Every Child Does Matter - Reflection

Every Child Does Matter

What is the experience of the stories of the people who have survived the Indian Residential Schools? I never knew until the last three decades, never heard of the decades of the government in Canada that created special schools for aboriginal children.

Only recently have I been made aware of the cultural erasing that was mandated. I have now found out that the Anglican Church under the guise of educating the children, actually was complicit in the damage done to thousands of children, the cultural repression of native history, and the subjugation of First Nation, Metis, and Inuit people to a colonial system.

That many generations of people were individually savaged by this part of our nation's history is what I, we, are faced with to make right for future generations of all people. Indeed, every child does matter.

I have just read a book, a fictional story based on reality of so many, that tells the story of five children who survived the infliction of physical and sexual abuse at the hands of their "guardians" at residential schools. "Five Little Indians" is a tale of the journey these characters had to make into adult life. Trust and caring, replaced by fear and anguish, these five-Kenny, Maisie, Lucy, Clara, and Howie- have left me feeling shame, hurt, pain, and anger for what happened to them. Not all of them made it into survival.

Yet in the story is the room for hope and a life worth living once again, even with the wounds still healing. The author of this work, Michelle Good, herself touched by her own family's survival of residential school, has given me a taste of what was and is part of the need for all Canadians to be involved in the healing yet to come. Good has rightly been the recipient of several writing awards, including that of the Governor General.

Our Anglican Church of Canada is calling for prayer and study, action and involvement, so that we all may walk together with our brothers and sisters who have lived on Turtle Island for far more centuries than any others in North America. If like me you have not had an earlier engagement with the past history of residential schools, do some research, ask some questions. If you want a taste of what it was like for many children, read "Five Little Indians".

Tuesday, 30 September 2025 is the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, a statutory federal day. There will be events and activities taking place in Abbotsford. Take time to think about this story of our history on this special day.

Fr. Art

"Five Little Indians", Michelle Good, Collins Publishers Ltd., 2020 (available in the Public Library)