By Deirdre Dwyer
With thanks to the United Way and the Old School Community Gathering Place, I attended a two-day retreat at the Millbrook Cultural & Heritage Centre outside of Truro, Nova Scotia on June 3 and 4th. On the first afternoon, about 20 attendees participated in a smudging ceremony with Gordon Pictou and drumming and chanting with Trevor Gould of Eastern Eagle.
The keynote speaker was Susan Aglukark who told her story about getting into singing and songwriting – by accident. At the 2022 Junos, she was awarded the Humanitarian award for her foundation Northern Rose, which is an after-school program and a safe place for children to make arts and crafts. She spoke about the need for the Indigenous to heal as we all need to heal. And she sang several songs with the videos of her parents and ancestors. One of my favourite songs of hers says, “O Siem, we are all family/ Oh Siem, we are all the same/…Hearts in anger bleed/ the wheels of change is turning/ for the ones who truly need.”
She spoke about how the government hired her father to navigate their boats through the waters. One audience member commented that as a metaphor for the Truth and Reconciliation process, the Indigenous groups help navigate and steer the process. The talk ended with a Round Dance: all of us dancing together in a circle in the Millbrook theatre to one of Susan Aglukark’s lovely songs.
The next day Ishbel Munro, an activist, community builder, and coordinator of the First Nations Environmental Networking and of the Women of Fist Light spoke of the history of the Mi’kmaq, the Acadians, and the British, of her many experiences, of listening and building relationships and working collectively. The introductory notes about the facilitators say this about Ishbel Munro: “The thread that has run through-out her life is the creation of a more balanced, just world-- a world where people can heal and grow to become the people they dream of being.”
Cathy Martin, the second speaker on June 4, is an independent producer, film maker, and the first Indigenous Community Liaison for Dalhousie University. She is also a member of the advisory committee for the Eastern Hub of Righting Relations, the Nancy Chair of Women’s Studies at Mount St. Vincent University, and a drummer and singer. We sat in a circle as she did a smudging. We closed by speaking from our hearts about the retreat, our place in the world, and our communities. There were tears, voices breaking, souls hurting, and intense conversations.
In 2021, I organized a Truth and Reconciliation get-together on September 30 to honour the missing Residential School children, and to consider ways to move forward. In 2022, the Old School Community Gathering Place will host an event during Truth and Reconciliation Week, from 26-30 September. Save the dates and I will post more information later about this year’s event.
