09/30/2026
Today is personal for me.
My grandmother spent part of her childhood in the residential school system. By the time she was released, she did not know her Indigenous language, did not know her exact date of birth, and had been separated from meaningful connections with her birth family.
That loss did not end with her.
My mother grew up without much of the language and culture that should have been passed naturally from one generation to the next. That is one of the realities of residential schools that can be difficult to put into a statistic. When you separate children from their families, language, traditions, and communities, the effects can carry forward for generations.
But not everything was lost.
Some traditions survive because they are lived. Hunting, fishing, trapping, understanding the land, providing for family, and sharing what you have remain active parts of life in many Inuit communities. In remote northern communities, where groceries can be extraordinarily expensive, these are not simply traditions from the past. They remain practical knowledge, skills, and ways of life.
To me, reconciliation is not about a single day, a social media post, or simply giving something back.
It begins with understanding what happened and recognizing how those actions continue to affect families today. It means listening to Indigenous voices, respecting the cultures and knowledge that survived, protecting the ability of communities to continue their ways of life, and treating one another with kindness and dignity.
We all share this world. Reconciliation asks us to understand one another better and to move forward with respect.
Today I remember my grandmother, the things that were taken from her, and the things that could not be taken.
Every Child Matters.
Nakurmiik ᓇᑯᕐᒦᒃ,
Sherry O’Leary
Founder, Out N About Pet Care
