Big orange heart at N.S. residential school site a reminder of the past

To mark the second annual National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, Sipekneꞌkatik First Nation held a cultural event and unveiled a massive flag made up of 14,000  tiny orange flags at the former site of the Shubenacadie Residential School.

Each flag represents a loved one who survived residential school or didn't come home.

"I put several flags down, one for my grandmother and my dad, my brother who passed on," said Dorene Bernard, a residential school survivor who has been working to educate others about what happened.

"They didn't get to see the healing that's being done, you know? They didn't get to see the commemorations and the people that are honouring survivors."

The Shubenacadie Residential School — demolished in 1986 — was in operation from 1930 to 1967. 

According to Parks Canada, the school, and others like it throughout Canada, aimed "to assimilate Indigenous children as part of a broad set of efforts to destroy Indigenous cultures and identities and suppress Indigenous histories."

The impact this school had is still felt in the community. Bernard said even after the school closed, many children didn't return home because of the period known in Canadian history as the Sixties Scoop, where Indigenous children were taken from their families and adopted out.

"We're still trying to locate those people as well and welcome them back home. So there's a lot of work to be done with commemoration, but this is a beautiful start," Bernard said.

Drumming, singing and traditional dance were front and centre at Sipekneꞌkatik First Nation's showcase on Saturday.

There was also a lot of focus on the younger generation and the future.

The giant orange heart stirred emotions for survivors and their families.

"I think about my mom and when she told me about when she first went to the school, she came in, came from New Brunswick and she came by train," Sheila Nevin said. 

"And she said when she reached the steps of the school, she said, 'I started crying because … I realized I'm not going to be home anymore.'"

In addition to the National Day for Truth and Reconcililation, Mi'kmaq communities are preparing to mark another important milestone in Nova Scotia.