The Truth and Reconciliation Commission is winding down its work this week having made public its report with 94 recommendations, one of which is an inquiry into the missing and murdered aboriginal women.
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In solidarity with the commission, the Anglican Church asked parishes across the country to toll their bells in remembrance, with one for each of the 1,122 indigenous women who have died or disappeared.
The solemn remembrance from churches in St. John’s, Charlottetown, Montreal, Ottawa, Calgary, Whitehorse and Vancouver took place at 2 pm and lasted for 90 minutes.
It is part of the 22 Days campaign, so-called because it is the time between the release of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission report and National Aboriginal Day, on June 21st.
It was started by deans from several Anglican churches across Canada. The campaign encourages Canadians to make a commitment to reconciliation, offering several suggestions or steps to take, such as learning to say “Thank you,” in an indigenous language, talking to children about the history of residential schools and identifying one of the calls to action from the TRC that matters personally.
“It’s very moving. It’s a very strange sound. It changes the sound of Ste-Catherine Street,” said Rev. Paul Kennington, the Rector of Christ Church Cathedral in Montreal.
“People look up and ask why is it ringing and they’re interested to hear, ‘To raise awareness about indigenous women missing and murdered,’ and I have to say it’s a bit of a scandal that people don’t know much about it.”
The bell-ringing will be repeated on June 10th and 17th. Meegwetch is the Algonquin way to say thank you
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