In their own act of recognizing and learning the truth on their reconciliation journey, the Environmental Stewardship class at Cowichan Secondary School installed 215 orange ribbons along the fence at the school. The memorial is a poignant reminder to all of the 215 stolen Indigenous lives. Interspersed among the ribbons are messages to the community and to the children who lost their lives.
The students stated it was an act of learning the truth of what happened at Residential Schools across Canada and hoped that the memory of these students would lead their generation to fully embrace reconciliation.
As one Indigenous student said, “Yesterday we honored the 215 children from Kamloops residential school. Not only, but we honoured the fallen. We honoured the survivors. As an indigenous person, we indigenous people are in mourning for the children that didn’t make it home. I can’t imagine what the survivors went through.”
The memorial will remain as a reminder of the work we have to do.
