My video for the Mi’kmawey Debert Cultural Centre survivors begins with a song performed by a group of Mi’kmaq singers known as Eastern Eagle. The song is the Mi’kmaq Honor Song and the lyrics roughly translate to English as :
Let us greatly respect and honour our Native people,
My people let us gather.
Let us greatly respect and honour our Native ways,
My people let us help each other.
Helping each other is why the Creator put us here on Mother Earth.
I have this song play throughout the video as I wish for the survivors to know that I honor and respect their ways, and I want to be able to help them in any way I can. I did not want to cut the song short as it seemed disrespectful to change a song regarding their honour. The lyrics of the song regarding respecting and honouring the Native ways and people spoke to me, and the part about letting us help each other seemed to reflect why I would like to be their ally. I paid to download the song from https://store.cdbaby.com/cd/easterneagle2 which is also where I found the Mi’kmaq lyrics and the English translation. I placed a copy of these lyrics in Mi’kmaq and English at the beginning of my video.
I then added a title slide regarding our racist government, followed by a quote from Sir John A. McDonald, which I retrieved from https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2015/06/02/11-key-quotes-and-facts-in-the-trc-final-report.html. I then inserted another title slide followed by another quote, this one from a survivor named Doris Young and again retrieved from The Star site. The next image is one of a children’s book written by a survivor entitled, I am not a Number.” This image came from Amazon. This is followed by a poem, written by Mi’kmaq poet Rita Joe, who is also a Residential School survivor. The poem is entitled, “I Lost my Talk,” and it is about the assimilation of our First Nations children, and their loss of traditional ways. I found this very poignant. I found the text of the poem at https://www.poetryinvoice.com/poems/i-lost-my-talk. The next image I used was one of an Indian Residential School with the words 50 000 Children Murdered written in blood red below it. This comes from a documentary about Residential Schools entitled “Unrepentant.” This is at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0brD50DIv5Q. That number is shocking and so is the first view of the photo. Directly following this I used the image off of my orange shirt from 2017. It says “All Lives Matter,” which is true and is the motto used every year. I then inserted two more title slides referring to how to begin reconciliation. After each there is a quote. The first quote is again from the Truth and Reconciliation Star article, while the second is a portion of Stephen Harper’s apology in June of 2008, in which he acknowledges that the government was trying, “to kill the Indian in the child.” I then speak to closure and an image in stark black and white that states we must find the bodies and bury them. This image was taken from : https://www.omfrc.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/specialedition8.pdf. I then have another slide stating that we can never allow another genocide in Canada. My next image is that of a butterfly. In the Nuu-chah-nulth language spoken in my area, the name for butterfly is Kackaamin, which signifies change, and I felt this was appropriate as we need to change our ways of interacting with our First People.
My final image is a photo taken by June Graham, who is a multi generational Indian Residential School Survivor. It was taken in Alert Bay, BC at St. Michael’s Indian Residential School. The image is of a Native child on one of the doors, holding the cross upside down. The words, “Never forget” are etched into the door above the image. I chose this as my closing image, as I don’t want anyone to ever forget what atrocities were committed against these children in the name of religion and colonization.
After these images, and after the Honour song had played in its entirety, I begin to recite my original poem that I wrote for Mi’kmawey Debert survivors. This recitation happens over the slides which also has the poem on them. Here is a copy of that poem:
I know that you are fearful of trusting me,
But I want to help you live in peace and harmony.
Your childhood is gone through the work of others
You lost your family; Fathers, Sisters and Brothers,
To give it back cannot be done,
I try to think of ways, but there are none.
They gave you a number and took your name,
Tried to force you to live your lives in shame.
They took your clothes and cut your hair,
To protest, you couldn’t dare.
You have lost your culture, your language and more,
Abuse by others shaped your very core.
Oh Canada was your Native Land,
Until the Government snatched it with a greedy hand.
They took your lives, all you held dear,
And the abuse carried on year after year.
I can only give you my solemn vow,
That during my life time I will fight somehow
To make sure that this never happens again,
And to ensure safety for you, my friend.
I want you to know that I acknowledge your pain,
I know that you have nothing to gain,
By sharing your stories with one and all,
You simply want them to understand your call
Of prejudice, hate, pain and loss
You are the ones that paid the cost.
To you or others near and far,
I admire how very strong you are.
Please hold on and don’t fade away,
You are needed here, on this Earth, each day.
Some try to drown the horrors they’ve seen,
But your feelings are valid, you’re not a machine.
If you ever feel the need to speak,
I would like to be the ally that you seek.
I will stand beside you, baring my soul,
To let all others know the hold
That the Residential School has on your mind and your heart,
Let us come together and make a start.
Writing this poem was very emotional. I wanted to let the survivors know that I know what evil was perpetrated on them. I know that they are reluctant to trust outsiders, but if they would like to share their message, and they feel I can help in any way, I am there for them. My final thought on this spoken letter project is that I wish to say I am sorry to every family affected by this genocide. I wish there was an easy way to make this right and to take away their pain, but there isn’t.
Andrew Baird
