Elder Syexwaliya (Skwxwu7mesh Uxwumixw) shares ’Syexwaliya’s Song’ at Burnaby campus, a song to greet the day and open Truth and Reconciliation Week at SFU.
Elder Syexwaliya (Skwxwu7mesh Uxwumixw) shares 'Syexwaliya's Song' at Burnaby campus, a song to greet the day and open Truth and Reconciliation Week at SFU. Between September 27 - October 1, SFU marked the university's first National Truth and Reconciliation week in solidarity with Indigenous peoples across the country. In ceremonies across SFU's three campuses, Indigenous youth, Elders, and Indigenous SFU community members shared personal stories of the effects of residential schools, the meaning of reconciliation and decolonization, and the persistence of Indigenous knowledge and culture. During the week of events, SFU's Indigenous community members called upon non-Indigenous allies to reflect, and take action to advance reconciliation. "Over the summer and the past couple months, the impact of the news and ongoing events that have occurred have really impacted our Indigenous community members, Indigenous faculty, staff and students, and we have to be cognisant of that moving forward. I'm only one generation out of the residential school system, and I'm only 26," said Matthew Provost, VP Student Services at the Simon Fraser Student Society (SFSS) and First Nations Student Association member. "I want to acknowledge I think it's important to always make space for Indigenous students." At the Burnaby campus event, Gary George, Officer for Community Relations with the SFU Office for Aboriginal Peoples, emphasized the value of partnerships in moving forward, and invited non-Indigenous members of the university community to join him onstage and try drumming for the first time.
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