Benches benefitting the community

Orange memorial benches are being installed at local parks in Kahnawake as part of an Every Child Matters initiative, starting with one at the Kahnawake Sports Complex last Friday.

“The benches represent resilience because our survivors were super strong,” said June Skye-Stacey, coordinator for the Orange Shirt Day Committee, which brought forward the idea.

“I was sitting here, and I was thinking about all the parks, all the playgrounds in the community. They have no benches in there. And the more I thought about it, when the children were gone, how sad it must have been for the parents, sitting on benches in their own yard thinking about where their children must be,” she said.

The orange bench project, sponsored by Kahnawà:ke Shakotiia’takéhnhas Community Services (KSCS), officially launched last Friday just before the Kahnawake Junior B Hunters played their first home game of the playoffs, but there are more benches to come.

“Helen (Montour) and I, our goal is that these benches should be placed in playgrounds where children are allowed to play and talk, because in residential school, they weren’t allowed to talk. They couldn’t talk their language. They weren’t allowed to play,” said Skye-Stacey.

She explained that orange benches across the parks in Kahnawake will not only fill a practical need but also show how the community is growing past residential schools.

With these benches, the children who returned or didn’t come back will be commemorated.

“It’s about survival, remembrance, resilience, and determination. The benches will be a tangible reminder of this,” said Skye-Stacey.

“The words on the orange bench will say: Tohsa’ Nonwen:ton Tsonkwa’nikonhrnon Tsi Nihatiia’tano:ron’s Ne Iethien’okon’a. Let us never forgot how precious our (little) children are.”

As stated by Skye-Stacey, “The government thought they were going to eliminate us, but look, we’re still here, and our language is surviving.” And that’s how these benches are a form of resilience.

“It is an initiative to ensure there’s a place for children at parks that represented the remembrance, reflection, and resilience of the Orange Shirt Day,” said Kwaronienhawi Jacobs, the interim director of Sports and Recreation at the Mohawk Council of Kahnawake.

“It’s an initiative that honours the children who never returned home from residential schools and recognizes the strength of survivors and their families,” said Jacobs.

MCK chief Arnold Boyer spoke at the initiative’s launch ahead of the lacrosse game on June 27.

“I was asked by the Orange Shirt Day Committee to do an opening few words because June and Helen know that my parents went to residential school, and I have a direct connection with residential schools because of my parents,” said Boyer.

“It’ll be there for a reminder. We went through this residential school, we survived. We’re persistent, resilient,” he said.

Both Skye-Stacey and Boyer share the same idea that these benches will help the community with growing past residential school - not to forget about them but to live with and acknowledge that they happened.

These benches are more than just benches; they are a reminder of our resilience. That is what Skye-Stacey, Boyer, and Jacobs all agreed on.

The sentiment was also echoed by Rebecca D’Amico, manager of prevention services at KSCS.

“The significance attached to them is so much more than just a place to sit. It is a symbol of resilience and strength, a reminder to future generations of the resilience and strength of Onkwehón:we people.

“These collaborations are extremely important and show the amazing things that can happen when we work collectively. KSCS is honoured to be a part of this initiative,” said D’Amico.

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