Iqaluit, Nunavut – June 24, 2021 –QIA President P.J. Akeeagok released the following statement.

“Today the hearts of Qikiqtani Inuit break for the people of Cowessess First Nation. We share your shock and pain.

The Cowessess First Nation and Indigenous Peoples across this country have lost not only children to the horrors of the Residential School system, but they have also lost the knowledge and traditions these people would have carried throughout their lives and shared with future generations.

The loss of culture and knowledge is at the heart of the oppression and erasure Indigenous Peoples have endured at the hands of the Canadian government.

As recognized by the Truth And Reconciliation Commission a cultural genocide was carried out by Canada on indigenous peoples.  Today’s news is another painful reminder of this genocide.

The struggle for reconciliation will never truly be over until the system enacted by Canada is fully understood and dismantled.

We are reminded that the healing that Indigenous Peoples need has yet to be achieved. Today we grieve for the Cowessess First Nation. Tomorrow we return to the hard work of reconciliation for Canada’s Indigenous People, while always keeping in mind the losses suffered because of the residential school system.”

For more information, please contact:

Will Hopkins, Acting Director of Communications,
Qikiqtani Inuit Association
whopkins@qia.ca
867.975.8413 or
1.800.667.2742