An emotional session in Prince Rupert for those who listened to "long overdue apology"

Prince Rupert was one of many locations across Canada last week that held special listening sessions, designed as a gathering place for local residents wishing to join together to hear Prime Minister Stephen Harper issue his historic apology to First Nations citizens for their treatment under the residential school system.

The Prince Rupert session hosted by the Friendship House and Northwest Community College took place at the Prince Rupert campus, as residents of the North Coast listened carefully to the Prime Minister's words.

The Daily News featured details of the event and the reactions of those local residents who listened to the Prime Minister's speech as well as those comments from the opposition leaders and from First Nations National Chief Phil Fontaine.

By the conclusion of the event, many were eager to see concrete results from those words of apology and shared their thoughts as part of a front page story in Friday's paper.

WORDS ARE WELCOMED, BUT MORE ACTION IS CALLED FOR
PM's apology received well by many, but good intentions must now be backed up, say critics
BY LEANNE RITCHIE
The Daily News
Friday, June 13, 2008
Pages one and five

The apology from the Prime Minister for the abuses suffered by First Nations because of the residential school system was well received in the Northwest.
However, the words need to be followed by actions.

Farley Stewart, executive director of the Friendship House, said those who attended the Northwest Community College/ Friendship House viewing were generally quiet and thoughtful after the event.

"I talked to an elder who is one of the teachers in our school.

"He watched from home and he was telling me that he started crying after he heard the apology.

He attended residential school for nine years," said Stewart.

"It was really nice to hear him say now it is time to move on."

Kevin McKay, chairperson of the Nisga'a Lisims Government, said he was particularly moved that all the party leaders apologized.

"Of particular importance to the Nisga'a Nation was the statement by Liberal Party Leader, the Honourable Stéphane Dion, that this was a shared responsibility of the various governments of Canada over 100 years of maintaining this government policy which affected more than 150,000 aboriginal children," he said.

"With the apology of the Prime Minister, with the statements by each of the leaders of the opposition parties and with the statements of the National Aboriginal leaders, the apology we witnessed today has set in motion a window of opportunity unprecedented in Canadian history to enable residential school survivors and their families to confront and conquer the painful memories and demons that continue to plague aboriginal people, communities and cultures."

However, it will be up to each individual to decide whether to accept that apology.

And both McKay and Skeena-Bulkley Valley MP Nathan Cullen said they will be waiting and watching to see if the actions of government back up their words.

"To stand outside the House of Commons and hear the singing and drumming coming over my cell phone from the Northwest was very moving," said Cullen.

Cullen also sent along a piece of the Northwest spirit with NDP leader Jack Layton. As Layton participated in the apology, he wore Cullen's Haida necklace that he was given by a Haida chief.
"I've worn the necklace for years now. On the morning, I knew Jack had played this significant role in the creation of the apology by the Prime Minister," said Cullen.

"He'd been working in between First Nations and the Prime Minister's office so I said 'Why don't you wear this today?'

"When he was standing up giving his words to the story, there was a piece of the Northwest there. Ottawa sometimes is such a shallow place ... we've got to find time and the spirit to have something a little bit more profound going on."

Northwest Community college hosts gathering to view historic announcement

Prime Minister Stephen Harper delivered a long overdue apology Tuesday, for the past policy of Residential schools, a historic speech made in the House of Commons and delivered across the nation at numerous gatherings from coast to coast.

In his address, Harper recounted the painful era of resettlement of First Nation children, taken from their families by force and sent far from their home communities. Over the years, reports of abuses while attending those schools and the long lasting effects of those policies have haunted the nation over the decades and have never been formally addressed until this week.

On Tuesday, the Prime Minister apologized formally for the actions of the government of the day and for the long path the survivors have had to travel, in order to reach this day of recognition of a horrific wrong that was never addressed by successive governments.

Prime Minister Harper's apology speech part one

Prime Minister Harper's apology speech part two

National Chief Phil Fontaine's response to the apology

While Harper rose in the House of Commons in Ottawa, across the Northwest those that were the victims of that past policy and their families watched in special sessions of remembrance, locally Northwest Community College and the Friendship House hosted a luncheon and viewing session for survivors, with counsellors available for those overcome by the event and the memories it may have brought back.

Official text of the speech made to the House of Commons on Tuesday, June 10

The Daily News featured the background on Tuesday's session at Northwest Community College as the front page story of the day. You can find that article immediately below, following that local story we provide links to a number of stories from papers across the nation with commentary and coverage of Tuesday's historic day.

MANY GATHER TO HEAR PM'S 'LONG OVERDUE' APOLOGY

Screening of historic announcement at college the chance for many to reflect
By Leanne Ritchie
The Daily News
Thursday, June 12, 2008

Pages one and two

Those impacted by the horrors of the residential school system braced themselves against pain as they listened to Prime Minister Stephen Harper apologize yesterday.

"I don't know what this man is going to say. I don't even know what is going to happen to me. A lot of things are going to come up," said Murray Smith of the Friendship House Elders.
Speaking as an individual and survivor, he said there was no way to prepare for the historic occasion.

"I want to caution my fellow residential school survivors of the possibility of what may awaken in your hearts today, what may happen to you. Is this a chance to step out of the darkness and in to the light or is this apology going to drive us deeper into the darkness?"

People gathered at Northwest Community College to watch as Harper rose in the House of Commons to officially apologize for the government's policy of taking children away from their families, attempting to kill their culture and leaving them in environments where they often suffered abuse and neglect.

In Prince Rupert, Northwest Community College and the Friendship House arranged a lunch, a viewing of the apology and for counsellors to be on hand from the Northwest Band Social Workers Association to help people deal with their reactions.

James Bryant, who welcomed people to the traditional territory of the Allied Tribes of Metlakatla and Lax Kw'alaams, described the apology as "long overdue."

And what is important, he said, is how this is going to be taken by the survivors. An apology won't wipe away what happened.

"It's going to take a long time for healing to take place, for reconciliation," said Bryant.
There are some 80,000 living survivors of the 132 residential schools that were operated by government and churches across Canada.

"And what about all those who never had the opportunity to hear this, what about all those little graves that are out there who don't have a voice?"

"What about the elders that died that never got compensation ... how are families going to feel?" said Smith.

Besides the reaction of survivors, there was a hope among many that the apology is broadcast by the international media and that the truth about the system finally comes to light.

"My daughter asked me the question, 'Is the truth finally going to be heard? Will all those stories you have been talking about, your experiences of residential schools, will it blow that open?'" said Smith. "I hope the world news picks up those stories, that they did wrong."

In the Northwest, there were schools in Greenville, Kitmataat, Metlakatla and two in Port Simpson, although children were also sent to schools out of the region. The last residential school to close in the Northwest was the Metlakatlata Indian Residential School in 1962.

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National Post-- Native leaders praise apology

National Post-- Majority of speech written by Harper

Naitonal Post-- Tragic history unites the House

Globe and Mail-- 'I accept the Prime Minister's apology'

Globe and Mail-- Canada's expression of sorrow

Globe and Mail-- Whose truth? What reconciliation?

Globe and Mail-- Once more, with feeling ... but will it make a difference?

Montreal Gazette-- Apology is the first step to true reconciliation

Toronto Star-- Apology alone cannot close a gaping wound

Toronto Star-- Symbolic gestures have importance

Winnipeg Sun-- Many tears in Manitoba

Edmonton Journal-- Harper apology 'a beginning'

Calgary Herald-- 'Finally, we heard Canada say sorry'

Vancouver Sun-- A national call for healing

CBC-- Aboriginal leaders look to future after historic apology

Vancouver Sun-- The Apology Decoded