A Voice in the Wilderness - Blog
What Reconciliation Means to Me
Canada will once again mark the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation on Tuesday, September 30, a day for Canadians to reflect on the atrocities and multi-generational impacts of the Canadian Indian residential school system. Truth and Reconciliation was the theme of the Chapel service on Saturday, September 27, where Grade 11 student Tucker Jordan gave this moving speech about what Reconciliation means to him and his family.
My name is Tucker Jordan. I am Mohawk, from Six Nations of the Grand River.
I am a third-generation residential school survivor. My great-grandmother was taken as
a little girl to the Mohawk Institute – the “Mush Hole.”
She lived through things no child should ever have to live through. But somehow, she survived.
When she became a mother, she made the hardest and bravest decision of her life –
she fled our reserve and crossed into the United States with her children, including my
grandmother, so they would never have to go through what she went through.
That choice wasn’t easy. They had nothing. They were homeless. They were hungry. My grandmother was just a little girl, and she didn’t understand why they had to
leave their home. But my great-grandmother knew what would happen if she stayed. She knew that keeping her children safe was worth everything – even if it meant losing almost everything else.
Because of that decision, I am standing here today. My great-grandmother and
my grandmother broke the cycle. They carried the pain so that I wouldn’t have
to. They are the reason I have a chance to grow up safe, to learn my history,
and to choose a different future.
But the truth is, I grew up not knowing my language. I didn’t know our ceremonies. I felt like part of me was missing – like there was a piece of my identity that I couldn’t find. Some days, I felt angry. Some days, I felt lost.
I am still learning. I am still finding my way back to my culture. But I know that I am not alone. I have my family’s strength inside me. I have my great-grandmother’s courage and my grandmother’s determination guiding me.
Truth and Reconciliation Day is not just about history. It is about the children who never came home. It is about the families, like mine, who are still healing. And it is about all of us – deciding that the truth matters, that children matter, and that we will not look away.
I wear orange today for my great-grandmother, for my grandmother, and for every child who was taken. I wear it for every Indigenous kid still finding their way home.
Thank you – for listening to my story, and for remembering with me.
Tucker Jordan is a Grade 11 student at Shawnigan Lake School.
We acknowledge with respect the Coast Salish Peoples on whose traditional lands and waterways we live, learn and play. We are grateful for the opportunity to share in this beautiful region, and we aspire to healthy and respectful relationships with those who have lived on and cared for these lands for millennia.
Shawnigan Lake School is an independent co-educational boarding school for ages 13 –18 on Canada’s beautiful Pacific Coast. Our diverse, interdisciplinary and innovative programming helps shape the next generation of global leaders.
