Hôpital Glengarry Memorial Hospital (HGMH) in Alexandria hosted its inaugural Truth and Reconciliation community event September 17, when everyone was invited to enjoy Indigenous social dances taught by Joyce King and members of the Native North American Travelling College (NNATC) from Akwesasne.
HGMH President and CEO Robert Alldred-Hughes spoke about Canada’s sad history of residential hospitals with substandard care, poor conditions and experiments on Indigenous people without their consent. Alldred-Hughes reaffirmed the institution’s commitment for compassionate, qualified healthcare for everyone in a community that never stops learning, listening and caring.
Along with Kayla MacGillivray, Chief HR Officer with HGMH, the group from NNATC acknowledged the land on which the hospital is built, welcomed visitors to the event, and taught students, from École Terres des Jeunes in Alexandria, that social dances were a way of giving thanks for the people gathered. These dances were celebrated before a hunt to help ensure success for the hunters to gather food. They told the story of Sky Woman falling from the sky, with seeds, onto a giant snapping turtle, circling around on the turtle’s shell, dropping her seeds, where they grew in abundance. And of the animals calling Grandfather Thunder back to Mother Earth in spring to replenish the earth with fresh water for the new growing season. Both adults and children enjoyed the chance to dance with the members of the Native North American Travelling College. As well, everyone was welcomed to be smudged in a sacred ceremony where sage and sweetgrass are burned and the smoke used to purify the mind, body and spirit.
This event was an afternoon of appreciation, gratitude and togetherness where the language and culture of the First Nations people were shared with guests. Commemorating Truth and Reconciliation Day honours the survivors of residential schools and hospitals and is one step in removing stereotypes and gaining an understanding of Indigenous peoples.
