How Do We Begin To Heal From This Unimaginable Tragedy?

by | Jul 8, 2021

In light of the ongoing Indigenous unmarked burial sites across Canada being discovered, where upwards of 1,300 children have been buried, I felt compelled to connect with you.

I am sure, like me, your emotions are all over the place from rage, discomfort, sadness, despair, and any number of other emotions as you hear the unfathomable stories. Since I stand up for children and women’s rights issues, I feel pushed to be part of the solution.

Last weekend I attended a retreat where we created a fire ceremony to honor these innocent Indigenous children who had no voice.
Upon completion of our prayers and ceremony, we all looked up to be greeted with a hundred or more fireflies dancing in the darkness.
I have never seen that many fireflies in one place. It felt like the Indigenous children were present and were thanking us for paying witness to their trauma and their lives.

Being a mindful leader means being tuned in to not only your internal culture but the external culture too.

As your staff, your family, your community, and your country try to navigate through this devastation, each one of us has been impacted.
If you look around your workplace, your friends, your family; 50% of the women and 30% of the males have had some form of sexual assault or abuse in their lifetime.

Research tells us, a pivotal step to optimal healing, is when the reactions and behaviors of those in authority and their community reflect active listening, trust, compassion, and only by having those uncomfortable conversations can the true healing occur.

Secrets are what keep any one of us sick.

Being safe, having the right to live in your family home, and the freedom to go to your local school and return home is a given. Not for our Indigenous brothers and sisters who experienced the trauma of residential schools.

How does this impact your team, your family, your friends?

You may be surprised who has Indigenous in their family background.

You may be surprised who they know who attended the residential schools.

You may be surprised how much they are being triggered by the abusive residential stories from their own abusive history.

You may be surprised how much they want to impact change and be part of the solution to support their Indigenous brothers and sisters however they don’t know how to.

You may be surprised that they themselves or someone they know have worked with Indigenous women and children who still suffer from the multi-generational impact of this trauma and how it affects their friends, partners, and kids.

It all begins with a conversation.

Great Leaders are meant to not only initiate these conversations but they are meant to listen with their heart to how best their team, their family, and their friends, can come together to support and pay witness to our Indigenous bothers’ and sisters’ pain.

If we truly are a united country, then it’s time for action to ensure reconciliation happens. Write your MPP to insist the funding be given to follow through on all 94 Reconciliation recommendations, participate in a rally or sign a petition to make all of this happen. It’s time to stand up for what is right. It’s time to listen. It’s time to give space for healing. It’s time to give a voice to these innocent children.

All children matter.

Please click on the links below and watch my video to help you understand a bit more deeply how best we play a role. I encourage you to share all of these links with your team, on social media, with your family and friends.

Intercepted: Stealing Children To Steal The Land

BE more kind to yourself.
BE more compassionate.
Be more forgiving.
Be more loving.

Remember, you are a Powerhouse.

Cate
Resilient Leadership Speaker, Author, Coach & Retreat Facilitator