The Truth

Traveling to new countries has always been one of my passions, and, after years of staying still, mostly due to the pandemic, I was happy to hop on a few planes to visit Ecuador (Ikwadur Ripuwlika; Ekuatur Nunka), the country literally situated at the middle of the world.

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For someone like me that loves architecture, walking through the streets of historical Quito was a box of surprises with beautiful, colorful monuments and buildings at every corner. According to the UNESCO, the city has the best-preserved, least altered historic center in Latin America.

And what can I say about the churches!

Their opulence is unmatched to anything I have seen before. I have come across fabulous, larger, taller churches in the past, but the concentration of gold leaves from the domes, to the walls of Quito's cathedrals were unprecedented for me .

I knew the gold was real, I read it was real, but I started to have a cognitive dissonance between my amazement at the pure grandiosity of the basilicas and the voice in my mind that slowly started to ask me:

What was the human cost to building those jewels?

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As a Haitian educated in Haiti I knew the answer.

We may have a lot of issues in our Educational system but we learned the Truth about how those celebrated churches came to life.

As I was getting out of the Iglesia Compañía de Jesús, I wanted to visit the Seminario, and right in front of me, I had my answer:

At the entryway was a proudly exposed mural depicting a priest apparently baptizing a group of indigenous youth, washing away their religion, culture, identity and later on their humanity.

This was the last church I visited during my trip.

Not because this part of history was new to me.

More times than I can remember, as a kid, I had repeated the history lessons of how the s Taíno and the Arawak people of Ay-ti were exterminated because of the physical abuse they suffered at the hands of the megalomaniac Spanish, then French colonizers, greedy for more and more gold.

Their genocide is the reason why my ancestors were enslaved and brought to America to continue the imperialist plan, so no, no new information for me.

What shocked me was how casually the pre and post genocide phases of the indigenous groups of Ecuador were presented in 2022.

No explanation, no commemoration, no plaque acknowledging the lives lost to build those churches that still bring millions of dollars to the catholic church AND to the country every year.

This idealization and romanticization of history left a bad taste in my mouth especially, knowing that, Ecuador, like most countries in the American continents signed the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples since 2007, which, among other things, states that the signing governments have to take measures to redress any action which has the aim or effect of depriving Indigenous People of their integrity trough : education and acknowledgement, at the minimum.

Ecuadorians still have a long way to go , but they are moving forward, at least on paper.

Dear reader, do you know which country voted no for the cited Declaration in 2007 ?

Yes

Oh Canada.

Fortunately, a lot has happened since then because of national and international pressure and the unfortunate discovery of more tragedy.

The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act was fully endorsed by the Government of Canada in 2016 and received Royal Assent to come into force on June 21st, 2021.

In 2021, after the discovery of the thousands of unmarked graves at the sites of past residential schools, The National Day for Truth and Reconciliation was elevated or should I say forced to the level of a statutory holiday .

This day, Today. September 30th, represents an effort of the Canadian government to promote awareness and education of the catholic residential school system and the impact it has had on Indigenous communities for over a century.

Even if it's one step in the right direction, the First Nations and Indigenous communities of Canada are still calling upon federal, provincial, territorial, and municipal governments to fully adopt and implement the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples as the framework for reconciliation.

This week, I had to the opportunity to be a witness to the Honouring our Learning Path towards Truth & Reconciliation session organised by The Reconciliation Education Team.

I was truly moved by the testimony of Dene Elder Margaret Reynolds a residential school Survivor of La Plonge First Nation.

As she was sharing her tragic story, I could not help but realize the magnitude of what was done to the Indigenous people not only in Canada but certainly all over the Americas and around the world.

The stories have nuances, different timelines and geographic differences but they are one and only.

As I look at my newly purchased artwork from Otavalo, Ecuador, I listen to her voice as her words resonate in the eyes of the Elder from my painting living so far away from her, but with the same story:

They probably inflicted mental wounds on us, tried to strip us of our language, of our way of life, but we showed this powerful spirit, and what matters most, isn't it our spirit? That they failed to take away from us?

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As most politicians and performative social justice warriors in Canada are getting ready to wear their orange T-shirt today, do not stop there. There are many ways to Honor the spirit and the strength of those that have passed and the survivors that are still with us :

• If you want to wear an orange T-shirt in memory of the victims, purchase it from a known indigenous business

• Learn more about the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada: 94 Calls to Action and see how you can implement 1 call in your personal life at your level

• When talking about Indigenous people, refrain from using the word Indian, advocate for the the Canadian Indian Act to be renamed and updated. You can do some research about why using this word is offensive.

• Acknowledge History: do not choose to only see what you are comfortable with : see the grandiose, but acknowledge it is often linked with the bad, and the ugly. This is the Truth, and accepting this reality is the only way to Reconciliation.

Amina-Kay Cantave M.Ed.

let's connect : aminakaycantave@academiemakaya.org