‘Our community wants change’: Manawan community members discuss the meaning of truth, reconciliation – Montreal | The Canadian News

People living in Manawan’s Atikamekw community say they want to move on.

“Our community wants a change,” emphasized Assistant Principal Sipi Flamand as he prepared for the second day of the community’s annual powwow weekend in late September.

According to Flamand, the death of Joyce Echaquan last year has focused attention on the problems that indigenous peoples have been facing for generations.

“We saw a lot of things about discrimination, systemic racism,” said the deputy chief, “and Joyce showed us what happens there.”

Echaquan, who lived in the community, died at a Joliette hospital after filming herself being subjected to racist ridicule by staff.

That incident mobilized the residents of this community 200 km north of Montreal to demand recognition and recognition of the injustices indigenous peoples have faced, including the experiences in residential schools.

“We are human beings and we should be treated that way,” said Keith Flamand, master of ceremonies at the powwow.

Those issues were the most important to him and other residents when they came together to celebrate resilience at the event.

“We want to recognize that First Nations always have a battle,” he wanted people to know. “We have had a battle for hundreds of years, whether it be physical, mental, emotional or spiritual.”

Some, like Sipi, see the first National Truth and Reconciliation Day as an opportunity for non-indigenous people to begin a dialogue with their indigenous neighbors and start a new journey.

“I think September 30 is a day for Canadians and Quebecers to try to understand,” he emphasized.

He and other community leaders insist that governments have a responsibility to indigenous peoples and want more resources to govern themselves.

“The biggest challenge,” Sipi emphasized, “is that our community does not have more programs to be a people.”

He noted that housing and a lack of economic opportunity are common problems for many First Nations, Inuit and Metis communities.

Other indigenous leaders agree and point to a new wave of desire for change among the people.

“Maybe it’s time for it to turn into a tsunami for governments to finally do the right thing,” said Ghislain Picrad, head of the Quebec-Labrador Assembly of First Nations.

Carol Dubé, Echaquan’s husband, believes the solution is simple.

“Equal treatment for all, regardless of their origins,” he told Global News on Atikamekw.

The road to reconciliation, he agrees, is just beginning.