Indigenous song of forgiveness to be featured on City of Windsor website this Canada Day

Windsor's City Hall will glow orange this Canada Day, instead of the usual red and white. 

The colour change is one of the ways that the city is observing the July 1 holiday this year. This comes in light of the nearly 1,000 unmarked graves that have recently been found at former Canadian residential school sites. 

The City of Windsor said it will also release an educational video on its website of Theresa Sims of the Ska:Na Family Learning centre, who will sing the Eagle Song.

Sims says it is a song of friendship and a way of healing the anger felt by Indigenous people.

"So we need to have that forgiveness and also help along the way because we know how our ceremonies are. We kept them even though they tried to destroy them. We still know our ceremonies. They sing those songs to also do the ceremonies for the children and bring them back," Sims said. 

Numerous Indigenous communities across the country are choosing to opt out of traditional Canada Day celebrations as a means of raising awareness and reflecting on the impact of the residential school system in Canada. 

Sims' mother became a student of a residential school at five years old. 

"She never learned English till she went to residential school and her first day, they put a broom across a well, suspended this little five-year-old over that water and she had to say, please and thank you before they would let her up," said Sims.

"Young children, you know, they're just learning about it. So they're learning and they're at that level of anger right now. Well, we don't get past that because we have to work together to find our children and return them back to their families."

City promotes educational resources 

The city is also promoting educational resources about the residential school system to encourage people to learn about the actions taken against Indigenous people.

Melissa Phillips from Museum Windsor has compiled a list of materials she used for her master's thesis. She suggests reading A National Crime: The Canadian Government and the Residential School System by John Milloy. 

"For me, I feel like it's a good read that should be part of the curriculum as part of creating education and awareness," said Phillips. 

In a statement, Mayor Drew Dilkens said he was saddened by the discoveries of the unmarked graves and encourages everyone to build their understanding around the issue. 

But, at the same time, Dilkens also defended Canada's reputation. 

"We are the nation of residential schools, but we are also a nation known for international peacekeeping, multiculturalism and welcoming tens of thousands of refugees. July 1 commemorations most appropriately recognize both the painful and positive aspects of our national identity," Dilkens wrote in the statement.