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 Aaron
introduced our Guest Speaker
today, Amanda Aitken, a
resident of Eagle, Ontario
(Out by Rodney & Dutton),
about 40 minutes from
Chatham.
Amanda
spoke to us in her native
language, as an Ahnishabe,
also of Ojibwa & Métis
history. Her peoples name
means “the people that are
from this land” or in
Ojibwa, “the people with the
puckered moccasins”.
Amanda
told us of the Residential
Schools that existed in
Canada form the early 1800’s
until the last one closed in
the early 1960’s. It was
thought to “be an easy
process”, where the children
were taken from their homes,
the parents signed off legal
guardianship & many never
saw their children again.
It was the government’s idea
to assimilate the cultural
traits using the Residential
schools. No language other
than English was spoken, no
affection was shared and no
discussion of any of their
culture was allowed.
 It
is acknowledged that the
only way to heal is to talk
about incidents. We’re
hearing in the media now of
the social problems and of
generations filled with
hate. Amanda’s people were
told that there was no life
for them on the Reserve. She
was fortunate that her
parents chose to teach her –
respect for the Earth, how
to hunt & fish off the land
and to be true to
themselves.
Amanda
was in High school in
Blenheim, when the Delaware
Land Claim was in the midst
of her friends. She learned
hate then as she really felt
how differently her friends’
parents looked at her.
Amanda
continued her education to
become a goldsmith at George
Brown College & has now
operated her own business
for 5 years. But she feels
the need to be a teacher, to
help the children & youth,
to influence them.
She
offers advice to us – keep
and open mind. It is a
kindness to truly educate
yourself of another person
before passing judgment.
Have the bravery to speak
the truth.
Jim
thanked Amada for her visit
with us today, truly
inspirational. & a very
personal task.
_________________________________________________________
A
Thought for the Day:
Perseverance is the hard
work you do after you get
tired of doing the hard work
you already did.
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