A respectful crowd of orange shirt clad participants honoured the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation at the Riverfront Centre on Monday.
Trail Mayor Colleen Jones hosted the ceremony and began with the Land Acknowledgement followed by an opening prayer.
Special guest, Herb Alex, a Sinixt Confederacy member, shared his experience growing up, and more poignantly those of his mother who was from the Osoyoos Indian Band, but was sent to a residential school when she was five and was interred there until Grade 11.
His mother did not share a lot of her experiences with her children due to her trauma, but what she did share is disturbing.
"What she did tell me when it came to missing children is what they (the school teachers) would tell them," said Alex. "Basically what they would tell the children if one day there was a kid next to them in their bed, and the next day they were gone, they would tell them they were sent to the TB (tuberculosis) sanitarium."
Some of the students may have gone to the sanitarium facility but some did not, and many never returned, said Alex.
"In order for there to be reconciliation, we have to identify the truth, and the truth is there were some very traumatic experiences for all sectors of the community," added Alex."And the results are still being felt within my family and in the community."
The special day honours those children who never returned home and those who survived the experience and the trauma of attending residential schools.
Alex was born and raised in the Kootenays, and he thanked those in attendance for their support, and encouraged all to give their children an "extra big hug tonight."
Trail City Council honoured Alex with a ceremonial gift of tobacco. The Mayor then ended the formal ceremony with a reminder of how we can honour the day and help those impacted by residential schools.
"Commemorating this day as a community to learn the truth about the painful history and ongoing impacts of residential schools is a vital component of the reconciliation process and we must do the work," said Jones.
"Today is about listening and learning, action taking and truth. I ask you to consider now at this moment what truth and reconciliation means to you? Then actively partake in what is offered here today."
Participants were encouraged to visit all nine stations at the event, and contemplate the significance of Orange Shirt Day and the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. Over 325 people participated in the event and made their way through the stations at the Riverfront Centre, compared to 175 last year.
The Mayor also thanked the several groups that came together to make the event a success.
