Welcome to the hot summer days. I don’t know about you, but we are so happy to be outside. Now that things are opening up again, make sure to follow all safety protocols and continue to wear a mask to protect our vulnerable communities. We will get through this.
Please note that there will be no regularly scheduled Newsletter in August because the final day of the AGM is on August 1st. We will be back to our regularly Newsletter in September. In the meantime, any news or updates will be shared on our Social Media accounts. Please monitor that until we are back.
#CancelCanadasDay
Check out this video made by some of our board members regarding Canada’s day.
Transcript:
Shawna:
Hello everyone
Today is a tough day for everyone. Minds wandering, should I celebrate ‘Canada Day’? No intentions to upset Indigenous People if I celebrate – Don’t. Show your support – Wear ORANGE shirts.
Proud Canadians are encouraged to read these…
- – Truth and Reconciliation of Commission & 94 Calls to Action
- – Missing, Murder Indigenous Women and Girls & Calls to Action
- – Sixties Scoop
All of us are encouraged to read to understand more. We have the CAD-ASC board and Deaf Indigenous of Canada Committed to showing their feelings and supports…
Enjoy watching…
Thank You/Miigwech
Frank:
Hello everyone.
Indigenous children’s deaths, very heartbreaking. We are to pray, show support to Indigenous Peoples. Deaf Communities, please join to show your support to Indigenous Peoples. My heart is deeply touched.
Paula:
The land is full of grass, digging holes… children are finally found. Now, children can feel free, back home, and reconnect with communities and families. Now they are allowed to be included in cultural ceremonies and share emotions.
We acknowledge that history is horrible – we must acknowledge it constantly.
Will we repeat this history? NEVER again. We are the future. We are the present. It is time to change. To give our support, our love, our emotional feelings, give to the children and protect them and the next generation. Past, present and future. It is time to ACT and LISTEN to the Peoples.
To be aware that this land, Canada, is the only country? No, we are not alone; include the entire world too. Remember that.
Again, please remember – never, never, never to forget the children who did not make it back home. And now, they found a home.
Thank You/Miigwech
Wissam:
I acknowledge life on this land. I thank Indigenous Peoples for allowing us to live, work, and enjoy life on this land. I don’t accept that I can live while Indigenous Peoples’ blood, death, missing, loss, pain, and suffering refuse. It’s my responsibility to protect all people, especially Indigenous Peoples, and I’m responsible to protect all children, especially Indigenous children. You all start now to show you appreciate the generations on this land. I’m accountable to sit, honour, work together, listen, learn from Indigenous Peoples and Elders — my deep condolences for your pain. I think and pray for all children, parents, families and tribes. Pray.
Destiny:
“Happy Canada Day!”
NO. Pride is to be set aside. Time to let them heal from being heartbroken. We all are in shock. Important to take the time to learn about the history, Indigenous Peoples and their relationship with Canada. That will help us to work together.
Healing…
Leanor:
I moved to Canada. I feel conflicted as I love it here. But I don’t love what happened in history. Children went missing, children being taken away, children have died. People are overpowering, bullying… it’s not right.
I am so and very sorry.
Kamil:
Today is Canada Day, but we are not celebrating Canada Day. To celebrate Canada Day is to celebrate:
- – 1323 children and counting, found buried near residential schools
- – The living trauma of residential school survivors and their families
- – The missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls, and 2-spirit people
- – The lack of access to clean water in Indigenous communities
- – The lack of action by the Canadian government
And so many more real examples of oppression towards Indigenous communities to add to this list…
Instead of celebrating Canada Day, here are some of many things we can do:
- – Learn more about the land we live on. Check out Native-Land.ca (interactive map)
- – Read all 94 Calls to Action in the Truth and Reconciliation report (released in 2015)
- – Follow and amplify Indigenous voices on social media
- – Donate to Indigenous-led organisations (ie. The Indian Residential School Survivors Society)
- – Get educated by taking online courses (ie. “Indigenous Canada” offered by the University of Alberta)
- – Wear an orange shirt to spread awareness
- – Have real conversations with families and friends
(Repost by DYC-JSC)
If you need help or want to talk, here are some numbers you can contact to:
- – Indian Residential School Survivors Society, 1-800-721-0066
- – National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, 1-844-413-6649
- – Hope for Wellness Help Line, 1-855-242-3310 or online chat at hopeforwellness.ca
- – Kids Help Phone, 1-800-668-6868 or text to 686868
- – Canada Suicide Prevention Service, 1-833-456-4566 or text to 45645
Wissam’s Message
Transcript:
Hello everyone. First I want to recognize the land we are on. CAD-ASC office is in Ottawa, Ontario. This land is still colonized, it has not been unceded yet. This land belongs to the Indigenous community of Algonquins Anishinaabe. I also want to recognize that in the East is the Mi’kmaq. To the West is Salish. In the North it is Inuit. This land belongs to the Indigenous.
CAD-ASC is heartbroken along with the Indigenous communities. The number of Indigenous children being found is increasing. These children were killed, throw away, and hidden for a long time. Now they’re being found. This is a gut wrenching tragedy. This is not a chapter of history, it is still ongoing. We cannot predict the future. CAD-ASC ask that the settlers support the Indigenous communities. How can you support them? Wear orange. Reflect. Pray. Support. How can you support? Asking many questions to the Indigenous community? What’s the number at? How many more? What happened? What do I Do? Avoid this. This causes them more pain.
Does this mean you just leave them alone? No. Continue to support them, keep watching the news. Watch elders of the community speeches. If there’s any public events, go ahead and join them in person, reflect and pray together. Analyze tousled. Thank you for watching. Please take a few moments today to reflect on this.
Shawna’s Message
Transcript:
Hello everyone, I wanted to let you know about two events that the DIC was hosting. The first one was the Residential school event and the MMIWG, Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls. We decided to cancel both events, there were a few reasons.
The discovery of the children bodies across Canada was hard, we were very emotional about this. We also didn’t feel right to host the events with the recent discovery and residential survivors. We will postpone the residential school event towards the end of July, more details will be shared soon.
We will postpone the MMIWG event towards the end of August. We want to include a resource support system in the events, so after the event if you need support or someone to talk to, we have one ready. We are looking forwards to these events.
Thank you, Miigwech.
News about our affiliate member
Transcript:
CAD-ASC is thrilled to announce that The Okanagan Valley Association of the Deaf (OVAD) will be a full provincial affiliate representing British Columbia. OVAD has been working tirelessly with us for the benefit of Deaf people who live in Canada.
The Board of Directors looks forward to having amazing work with OVAD represented by Gordon J. Rattray.
Please join us congratulating OVAD for their full provincial affiliation and wish them the best in their journey servicing our community in British Columbia.
Website Renovations
Transcript:
Hello, my name Anna Wren and I am the communication coordinator for CAD-ASC. I wanted to let you know that the website is not clear, hard to use, information is missing. We know this. We recently hired one person who is an expert web master. This person is now focusing on fixing and improving the website.
While he is fixing the website we will not be posting new information on the website. For news or information we will share them via newsletter to our affiliates or on our social media accounts such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Youtube. Postings on the website is on hold until the website is fixed. Thank you.
Upcoming Events
Transcript:
Upcoming events this month: More information will be released soon. Keep your eye open for events this month on our Facebook page.
- Gender-based Violence
- Mental Health Issues
- Deaf-Blind
- Residential School Stories
