Yvonne Rigsby Jones will be a speaker for Sharing stories in May on the 15 and 22. Her discussions will be about long term trauma and the effects on our community. She did a three part series for St. James before the Reconciliation Feast, Saturday, September 23, 2017
Yvonne Rigsby Jones is a Reconciliation Canada Ambassador and signed the Elder's Statement.
ALL ARE WELCOME TO ATTEND THIS TALKING AND LEARNING CIRCLE
The content of the following Elder's Statement that was prepared for the TRC event is Vancouver September 2013, contains the general themes that Elder Yvonne Rigsby Jones will discuss with those who gather for this learning circle.
We are Elders from Aboriginal and other ancient histories who care about Canadians and answered a call to action in November 2012. For two days, we gathered on the traditional territories of the Musqueam People to explore how Reconciliation, as a way of being, can help our society move forward. To that end we have made a video to explain who we are and invite you to join us on this path.
Our purpose is to speak some truths about the trauma of Indian Residential Schools and other atrocities that have been imposed upon humans around the world. As Canadians, we share a responsibility to look after each other and acknowledge the pain and suffering that our diverse societies have endured – a pain that has been handed down to the next generations. We need to right those wrongs, heal together, and create a new future that honours the unique gifts of our children and grandchildren.
How do we do this? Through sharing our personal stories, legends and traditional teachings, we found that we are interconnected through the same mind and spirit. Our traditional teachings speak to acts such as holding one another up, walking together, balance, healing, and unity. Our stories show how these teachings can heal their pain and restore dignity. We discovered that in all of our cultural traditions there are teachings about reconciliation, forgiveness, unity, healing and balance.
We invite you to search in your own traditions and beliefs, and those of your ancestors, to find these core values that create a peaceful harmonious society and a healthy earth. With those ways of being in mind, join us in facing the challenge of healing Canada of its painful past so we can leave a better future for our children.
With those ancient ways in our hearts and the future in our minds, let’s hold hands and walk together.