Everyone has a story.
"Everyone has a story. Every story matters. Not every story is easy to hear."
These words, shared by UTS Composer-in-Residence Cris Derksen during our National Day for Truth and Reconciliation Assembly, were a poignant reminder of why we gather as a community of learners ‒ to listen, to reflect, and to commit to act.
On September 30, our community witnessed the world premiere of her composition, pinâskiw, which means 'The Season of Falling Leaves.' One hundred musicians from Junior and Senior Strings, dressed in orange, took to the stage and filled Withrow Auditorium with the sound of hope and renewal. As the final notes faded, applause resounded while conductor Ms. Shugarman extended thanks to Cris, a Juno-nominated cellist and composer from Treaty 8 territory in Northern Alberta, with lineage from the North Tallcree Reserve on her father's side and Mennonite homesteaders on her mother's.
It was a powerful moment for our school community on a day of deep significance to our country.
As part of the assembly, organized by our school's Indigenous Solidarity Committee, Cris participated in a student-led panel discussion. She explained that music is her way of sharing stories, and 'The Season of Falling Leaves' expresses her love for the renewal of the seasons, the energy that comes when the leaves start to fall and the air cools. This renewal extends on a broader scale to our country as Indigenous and non-Indigenous Canadians work together to further Reconciliation.
Earlier in the assembly, students watched recorded testimony from Residential School Survivor Chief Dr. Robert Joseph. Today he is a Hereditary Chief of the Gwawaenuk First Nation in B.C. and a leading voice for Truth and Reconciliation, but when he went to residential school, he was just six years old, away from home for the first time. He described his fear arriving at the school, of being herded into showers, painted with white liquid, having his hair cropped off. He remembered being punished for waving at his sister, who also attended the school, and leaving many years later "truly broken." He also recalled the moment when the Prime Minister issued an apology to Residential School Survivors. He remembers the tears of joy he cried when he finally heard the words, "I'm sorry."
At last, they had listened.
The National Day for Truth and Reconciliation is first about listening, and then about challenging ourselves to think about what we can do, what we are obligated to do, what we should do, and what we must do. After the assembly, students reflected in their classrooms on how they could help further Reconciliation and shared actions they plan to take in the year ahead.
I reflect on my own work and obligations both as a citizen and as Principal of this wonderful school. I remember the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's Call to Action 63, which asks educators and school systems to ensure students learn about Indigenous voices. When we listen to and include multiple voices, representation follows, creating greater empathy and understanding between all Canadians and leading to unity.
It's not unlike listening to music. Cris told students that the collective act of listening to music together aligns the heartbeats of people in the audience a reminder that we are bound together by our humanity. This idea that we are all together and unified in this work is what Reconciliation ultimately means to us.
