Marsha Wabie arrived on Parliament Hill on Tuesday with a pair of light-tan deerskin moccasins no bigger than the size of her outstretched hand.
As she quietly placed them alongside dozens of other children’s shoes lined up in front of the stage ahead of the Remembering the Children event for
National Day for Truth and Reconciliation
, it was all she could do not to cry.
“It hurts knowing that all these children didn’t come home,” said Wabie, a member of Timiskaming First Nation in Quebec. “It’s really emotional. I’m just trying to hold it back here.”
The moccasins were given to her by an elder in her community and don’t feature any beadwork — this is because the small beads traditionally featured on the top of moccasins can be a choking hazard for kids, she explained.
Moccasins, running shoes, sneakers and winter boots were placed in front of the stage to recognize missing Indigenous children who never made it home from
residential schools
. The shoes will be donated to charity after the event.
Prime Minister Mark Carney and Gov. Gen. Mary Simon were also in attendance on the lawn of Parliament Hill to mark the National Day for
Truth and Reconciliation
on Tuesday.
For Sarah Rourke, a member of the Mohawk Nation of Akwesasne, the moccasins she placed in front of the stage are more than just shoes: they’re her way of honouring the 16 members of her family who
have been through residential schools
.
“(The moccasins) represent our steps forward, our steps in the past, that we’re still here and that we can still create,” Rourke said while holding a pair of deerskin moccasins with raised beadwork on the top.
“We wanted to make sure that we represented all that we are, and that we’re honouring all those that are lost and all those that are still here that are continuing our legacy,” Rourke said.
Krista Winsor, who travelled all the way from Carcross/Tagish First Nation in Yukon as a special guest for Remember the Children, brought a pair of children’s Size 6 ankle-high white snow boots to place in front of the stage.
While taking a moment to remember those who came before her, Winsor said she was also thinking ahead to the child who would be wearing the boots when they are donated after the event.
“I chose these ones specifically knowing the shoes are actually going to go to a child who needs them,” she said, adding she hopes the boots will be useful as winter approaches. “It’s pretty emotional thinking of all the children who came before them who did not get to come home.”
Even for those without Indigenous ancestry, bringing footwear was a way to place themselves in the shoes of the residential school survivors standing alongside them.
Veronique Samure brought three pairs of shoes that her daughters had outgrown: a blue pair of running shoes, a green pair of ankle-high boots and a pair of tall silver snow boots.
“I cannot imagine that people would just come to my house and take my two girls away, and never see them again and not knowing what happened to them,” Samure said.
“I think it’s my role as a Canadian just to remember and give hope and be part of the story.”
