Church, aboriginal leaders' tour arrives in Winnipeg
Last Updated: Monday, March 10, 2008 | 10:32 AM CT
CBC News
Church and aboriginal leaders will gather in Winnipeg on Monday as part of a national tour paying tribute to residential school survivors.
The Assembly of First Nations and several churches are behind the tour, called "Remembering the Children," which launched March 3 in Ottawa and has already stopped in Vancouver and in Saskatoon.
Peter Bush, a Presbyterian minister who helped organize Winnipeg's event, said it's an opportunity for the church to repair relationships with aboriginal people that were damaged by the residential school system and the abuse many suffered in it.
"I believe that the churches need to be serious about our relationship with aboriginal peoples in this country. That history of relationship has been troubled, and we need to be prepared to both admit the wrongs that were done in the past and seek ways into the future that are healthy and whole," he said.
"I hope that what happens is that … ordinary church people and ordinary aboriginal people — particularly survivors of the residential schools — have a chance to be together in the same context, to greet one another, to listen together and together to find hope and reconciliation."
Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs Grand Chief Ron Evans and Manitoba politician Elijah Harper are expected to attend the event, as are representatives from United, Anglican, Roman Catholic and Presbyterian churches.
Monday's free public event begins at 7 p.m. at The Forks market in downtown Winnipeg.
