On Sept. 30, a Remembrance Day Event took place at the site
of the Tomah Indian Industrial School that honors all Indian students who attended
Indian Boarding Schools.
Adrienne Thunder provided a welcoming statement and the
Little Thunder drum group rendered a welcome song. Ruth Decorah offered a prayer.
Then Adrienne introduced the keynote speaker, Sandra White
Hawk (Sicangu Lakota Nation). Sandra is the
National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition Board of Directors
President, Founder and Director of First Nations Repatriation Institute.
White Hawk shared her story of being separated from her
family and the journey to find her way back.
Her story is rooted in the boarding school experience. Sandra White Hawk also spoke about resilience
and strength found in Native communities in our ceremonies, prayers, languages,
songs, and dance. She acknowledged those
whose knowledge and experiences help us learn to carry on these ways.
Adrienne Thunder then announced she approached and offered
tobacco to William Collins, requesting he compose a song.
William Collins explained his creation process of the honor
song and then said, “The words that I put together are pretty simple. It says – the children went through a
difficult time and they said that Every Child Matters. One of the first thoughts I had when I first
started doing this was a thing that I saw that had said – a tiny voice cried
out ‘they found us.’ So, I put in there
– ‘Kora or wow, they said they found you!’
After Collins spoke, the Little Thunder drum debuted the
honor song. In English, the words to the
song are, “The children went through a difficult time. They said the children are important (Every
Child Matters). Wow, they said they
found you!”
Falls Florist provided the orange roses. Eliza Decorah,
Barbara Kmetz, Stormy Perry, Jean Stacy, and Angela Ward helped provide the
meal.
The event concluded with a traveling song, flower laying at
the memorial marker, and an invitation to eat a meal at the Blue Wing Community
Building.