A pair of children's slippers and a teddy bear sit on the steps to Sussex Town Hall. (Image: Town of Sussex, NB/Facebook)
A memorial has been established at Sussex Town Hall to remember the 215 children found buried at a former residential school in Kamloops.
Mayor Marc Thorne said Wednesday that an anonymous person placed children’s slippers and a teddy bear at the base of the steps to town hall.
“It is fitting that our community honour these children and every First Nations child that was taken from loving families and forced into residential schools or any institution not of their choosing,” Thorne wrote in a Facebook post.
Sussex-Vale was home to one of the province’s Indigenous day schools from 1787 until 1826.
“It is important that every Canadian, and our community, recognize and accept that our collective history has not always been what it should have been…that our treatment of First Nations people has sometimes been unjust and cruel,” said Thorne.
The mayor encouraged anyone who feels moved to place children’s slippers, shoes or teddy bears on the stairs at town hall to do so.
He also asked that anything placed on the stairs be respected and remain untouched except by town staff.
A national Indian Residential School Crisis Line has been set up to provide support for former residential school students. The toll-free line can be accessed 24 hours a day, seven days a week by calling 1-866-925-4419.
Message from Mayor Marc Thorne, Across Canada memorials are being created to remember the 215 indigenous children…
Posted by Town of Sussex, NB on Wednesday, June 2, 2021
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