Canada’s National Indigenous Day brings agreements to address injustices

By Barry Ellsworth

TRENTON, Canada (AA) – Canada’s National Indigenous Day was marked Friday with celebrations including traditional pow wows and a pledge to keep traveling the “shared path to meaningful reconciliation,” said Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Trudeau was in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia where, with Indigenous leaders he announced at a press conference more than CAN$140 million (US$102 million) for education improvements and to settle a disputed land claim that dates back to 1862 for the Mi’Kmaq tribes in Nova Scotia, the Toronto Star reported.

It was welcome news to the Indigenous communities in the Maritime province but its leaders know there is still a long road to travel to reconciliation between Indians who were the original settlers of Canada and the Europeans who came in the last couple of hundred years.

“We are thrilled to make this announcement that enables communities and the organization to do more,” Eskasoni First Nation chief and Mi’kmaw Kina’matnewey chair Leory Denny said in a joint press release. “While it is an important and significant first step, we know that there is a lot of work to be done.”

Reconciliation between the Indian and European cultures has not been easy. There is a history of severe abuse of Indigenous children in residential schools dating back to the early 1800s. The federal government not always adhered to original land settlements and at least 4,500 missing and murdered aboriginal women cases may not have been properly investigated.

Trudeau renewed his government’s promise of reconciliation.

“As we celebrate National Indigenous Peoples Day, we reaffirm our commitment to understanding and acknowledging our past and its ongoing impacts, a critical step toward healing on the path of reconciliation,” Trudeau said in a news release. “Acknowledging the difficult parts of our history is central to redefining our relationships with Indigenous Peoples.”

June 21 is celebrated as National Indigenous Day because aboriginals have long used it as a celebration of the summer solstice.