YELLOWKNIFE, Northwest Territories – Prince Charles ended a three-day tour of Canada on Thursday by urging Canadians to listen to the “truth of lived experiences” of forced Indigenous peoples. must attend residential schools designed to erase their culture and where abuse, suffering, and death are common.
Charles said in a speech in Yellowknife, the capital of the Northwest Territories and a city with a large number of indigenous people, with such courage, it is deeply moving.
“On behalf of my wife and myself, I want to acknowledge their suffering and say how much our hearts go out to them and their family,” Charles added.
His speech came after he met privately in Dettah, a nearby indigenous village, with leaders of the Yellowknives Dene First Nation, some of whom attended notorious schools .
A year ago, Canadians were shaken when ground-penetrating radar at a site around an old school in British Columbia found evidence that the remains of hundreds of people, mostly children, were buried there. . Similar searches at other sites yielded similar results.
Charles urged Canadians to continue to reconcile with Indigenous peoples, a program that is one of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s top priorities.
“We all have a responsibility to listen, understand, and act in ways that foster relationships between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people in Canada,” he told a crowd gathered at a central park. downtown, before starting to unveil the plaque marking the 70th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II, his mother, as head of state not only for Britain, but also for Canada.
When Charles and his wife Camilla flew back to Britain on a Royal Canadian Air Force Airbus, it was too early to say how much his words would resonate with Canadians. Polls have consistently shown that a majority of Canadians do not support his succession to the throne. But that would happen automatically without an amendment to Canada’s constitution, a process so difficult that it is unlikely to happen.
The crowds were surprisingly modest throughout the visit, including stops at St. John’s, Newfoundland and Ottawa, the capital. But none of Charles’ stops attracted the number of Canadians attracted to his sons during their official visits to Canada, nor did they reach the numbers obtained when he traveled. Canada with his first wife, Diana.
The last day of Charles’s Canadian tour was marked by drumming, dancing and native games.
Charles was greeted with a solemn traditional bonfire beneath an open tepee frame as he arrived at the Yellowknives Dene First Nation’s hall.
He entered the circular community room of the hall, where a group of natives played the Dene hand game, in which two teams used ceremonial moves to try to hide a small token from each other while others Drums start the action.
While in the Dene community, Charles held a private meeting with several Indigenous leaders, which lasted twice as long as the scheduled 20 minutes. Officials did not provide details about the discussion, which took place when Camilla made a private visit to the community’s small elementary school.
After the meeting, Charles joined the crowd in a circle dance held in a community room, accompanied by eight indigenous drummers. After a rotation and a half of the hall, Charles left, smiling as he waved a small Yellowknives flag he had received from a native woman.
