Solidarity event in Sudbury weaves Indigenous, non-Indigenous into dreamcatcher

About 200 Indigenous and non-Indigenous people stood shoulder-to-shoulder in Sudbury on Thursday.

They were part of an event in the courtyard at Tom Davies Square, which used art and a community-building activity to bring people together in unity and solidarity.

The rally was organized in the place of traditional Canada Day activities, and was hosted by community arts group Myths and Mirrors and local Anishnaabe artist and educator, Will Morin.

Morin used cord to weave participants together into a giant circular dreamcatcher, where the participants represented the hoop.

"It's about that community building that we share a common history so let's have a shared common dream," Morin said.

Dreamcatchers are symbolic in Indigenous culture. Morin explained that the pattern is similar to what you might find on the bottom of a pinecone or an acorn. It involves interconnectedness.

"The dreamcatcher weave is a single strand of string that weaves from the outer ring to the middle and it interconnects all aspects. So all components on it were there to represent all things in nature and creation," he said

Morin also used the opportunity to share Indigenous teachings with those who were participating..

Community coming together

Amber Gaudrault brought her two children, ages 7 and 9 months, to the event. Her partner is Indigenous, and she hoped the solidarity activity would teach her children about empathy and community.

"With the recent news, it felt like this was a good way to come together with our community, and be with people who are all mourning together," she said.

For her older child, Gaudrault says she hopes this event shows him that the world is bigger than the 'tiny, tiny little bubble that we exist in.'

"And for both of them: that the world can kind of come together."

For Cora-Rae Silk, the artistic director at Myths and Mirrors, Canada Day hasn't been something she has celebrated for a number of years now.

"With the recent discoveries in BC and Saskatchewan and across Canada — and we know there will be many more — it just didn't make sense to celebrate Canada Day this year," she said.

Silk hopes Thursday's event is the start of further healing and learning for all peoples.

"We need to come together and find a way to move forward together; so the dreamcatcher: the interconnections and the weaving represent that," she said.

Silk was especially pleased to see so many non-Indigenous people in attendance, as they represent support from the broader community to Indigenous peoples. 

"I hope that following this event non-Indigenous people are motivated to act and rethink what it means to be Canadian, and how we can move forward in a way that's reciprocal and respectful of all people."

Silk explained that the dreamcatcher activity was a recreation of a project by the group back in 2000, also led by Morin.

The cord from Thursday's event will be woven into a 2-metre in diameter dreamcatcher intended to symbolize unity.