Indigenous Elders bless residential school memorial as city plans to remove shoes

Emotional support or assistance for those who are affected by the residential school system can be found at Indian Residential School Survivors Society toll-free 1 (800) 721-0066 or 24-hr Crisis Line 1 (866) 925-4419.

CALGARY – A pipe ceremony at Calgary’s City Hall Thursday morning is being called the first step in consultation before a memorial for residential schools is removed.

The city has decided to remove the shoes at the steps of City Hall, but they won’t be taken away right away.

The ceremony signified a commitment between the city and Calgary’s Treaty 7, Metis and urban Indigenous Communities to work together to remember the children who never made it home from residential schools.

 

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The Bear Clan Patrol hosted the ceremony in response.

“The memorial is an important reminder of the dark truth of what took place at Indian Residential Schools in Canada,” said Harold Horsefall, Indigenous Issues Strategist with The City of Calgary. “This is a truth that must not be forgotten. Today we committed to work together to find a way to remember the children so we never forget.”

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The memorial is for the mass unmarked graves found at sites across the country — with the idea to eventually have a permanent memorial for what happened at residential schools.