How do you celebrate the bright future possible for our children while remembering the darkest chapters of the past?
That's the challenge facing Living Sky School Division in partnership with Dance Saskatchewan, Allen Sapp Gallery, Elders and Sunchild Law in their upcoming community-based presentation, Silent Survivors.
A public presentation of this dance and theatrical production Monday, Oct. 6 at the Don Ross Centre in North Battleford beginning at 1:30 p.m. kicks off a week of learning experiences about the impact of residential schools today. From Oct. 7 to 10, Grade 5 - 12 students from across Living Sky School Division will participate in a workshop with dancers and artists from the performance. The spirit of these events is to create stronger relationships based on a shared understanding of the legacy of abuse and dysfunction that grew out of those dark times.
Federal Justice Minister Irwin Cotter has called Canada's residential schools, "the single most harmful, disrespectful and racist act in our history." To deal with a topic so sensitive, the organizers have chosen to use the arts, specifically dance, music and traditional artistic expressions, to discuss these difficult topics in a way that invites everyone to understand, and move forward towards a shared future. The Silent Survivors project doesn't stop there, but points towards a bright, shared future that acknowledges the past in a way that invites healing.
Lorin Gardypie, the artistic director of the project, says, "The impact of residential schools left a giant void and disconnection where our pride and self respect used to rest." This performance and the week long events that follow are part of assisting those who still "walk with a heart full of shame and hurt" to find, at last, "a meaningful path toward a healthy existence."
