Members of Tk'emlúps te Secwe̓pemc Nation wonder whether Trudeau was listening during his apologetic visit
CBC
As Ashley Michel approached the microphone Monday afternoon in the powwow arbour of the Tk'emlúps te Secwe̓pemc Nation, she paused and fought back tears.
The 30-year-old took a deep breath, pulled off her face mask and faced Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
"Mr. Trudeau, there is a lot I want to say, but you don't know me," she said, reading from prepared notes. "My voice may shake a little ... but I need you to listen and I want you to hear my voice."
Michel, who stood beside her seven-year-old daughter, Aveah, shared the pain she felt for mothers who lost their children at the nearby Kamloops Indian Residential School, where unmarked graves were discovered this spring, and denounced the destructive legacy of assimilation.
"I am mourning for our language, culture, traditions that I'm so desperately trying to reclaim and teach my daughter before it's too late," she said.
Trudeau, seated onstage with an orange T-shirt pin affixed to his suit jacket, heard similar testimonies from community members over four hours, including stories from residential school survivors.
The event was a reckoning for the prime minister, who apologized repeatedly Monday for snubbing an invite from the Tk'emlúps te Secwe̓pemc to join the community on the first National Day for Truth and Reconciliation in September.
Trudeau faced especially sharp words from Kukpi7 (Chief) Rosanne Casimir, who recounted the "shock, anger, sorrow and disbelief" felt by the community when it learned that he had instead vacationed with his family that day in Tofino, B.C.
The event was also meant for Trudeau to make amends with the First Nation and beyond. In closing remarks, he singled out Michel by name.
"That was unexpected," she said in an interview after the ceremony. "I appreciate it and it made me feel heard. But only actions will tell me if he was really listening."
That cautious optimism was echoed by a number of attendees.
Leona Hammerton, a 66-year-old member of the Adams Lake Indian Band in Chase, B.C., attended a private community meeting with Trudeau earlier that morning, where he spoke one-on-one to members and visited the unmarked burial site.
Hammerton said Trudeau appeared humble and sincere.
"But I also heard promises," she said. "As a Native person, I don't see a lot of promises coming true in my life."
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