INNISFAIL – Dean Allen Johnson is passionate about Orange Shirt Day.
And the kids and staff at Innisfail's St. Marguerite Bourgeoys Catholic School seize that passion; listening intently to the Indigenous elder’s beating drum for his songs of love, peace and reconciliation.
Johnson, a knowledge keeper and cultural adviser for the region’s Indigenous community, was the featured guest on Sept. 29 for the school’s Orange Shirt Day; held a day before the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, a Canadian holiday to recognize the legacy of the Canadian Indian residential school system.
“We've got to continue to come together to honour the survivors, my parents, my grandparents, who went to residential schools,” said Johnson, who offered an inspiring 40-minute presentation to the entire school body on the morning of Sept. 30. “Just out of respect we got to keep going and show that dignity and respect to survivors.”
He had an array of songs and prayers for the assembled; beating his drum as the attentive children clapped and clapped.
“It'll send that prayer out to them and that vibration from the drum, and send that vibration of acknowledgement of what we're doing here today and tomorrow as we go forward,” Johnson told the Albertan before the presentation.
During the presentation students and staff were reminded there were also 30,000 children across the country who were taken during the Sixties Scoop; citizens who should also never be forgotten.
“I was one of them,” said Johnson.
The Scoop era saw indigenous children “scooped” from their homes, communities and families of birth through the 1960s and passed on through adoption into predominantly non-Indigenous, middle-class families across the United States and Canada.
“Paying our respects to survivors is what it is all about,” said Johnson. “Orange Shirt Day is not just the 30th for me. “It’s every day for us because we carry the blood memory of that.”
Selena Frizzley, the school’s assistant principal, said St. Marguerite’s Orange Shirt Day was designed to give students the opportunity to reflect on the legacy of residential schools and the impact is has on past and current indigenous people.
“I think it's important not only for us as a school, but just people and Canadians to honour and recognize what occurred to our Indigenous people. We're starting the day off in a good way,” said Frizzley. “Our entire school will participate in different learning activities throughout the day just to build that broader understanding in an age-appropriate way.”
In the meantime, Johnson, a resident of Bentley, will continue to offer his services in the region for truth, reconciliation and peace.
It was nearly two and half years ago in May of 2021 when the Truth and Reconciliation process, which originally ran from 2008 to 2015, suddenly broke wide open in May of 2021 when 200 suspected missing childrens’ graves were discovered on the grounds of B.C.’s former Kamloops Indian Residential School.
Johnson conceded there is hope today towards meaningful progress around the truth and reconciliation process.
“Yes I do because truth is really about the hidden secrets in the dark past of Turtle Island,” said Johnson. “And the truth really means that it's come alive.
“And now we can take that healing journey as individuals if we so choose and help each other,” he added. “And I think that's what it's about.”
