Source: http://o.canada.com/news/national/learning-the-truth-on-aboriginal-residential-schools-hampered-by-slow-work-of-harper-government/

Canada’s obligation under a settlement agreement signed in 2006 with the school survivors, the government, the churches that ran the institutions, and others, is straightforward, Judge Goudge wrote.

“It is to provide all relevant documents to the TRC,” which was created as part of the settlement agreement, he wrote. “The obligation is in unqualified language unlimited by where the documents are located within the government of Canada.”

The department of Aboriginal Affairs has turned over a million records and promises hundreds of thousands more. But 23 other departments have refused to do likewise. It is estimated that millions of school-related documents in the archives could occupy 6.5 kilometres of shelf space, and finding them could cost as much $100-million.

Justice department lawyers said employees of the TRC were welcome to search the archives themselves. But the commission, which is running on a budget of $60-million over five years, says it has neither the money nor the resources to do so.

Aboriginal Affairs Minister John Duncan said on Wednesday that the government is reviewing Judge Goudge’s ruling.

“The decision is anything but clear cut,” Mr. Duncan told the Commons. “The discussion in terms of relevant documents is left somewhat open by the judge. We believe that we have been meeting the spirit and intent, but if there is a slightly different interpretation, we will obviously meet the spirit and intent of the judge’s decision.”

That suggests the government may be contemplating an appeal.

Julian Falconer, the commission’s lawyer, said any appeal would be “unfortunate” and urged the government not to engage in gamesmanship.

“Canada may well have thought that it was honouring the agreement even though it did not turn over the federal archives. But that state of ignorance is no longer available to them,” Mr. Falconer said in a telephone interview.

“The obligation to turn over the federal archives is unequivocal,” he said. “There is nothing unclear about the judgment. This is about control over history. And Canada has to be willing to relinquish control over the history that is residential schools to the survivors and their families as was contemplated in the agreement.”

Mr. Justice Murray Sinclair, the chairman of the TRC, said in a statement that he welcomed the decision. “We’re grateful to be able to continue the commission’s work of gathering and protecting for future generations documents that are relevant to the history of the Indian residential schools in Canada,” Judge Sinclair said.

Shawn Atleo, National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations, called the ruling a significant victory. “Reconciliation is about achieving real change that must come from increased and improved understanding of our shared history,” he said. “These documents are essential to the truth-telling and truth-sharing work of the TRC, and all of us.”

About 150,000 aboriginal children attended the schools during the 130 years they were in operation – many of them forced away from their families as part of a campaign to “take the Indian out of the child.”

Prime Minister Stephen Harper apologized in 2008 on behalf of the federal government for the residential-schools experience, but the Assembly of First Nations says the refusal to release the documents could undermine that gesture.

Source: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/ottawa-ordered-to-find-and-release-millions-of-indian-residential-school-records/article8001068/

Shawn Atleo urges Harper government to release residential school records – Feb. 12, 2014: http://o.canada.com/news/national/shawn-atleo-urges-harper-government-to-release-residential-school-records/

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In case you missed it, this was the Official Press Release for #HonourTheApology: For Immediate Release July 24 Canadians from many cultural communities call… https://www.facebook.com/niigaan/posts/10100673459149471 and http://honourtheapology.tumblr.com/page/2

Honour The Apology – National Press Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CANADIANS FROM MANY CULTURAL COMMUNITIES CALL ON FEDS TO #HONOURTHEAPOLOGY TO RESIDENTIAL SCHOOL SURVIVORS

UNITY ACROSS FAITHS AND BACKGROUNDS IN RESPONSE TO RECENTLY REVEALED “NUTRITIONAL EXPERIMENTS” ON INDIGENOUS PEOPLE

WINNIPEG, MB (07/22/2013) – At noon on Thursday, July 25 at venues across the country, Canadians, newcomers, First Nations, Métis, and Inuit peoples from all walks of life and religious denominations will reflect upon the impacts of Canadaʼs residential schools in a national moment of silence. In response to University of Guelph historian Ian Mosby published research that First Nations communities – and specifically thousands of children in residential schools – were unknowing subjects in biomedical experiments in malnourishment and hunger by federal government officials between 1942-52, these Canadians will pray for and commemorate those who were experimented on. They will also call on the federal government to honour its 2008 apology to the survivors of Residential Schools by immediately releasing all relevant documents to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

“Canadians from many backgrounds have been shocked and hurt by these recent revelations and this is an opportunity to talk, reflect, and do something about it,” says co-organizer Wab Kinew. “Weʼve put out a call for unity and leaders from the Islamic, Roman Catholic, Presbyterian, Multi-denominational, Japanese communities have responded and will join us. We hope many others will come over their lunch hour as well. All are welcome.”

A Spreecast teach-in will be held online on Monday July 22 at 8pm CST for Canadians who want to learn more about the “nutritional experiments” and the documents being sought by the TRC. It will feature Dr. Ian Mosby, Dr. Niigaanwewidam Sinclair and Dr. Leanne Simpson (who wrote a piece about the event in Briarpatch Magazine).

About the Apology:

On June 11, 2008, the Prime Minister of Canada offered an apology to FirstNations, Métis, and Inuit survivors of the residential school system. Although under a court order, the federal government has been withholding millions of documents from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC). These documents contain the movement/disappearance of children, sickness or diseases and the treatment students endured. Honouring the apology means releasing the documents so the TRC can fulfill its mandate and allow all Canadians to learn the truth about this painful era and move together toward reconciliation.

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I collected signatures to petition the Harper Government to release the documents at this Honour the Apology event in Toronto and at the Couchiching Institute Conference on First Nations and Canadian Relationships that happened in the Summer and the petition signatures were sent off to the Harper government yet there still has been no action!

Just like there has been no action by the Harper Government on the investigation for over 800 Missing Murdered Indigenous Women!

Harper doesn’t care about First Nations!