The Legacy of Hope Foundation acknowledges and honours OSSTF/FEESO
The recent discoveries of mass burials of Indigenous children in Kamloops and other locations confirms what many Survivors and families of Residential and Day School systems have been saying for decades. The Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation (OSSTF/FEESO) is committed towards educating and raising awareness about the history and impacts of the Residential and Day School Systems, the subsequent effects of the Sixties Scoop, and the aftermath that they continue to have on Indigenous Peoples through collective and intergenerational trauma. That is why in June 2021, OSSTF/FEESO provided a $10,000 donation to the Legacy of Hope Foundation.
The Legacy of Hope Foundation is an Indigenous-led organization that has been promoting healing and Reconciliation in Canada for more than 19 years. The Foundation’s goal is to “educate and raise awareness about the history and existing intergenerational impacts of the Residential School System (RSS) and subsequent Sixties Scoop (SS) on Indigenous (First Nations, Inuit, and Métis) Survivors, their descendants, and their communities to promote healing and Reconciliation.”
The National Indigenous Education and Reconciliation Network and OSSTF/FEESO have been members with the Legacy of Hope Foundation since its first Gathering in 2017. This unique annual Gathering affords hosts the opportunity to raise awareness about the work they do to promote Indigenous education and reconciliation as both individual organizations and as a collective.
The journey towards reconciliation cannot begin until we learn and acknowledge the truth. The Legacy of Hope Foundation’s education resources help address the critical gaps in curriculum around Indigenous People, colonialism, racism, and oppression in our society. It is a privilege for OSSTF/FEESO to be able to form connections, learn from, and support organizations like the Legacy of Hope Foundation.
Finally a spotlight is shining on this Canadian historical atrocity
FYI The graves referred to are not “mass graves”. Mass graves are when massacres or tragedies occur, and multiple bodies are buried together in the same grave. In this particular case they are UNMARKED GRAVES, meaning they once had a wooden cross which has been long gone. Still unfortunate but quite a difference!