This was exactly what took place during the 2010 Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) gathering in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. On Friday, June 18, 2010, events brought people together at the Manitoba Theatre for Young People: two plays – “Moving Gallery” and “Fabric of the Sky” – and the Commissioners’ Sharing Circle.
How can survivors of the residential school system and their children and grandchildren learn to reconnect and love one another? “Fabric of the Sky,” Ian Ross’ play, captures most of the issues facing the Aboriginal Peoples of Canada as a direct or indirect consequence of the residential school system: physical and mental pain, lack of love and self-esteem, and intergenerational conflicts. Through their discussions, the four characters reveal the painful fabric of a society where lack of communication has created a rift between survivors and younger generations. The play also highlights the positive role played by women. Overall, this is an excellent testimony of the far-reaching effects of trauma.
The Commissioners’ Sharing Circle ran every day during the TRC event. Children of survivors and survivors of the residential school system met the three TRC commissioners – among them, Justice Murray Sinclair – to share their stories with the public. For some of them, it was the first time. For others, the healing journey had started only a few years prior to the event. However, it did not mean that the process was over.
How does one really overcome such a traumatic experience? One survivor summed up the problem very well: “It is not the man who cries today. It is the boy.” Adults were trying to reclaim their lost childhood, a crucial stage of their lives that had been taken away from them.
One after the other, men and women relived the past, pausing to compose themselves, crying when the harrowing pain was gnawing at them. From the young girl who had been tied with four other girls and sexually abused for hours; to the Elder who can still smell the rotten meat that the school staff had tried to make him eat; to the woman who had been raped by her brother, a survivor of the residential school system, all the speakers told of their desire to reconnect with themselves and the world.
Despite the horrendous pain, no survivor or child of survivors spoke in anger or hate against those who were very instrumental in ruining their lives. This, in itself, is the sign that the healing process has started. It will take a long time, but eventually, the pain will be lessened.
While more and more survivors come forward to share their stories, it is to be hoped that more and more people will listen and start caring. If perfection is not expected of the human beings, compassion certainly is. In fact, it is a prerequisite to make the world a better place. Celebrating differences only makes individuals strangers to one another. Men must start celebrating what unites them all: their humanity.
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