Thread by @youseepeeYYC

A few months ago I went to the ceremony to honour #215children that were found at a residential school site. Since then thousands more have been discovered.

Here is a thread of videos from that day that I had not shared previously. #OrangeShirtDay

Singing from the drum circle.

A moment of silence.

Many in the crowd were wearing orange shirts that day.

#OrangeShirtDay2021

Another song at the drum circle.

Second part of that drum circle song.

Dancing at the drum circle.

(I couldn’t help but thinking that few decades ago, that little girl might have been separated from her family…)

#OrangeShirtDay

Prayers and song for children that never came home, and for the families who survived.

I didn’t catch all of this woman’s story. Her voice is haunting.

#OrangeShirtDay

A solo song with drum. Pt. 1.

Solo song with drum pt. 2

Candles and shoes for children who never came home.

Steps of #yyc city hall, May 31st.

“…because I’m nervous. Because I’ve never spoken out about this…”

Drumming and prayer and song continued into the evening.

As the light faded, the candles only seemed brighter.

#OrangeShirtDay

All of the videos in this thread were filmed at the #215dayofmourning on May 31, 2021.

There are so many more moments and stories that I failed to capture.

We must make room for these stories to be heard.

My original photo thread from that evening is below:

🧵👇

https://twitter.com/youseepeeYYC/status/1399550696421134336

#Reconciliation as an important issue that we may never get right. Events like the #215DayofMourning and #OrangeShirtDay will be crucial parts in our journey to come to terms with our nation’s past.

As an individual, I don’t have all the answers about what to do about big problems like this. What little voice I have, I do try to use to help make our society more just.

I hope these videos and images help with that.

On a personal note, a lifetime ago, I contemplated a career in journalism.
My instinct is to try to record everything and sort it out later into a story. But I’ve never been all that great at sorting. I’m not actually a journalist…

During the May 31 evening, I saw many media folks arrive to document the event. But there was one guy who was there before I arrived, and was still recording after I left. I wanted to say “hi,” but I didn’t want to interrupt (and I’m shy.)

Thanks to @klaszus for what you do.