Yukon Regional Chief Kluane Adamek of the Assembly of First Nations (AFN) has offered some thoughts on Reconciliation Week and what it means for survivors, First Nations and all Canadians.

“As we walk gently into Reconciliation Week, I am taking time to reflect on where we have been as First Nations peoples and communities,” Adamek said in a statement.

“I acknowledge the survivors of the residential ‘school’ system; those who are with us and those who have passed on. To their families – grandparents, parents, communities and to the intergenerational survivors of today – please know that your story and experience will not be forgotten, and your legacy of strength and courage continues to inspire us,” Adamek said.

This week, she noted, people from coast-to-coast to coast are “honouring and reflecting on the dark chapters of our shared history, our true history.

“I recognize people like Phyllis Jack Webstad, whose story of courage and activism has turned the Orange Shirt Day Movement into a nation-wide wave of education and truth telling,” Adamek said.

“Since Phyllis established this day of commemoration in 2013, September 30th has been recognized as Orange Shirt Day across Canada.”

This year, it is marked by the first-ever National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, she noted.

“It is a day to honour survivors, their families, and their communities, and to reflect on the legacy of genocide that the residential “school” system continues to have today.

“For First Nations people, this remains a hard and heavy week of remembrance. The impacts are still very real, and very raw.

“Many will be taking time to pause and reflect, in ways that feel comfortable for them. For some, this may mean taking part in a quiet ceremony, or sharing a meal with elders and loved ones who you are grateful to have in your life.”

This week, Adamek is honouring her grandmother, Ch’aali uma, “a survivor of the Lower Post residential ‘school’ who passed away in January.

‘I will cherish her strength and reflect on the horrific experiences she endured as a child,” the regional chief said.

“Her legacy lives on through the strength and resilience of future generations.”

This week also enables non-Indigenous Canadians to listen and learn, she said, since truth must come before reconciliation.

“I encourage each and every person in Canada to spend this week taking new steps to learn the truths that First Nations, Inuit and Métis people have been sharing for a very long time. It is not the responsibility of Indigenous people to educate Canadians about Canada’s true history, and this burden cannot fall on the shoulders of the survivors,” Adamek said.

“Confronting the truth requires hard work, and heart work, from all Canadians.”

Establishing the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation is an important step, she said, “and we must remember that it is just that – a single step of a long journey.

“Let us take this step together, and I look forward to taking many more steps of true transformative change in the future.”