A Gathering To 'Honour Indigenous Children' Is Taking Place In Montreal Today
A gathering and march are planned in Montreal Thursday to "honour Indigenous children," "denounce genocide" and "demand justice" according to an Instagram post from Resilience Montreal. The event is part of the movement to #CancelCanadaDay.
The gathering will begin at Parc Jeanne-Mance at 2 p.m.
The Indian Residential School Survivors Society Emergency Crisis Line is available across Canada 24/7. Those who may need support can call 1-866-925-4419.
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The hashtag #CancelCanadaDay encourages residents of Canada to demonstrate their support for Indigenous people in lieu of celebrating the settler state.
Similar demonstrations are taking place across the country following the discoveries of unmarked graves at the sites of several former residential schools.
Residential schools were facilities run by churches and the Canadian federal government.
Indigenous children "were taken from their families and communities" and forced to "attend schools which were often located far from their homes," the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation states on its website.
These boarding schools were meant to assimilate Indigenous children into settler society, and students were regularly mistreated and abused.