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We offer our condolences to the Cowessess First Nation in Saskatchewan and all Indigenous Peoples who are mourning in the wake of another horrific discovery of unmarked graves at the site of a former residential school. 

If, as settlers, we are surprised or shocked by the news, we haven't been listening. Indigenous people have been telling us for decades these graves would be found. Now is the time for us to take responsibility for our own learning and action. It is not the time to ask Indigenous people to help us do that. The resources are everywhere. 

Read the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada: Calls to Action. First Nations Child & Family Caring Society of Canada has a family-friendly version so engage your children. 

Read the final report of the National Inquiry into the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls. 

Contact your elected officials and demand action. 

Take July 1, Canada Day, as an opportunity to address our country's colonial past and the systemic oppression against Indigeous Peoples that continues in our present. Donate to the Indian Residential School Survivors Society. Respect that Indigenous people are mourning and we as a country must create space for and honour that. 

We all have a role to play in reconciliation. Every single one of us. And as an organization whose mission is to increase food security, we have an added responsibility to advocate for change given how Indigenous people are disproportionately affected by food insecurity as a direct result of colonialism and systemic oppression in our past and present. 

The Indian Residential Schools Crisis Line is available 24 hours a day to support those experiencing distress. Call 1-866-925-4419.