National, provincial, area leaders recognizing June 24 as Honouring Our Children Day 

Reeti Meenakshi Rohilla - Staff Writer 

Tikinagan Child & Family Services is celebrating its 12th year of cherishing the uniqueness of every child on June 24, the occasion of Honouring Our Children Day, receiving added support from leaders and organizations across the country. 

Tikinagan has created a video comprised of supportive messages shared by several area, and national leaders including Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Ontario Regional Chief Roseanne Archibald, Kiiwetinoong MPP Sol Mamakwa, Kenora MP Eric Melillo, Nishnawbe Aski Nation Grand Chief Alvin Fiddler, and Sioux Lookout Mayor Doug Lawrance.

“On Wednesday June 24, our country will celebrate with Tikinagan Child and Family Services on their annual Honouring Our Children Day,” Prime Minister Trudeau shared in the Tikinagan video. “This important day is just one way to remind First Nations children of how awesome, amazing, super, incredible, smart, fun, strong and special they are.” He added, “Let’s honour our children and let’s work together to give children and youth love, safety, attention and compassion.” 

Everyone needs to be recognized and celebrated, and the upcoming Honouring Our Children Day is one of those special days to honour children and youth in the care of Tikinagan Child & Family Services, shared a Tikinagan news release. While the work of honouring children in care, along with Indigenous history and culture happens every day at Tikinagan, special occasions such as this offer a chance to reinforce those values, shared Tikinagan Executive Director Thelma Morris.

Kiiwetinoong MPP Sol Mamakwa shared in the video, “Since 2010, Honouring Our Children Day has been recognized throughout the summer and into the fall, and each of the 30 First Nations communities in northwestern Ontario celebrates the day in its own unique way.” Kenora MP Eric Melillo also supported the cause, motivating community members to take time to make the children and youth in their lives feel special. “Thank you for working together to help raise our children,” he added. 

“We, at the Chiefs of Ontario, celebrate with Tikinagan Child and Family Services for their annual Honouring Our Children Day,” stated Ontario Regional Chief Roseanne Archibald in the video. “Let’s honour our children. Let’s work together to give children and youth love,” she added.

 “Kids need to be celebrated and honoured from time to time, especially those who are in care and away from their families,” Morris said, adding, “They need to see there is a caring, supportive community standing with them and cheering them on.”

In previous years, children and families living in First Nation communities, as well as urban areas that are served by Tikinagan, such as Thunder Bay and Sioux Lookout, celebrated this day with fun activities such as barbeques and bouncy castles. Morris said that the joy on kid’s faces makes all their efforts worth it. However, with the onset of the pandemic, celebrations for last year, as well as this year have been quite different. 

In 2020, Tikinagan continued to bring awareness to this day with a virtual message campaign. Similar to this year, last year’s messages also featured guest speakers including Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, NAN Grand Chief Alvin Fiddler, and even former NHLers, among others. Last year’s videos received wide attention, drawing excitement about the day among communities and staff, shared the media release.

Given the public health measures in place, this year it will be up to the communities on how they want to mark the occasion and on what date would they like to celebrate Honouring Our Children Day, shared the news release. It added, “This year, many communities are using Honouring Our Children Day as a way to honour the 215 children found buried in unmarked graves at a former Residential School site in Kamloops, BC earlier this month. Some communities choose to wait and celebrate it along with their fall feasts, while others make it part of a long list of Canada Day events.” 

Sioux Lookout Mayor Doug Lawrance said in the video message, “This year our world is looking a little different right now, and making children feel special at a time like this, takes a community effort. That’s why we are all working together to help raise our children.”  

The month of June (National Indigenous History Month) also marks the celebration of National Indigenous Peoples Day, providing Canadians the opportunity to recognize and celebrate the unique culture, traditions, and history of the First Nations, Inuit and Metis peoples on June 21.

“The month of June is an opportunity for everyone to acknowledge the historical contributions of our peoples, the strength and resilience they show today, and the hope we have for our children, families, and communities to be healthy,” said Morris. “Many of our values at Tikinagan are reinforced in Honouring Our Children and National Indigenous Peoples Day. Our elders share the history of our communities and the roots of our culture, providing us wisdom, guidance, direction and encouragement,” she added.