A Glance Back Informs A Better Forward View - Editorial
On Monday we attended the standout at the Mashpee Rotary in solidarity with the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe and its third annual Orange Shirt Day event. And we are so glad that we did.
Part of getting to know any community involves immersion; we have said as much to the handful of new reporters that have joined our newsroom in recent months, and know well how impactful such immersive experiences can be. Monday’s event was just that, and truly a sight to behold: a sea of people of varying ages—some toddling, others using walkers to help navigate the uneven terrain of grass and pavement along Route 28—all donning orange shirts and waving flags bearing the phrase “Every Child Matters.” It was very special to see so many people come together and express such joy in spite of the heaviness that hangs over an event like Orange Shirt Day.
Also known as the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, Orange Shirt Day is a day of reckoning, a day to honor and acknowledge the horrific experiences of more than 150,000 Indigenous children across America and Canada who were forcibly removed from their homes and families throughout the 19th and 20th centuries and made to attend residential or boarding schools. It was there where they—hundreds of thousands of children—were subjected to abuse, trauma and ethnocide.
What was most striking to us on Monday were the children and how infectious their youthful energy is. There were so many children, all waving at passing cars, flying their orange flags high, and mustering the loudest shouts they possibly could to get passersby to “HONK YOUR HORNS!” Their excitement and youthful energy were so palpable, so good, that we were truly feeling the impact as we left the event and reflected on our drive home.
What, really, is the difference between these children of Mashpee, and the ones we stood for this week to honor and memorialize? Children have always been children; they are, all things considered, the innocents of humanity—which is exactly why this hit so heavy for us. We cannot imagine such atrocities and cruelty being inflicted upon those children. How could that have happened, even back then? Are the key difference-makers that separate where we are now from where we were then truly just the concepts of time and tolerance?
We sat with this thought: of a day of reckoning for those Native children lost to time, their joy stolen by racism and ethnic cleansing, their personalities sanitized to the white man’s taste, juxtaposed with the children we saw Monday, so full of life, childlike joy and beautiful positive energy. It was hard to sit with, but sit we did.
And still, we cannot understand how such atrocities and cruelty could be enacted upon any fellow human, especially toward children. History is history, and it can be dark and violent; shining some brightness into that darkness, though, one that illuminates these darkest corners of our own history, is how we as humans process these past events, glean lessons from them and move forward toward brighter days. That is exactly what happened this past Monday at the Mashpee Rotary, and we are grateful that we were there to witness it. It left us feeling, through all the gloom, hopeful for what lies ahead for this generation of Native children, and all those who will come after.
We have come a long way, but things are far from “fixed” in any sense of the word. There is much work to be done—Indigenous people remain a marginalized group in this country, despite their millennials-long history on these lands. But only in looking back toward where we as a nation have come from can we gain an appreciation for the importance of the work that still lies ahead.