With the drawing to a close this past week of Indigenous History Month and the horrific revelation of more bodies discovered in unmarked graves at another residential school, our conversation with Ray John took on increased significance.
He is an impassioned Indigenous cultural teacher at the London District Catholic School Board and with boards elsewhere in the province.
He has worked in the education field for more than 15 years and he says the mixed emotions of the past month have had a unifying effect in his Oneida community and within Indigenous communities elsewhere in the country.
“You drive up and down in our community and you see so many orange shirts. You see toys out there dedicated to the young ones that are gone.
“But there’s a real sense of unity here. It’s not that it wasn’t here before. I think it is more that we are supporting each other.”
John has been awarded for working “tirelessly in the spirit of Truth and Reconciliation” and he stresses only through engaging in tough conversations will Canadians be able to educate themselves on Indigenous culture and the tyranny of residential schools.
Tag Archives: Oneida Settlement
Dutton Dunwich wind turbines: ‘We’re not past the point of no return’
Opponents of the Strong Breeze Wind Project in Dutton Dunwich gathered outside the Dutton Community Centre on Thursday, vowing it’s never too late to stop construction of 16 to 20 wind turbines capable of generating over 57 megawatts of green energy,
Meantime inside at a public open house, a spokesman for Chicago-based Invenergy said his firm has had positive feedback from local businesses wanting to know how they can participate in the undertaking that likely won’t see a shovel in the ground before 2019.
Ian's City Scope 