Get Over It

  Yesterday I heard a response from Canadian Senator Murray Sinclair to the question "Why don't indigenous people just get over the trauma of residential schools?" that made me say "YES!!" in my empty house. Here is his reply....

  "Why can't you always remember this? Because this is about memorializing those people who have been the victims of a great wrong. Why don't you tell the United States to "get over" 9/11? Why don't you tell this country to "get over" all the veterans who died in the Second World War, instead of honoring them once a year? Why don't you tell your families to stop thinking about all of your ancestors who died? Why don't you turn down and burn down all of those headstones that you put up for all of your friends and relatives over the years? It's because it's important for us to remember. We learn from it."

  Read that statement again. Doesn't it put things in perspective? Not just this one issue but every single one where you continually hear "Why don't they just get over it?"  Brilliant.

  Why can't we, all non-indigenous people, remember this? Are we ashamed? We should be. Do we feel it's in the past and we should move on? Of course we do. Should we move on? Once we have learned everything we possibly can from it perhaps. But we haven't yet. Not even close. If we had we wouldn't be asking that same old question.

  I don't know how to solve this issue. I don't know how I can help these now men and women move past the fear and trauma of watching other children disappear. I'm not even sure they can. But I do know saying "Get over it" isn't the way.

  Ang