Indigenous student group CC:ROSE raises awareness with Every Child Matters initiative
Last year on May 28, 2021, the discovery of irreverently placed, unmarked graves on the site of a former residential school in Kamloops, BC was confirmed. Other sites have followed with similar evidence gathered through ground-penetrating radar.
On November 10, 2021, the search began on the grounds of the oldest residential school in Canada, the former Mohawk Institute in Brantford which operated from 1831 to 1970. The Mohawk Institute is a 30-minute car ride from the Education Centre.
The HWDSB Indigenous student leadership group, Cultivating Community: Reclaiming Our Spaces in Education (CC:ROSE) invites the entire HWDSB community to join in a system-wide education and awareness campaign to honour and to show respect for those who were taken and those who never returned home.
The intention of this, Every Child Matters campaign is to raise awareness and visibility of the truth telling and sharing of Survivor experiences about the realities of Canadian Residential Schools and the ongoing impacts that Indigenous families and communities continue to heal from, every day.
Supporting “Every Child Matters” is an incremental step that the HWDSB community can take to contribute to and participate in reconciliation.
The ‘raising awareness and funds’ button was designed by a CC:ROSE member, Devyn at BCSS. Buttons will be available (pre order only) with a suggested minimum donation of $1.00. Orders will be due at the schools by Wednesday, May 4. Learn more by contacting your school office.
Proceeds will be donated to Indigenous groups and organizations that support the work of reconciliation specific to Canada’s Indian Residential Schools, Survivors and Survivor’s families that have been impacted.
This is a message from CC:ROSE (Cultivating Community: Reclaiming Our Spaces in Education):
She:kon (SAY- go) /Aanii (AH-knee)/Hello!
CC:ROSE is an Indigenous student led leadership group at HWDSB for students Indigenous to Turtle Island in grades 7-12.
CC:ROSE is launching the “Every Child Matters Button ‘raising awareness and funds’ campaign of 2022”. The buttons were designed by a CC:ROSE youth member and will be available for preorder until May 4th.
CC:ROSE invites all of the HWDSB community to join them in honouring and respecting the ongoing truth telling of Canada’s Residential School Survivors, those who were taken and those who didn’t come home.
The buttons will be distributed prior to May 28, 2022, which is the one-year mark since the initial report broke of the Kamloops, British Columbia ground search.
The proceeds of the campaign will be donated to Indigenous groups and organizations that support the truth telling and healing for Survivor’s, their families and communities.
As an Indigenous student group, this is how we are working towards helping to heal ourselves and our communities in the spirit of reconciliation. We invite you to join us in this meaningful work.
In Peace, Friendship and Respect,
CC:ROSE (Cultivating Community: Reclaiming Our Spaces in Education
Updated on Wednesday, July 27, 2022.