Warroad speakers urge truth and remembrance at Truth and Reconciliation event

Speakers at a Truth and Reconciliation event hosted by the Warroad Public School District recounted the legacy of Indigenous boarding schools and urged the community to preserve survivor testimony and public memory.

Kimberly Madison Horn Jackson, a Kent State adjunct professor who is part of a U.S. research team on boarding schools, said the revelations overseas have prompted renewed investigation in the United States: "The horrors laid bare with the discovery last June of 215 unmarked graves outside of an indigenous children's school in Canada, which had adopted similar policies as The US." She described many schools as church-operated and said they forced children to abandon language and culture.

Several attendees offered personal testimony. A resident who said they attended the schools recalled, "There was a lot of horrific things that happened to myself, and I know a lot of other individuals that were in that school system," and described classmates who disappeared and were assumed to have run away. Another commenter urged urgency in recording elders' accounts: "Our elders who went to the boarding schools, they're they're crossing over daily, and we're losing the truth of what happened."

Local participants tied remembrance to community action. Carson Pilgrim, a World Warrior alumnus, said the planned Truth and Reconciliation hockey event is intended to teach younger generations about the history and purpose behind commemorations: "Truth and Reconciliation is an opportunity to learn the true history of indigenous people, honor their strength, culture, and resilience." Speakers also encouraged wearing orange at school and athletic events to raise awareness and recognition that "every child matters."

At the event, a commenter framed the boarding school era in international-law terms, asserting that the institutions meet criteria under the Geneva Convention; that contention was presented as the speaker's interpretation rather than a settled legal finding. Organizers and participants repeatedly emphasized collecting survivor stories, preserving language and culture, and educating youth as immediate priorities.

The program also included cultural instruction: a presenter reviewed the Ojibwe "Seven Teachings"—respect, truth, wisdom, honesty, humility, courage and love—and described them as guiding principles for reconciliation and community conduct.

The event did not record any formal votes or policy actions; speakers focused on testimony, education, and local commemoration plans. Organizers urged attendees to document survivors' accounts and to use upcoming community events as educational opportunities.