From sunrise to sunset their feet padded along the concrete, back and forth, quietly, in the heart of the city. A neat stack of wood, an axe and a chopping log were at their disposal, lined beside a circular metal fire pit with spruce boughs fanned around it like flower petals. Pouches of tobacco were laid open, ready to be offered to the fire.
SA国际影视传媒淲e spent all day tending the sacred fire, from 7 in the morning until 10 oSA国际影视传媒檆lock at night. Then they finished with a prayer for reconciliation,SA国际影视传媒� says Scott Yuill, one of the firekeepers at Somba KSA国际影视传媒檈 Park on Sept. 30, the first National Day of Truth and Reconciliation. Somba KSA国际影视传媒檈, in the Tlicho language, means Yellowknife, or SA国际影视传媒渨here the money is,SA国际影视传媒� but until the late SA国际影视传媒�90s the park bore the name of a French missionary priest now known to have been a pedophile. The parkSA国际影视传媒檚 name change is just one example of how the truth, and acts of reconciliation, can change the face of a city.
Under grey skies, Yuill says citizens from all walks of life solemnly made their way to the park beside city hall to show respect for survivors and the thousands of children buried in unmarked graves at federally funded, church-run residential schools, which, for 150 years, mercilessly segregated Indigenous children from their families and subjected them to cruelty and abuse. The express goal was to eradicate Indigenous peoplesSA国际影视传媒� distinct nations and cultures, SA国际影视传媒淪A国际影视传媒o get rid of the Indian problem,SA国际影视传媒� as Duncan Scott, a federal architect of the system, famously decried.
SA国际影视传媒淭hought of my buddies and others who never made it home,SA国际影视传媒� Paul Andrew, a survivor of one of the NWTSA国际影视传媒檚 most notorious residential schools, wrote on social media after he fed the fire with tobacco SA国际影视传媒� a Dene ceremony intended to connect through prayer to ancestors and give thanks to the land, air, water and all things. Andrew, originally from Tulita, is a retired CBC broadcaster who has publicly shared how the abuses he suffered at residential school impact his life. All survivors and children of survivors (intergenerational survivors) are impacted by individual and collective traumas from colonization, racism, and the residential school legacies, and those impacts can include struggles with addictions, mental health issues, and medical conditions.
Of the 312 known people experiencing homelessness in Yellowknife, 91.5 per cent are Indigenous and 93 per cent migrated to the city SA国际影视传媒� mainly from other NWT communities, but also from Nunavut and Western Canada, according to the 2021 Yellowknife Point-in-Time Homeless Count, a one-day survey conducted April 18 for the City of Yellowknife. Strikingly, at least 81 per cent have either attended residential schools or had one or more of their parents attend one.
A downtown solution is SA国际影视传媒榳hat reconciliation looks likeSA国际影视传媒�
Providing special care for this population at a new Temporary Day Shelter, where people can access the bare necessities to survive SA国际影视传媒� food, heat, bathrooms SA国际影视传媒� as well as medical care and social service supports, has been hotly contested in recent weeks by some downtown businesses and city councillors. COVID-19 restrictions have limited the space available at the downtown Sobering Centre and Day Shelter. Without an additional facility, street-involved people have no welcoming place to escape the looming winter cold.
An attempt by the to obtain a municipal permit to use the building at the corner of Franklin Avenue and 48th Street, the old Legion, was voted down 4-3 by city council last week; even though changes are afoot to the citySA国际影视传媒檚 Zoning By-law to remove the discretionary oversight of council for special care facilities in the downtown.
SA国际影视传媒淲eSA国际影视传媒檙e recommending that these types of care facilities become permitted use in the downtown core, meaning the downtownSA国际影视传媒檚 zone only, for a couple reasons,SA国际影视传媒� Rob Lok, the citySA国际影视传媒檚 planning and lands manager, told an open house for the Draft Zoning By-law on Sept. 23. SA国际影视传媒淚t is where the service providers are located, and itSA国际影视传媒檚 where the citySA国际影视传媒檚 10-Year Plan to End Homelessness directs us.SA国际影视传媒�
Lok says this inclusivity aligns with city councilSA国际影视传媒檚 visions and goals, SA国际影视传媒渁nd most importantly, itSA国际影视传媒檚 what reconciliation looks like.SA国际影视传媒�
SA国际影视传媒淲e canSA国际影视传媒檛 keep talking about relocating a problem elsewhere, we have to be accepting of that problem, or those concerns in our neighbourhood. And we have to be willing to let it unfold where the service providers are.SA国际影视传媒�
Those service providers include overnight shelters like the Salvation Army, which do not allow clients to remain during the day. Jenna Scarfe, the Territorial Director of Mental Health and Community Wellness, says providing shelter in the downtown is a matter of life or death.
SA国际影视传媒淚f they have to go too far, theySA国际影视传媒檙e not going to make it. ThereSA国际影视传媒檚 a potential that people could freeze,SA国际影视传媒� Scarfe says.
Starting new patterns: conversation, respect, and meaningful acts
Yuill, who owns Harleys Hardrock Saloon on 48 Street, supported the territorial governmentSA国际影视传媒檚 proposed new shelter SA国际影视传媒� about a block away from his business SA国际影视传媒� as a temporary measure until a more comprehensive wellness facility is built. Yuill discovered at age 18 that his birth mother in Nova Scotia is MiSA国际影视传媒檏maq. As an executive member of the Yellowknife Crazy Indian Brotherhood, he says heSA国际影视传媒檚 excited and revitalized by the giving and caring thatSA国际影视传媒檚 shared during their Feed the People events, which include breakfasts at Somba KSA国际影视传媒檈 Park. He urges Yellowknifers to drop their hostility toward people on the streets.
SA国际影视传媒淚tSA国际影视传媒檚 time to sit down and talk with them and understand them,SA国际影视传媒� he says. SA国际影视传媒淢aybe if we stop going in with hostility and start going in with love and peace in our hearts, maybe everybody will start following along and start a pattern, people will start feeding off of it.SA国际影视传媒�
Emma Junker, an office worker in the YK Centre who welcomes a new temporary shelter near her, has adopted that approach. SA国际影视传媒淚 just cannot stress enough that we are arguing over people, theySA国际影视传媒檙e human beings and respect begets respect and why would they respect areas when those areas have been so vocal that theySA国际影视传媒檙e not wanted and not welcomed,SA国际影视传媒� Junker says.
Health and Social Services Minister Julie Green says that as the COVID-19 outbreak continues to grow in Yellowknife and surrounding communities, the need for a temporary shelter becomes even more urgent. The minister has not ruled out the possibility that the territorial government will invoke emergency measures, as was done last year, to commandeer access to a shelter location.
SA国际影视传媒淚SA国际影视传媒檓 beyond disappointed that Yellowknife City Council has voted down two temporary day shelters in the past year,SA国际影视传媒� Green says. SA国际影视传媒淚 too wish for a vibrant downtown, it is the heartbeat of the city, but without meaningful acts of reconciliation and compassion for Indigenous northerners who face incredible challenges, this will never be realized.SA国际影视传媒�
