Tomorrow I'll wake up to the first #NDTR and while I have my own thoughts on why National Indigenous Peoples Day should be a holiday and how we can make sure NDTR becomes a day of support for Indigenous People instead of a settler guilt holiday, its existence is a good start.
I have tough feelings involving #NDTR because I want actions that break down colonialism far more than just awareness which is still is good, but entire generations of Indigenous people already knew all of this had happened and collectively others burried their heads in the sand.
It took finding children in unmarked graves in a time when social media exists, do not think for a second there had not been previous discoveries just like this - because it was widely known to Indigenous people that children died there but their voices were ignored.
I don't want to see Indigenous voices to continue to be ignored, this is why I don't want #NDTR to become settler guilt day because it should not be about feeling bad it should be about stopping to listen - because this isn't new to Indigenous people it, is only new to you.
I'll say more tmrrw but I couldn't go to bed without saying something, connecting with other Indiginous people in my adult life I recognize that my families trauma and every families trauma is unique and how we all talk about it may not fit into whatever box people want it to.
Symbols matter, and I hope that #NDTR can evolve into a symbol that can have meaning and help healing for Indigenous people - but that remains to be seen.
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