Canada's 1st National Day for Truth and Reconciliation ~ Tiny Shoes on Steps

*** Trigger Warning ***

If you need support reach out to the 24 Hour Crisis Line Indian Residential School Survivors and Family: 1-866-925-4419 ************

My bestie is originally from Newfoundland. 

She has been living in British Columbia for many years. 

This year she was visiting family for Canada's 1st National Day for Truth and Reconciliation on September 30th 2021.

 Mikwite’tm Garden, Corner Brook, Newfoundland, Canada

Along with the photo above she messaged  that it
"was very humbling and special to be apart of the first National Day for Truth and Reconciliation in my own indigenous community". 

Qalipu women smudging ceremony

The event took place at the Mikwite’tm Garden, built by Qalipu First Nation in memory of missing and murdered indigenous women.  A more  powerful location for this first year of reflection couldn't be found.

Mikwite'tm Garden — the name translates to "I remember"

My bestie is from Corner Brook, Newfoundland, Canada. Her family has long been members of the Qalipu First Nation. Her family has lived in that area for many generations. There is little doubt her family of origin carries the legacy of residential school. 

In May 2021 the unmarked graves of 215 children were found on the grounds of a former Residential School in Kamloops, British Columbia, Canada. The school operated from 1890 to 1969 as a residential school, and 1969 to 1978 as a day school. 

Over the following few months more than 1300 lost children would be found in unmarked graves on the grounds of 4 Western Canada former Residential Schools. 

Children who never got to go home. 

Children who never got to grow up. 

Children who could never find their way back to share in a Truth & Reconciliation ceremony in their own indigenous community as my bestie did. 

The families and communities of these lost children are broken. 

The legacy of the residential school stands today. 

Before Reconciliation must come TRUTH! 

On May 31st 2021 my husband and I visited the memorial on the steps of the courthouse in our community. 

We both work in fields where we have learned about Residential Schools. We have both attended training sessions to understand the impact of colonialism on the populations we serve. We thought we understood what had happened when we headed to the memorial.
We thought we were prepared.

We each placed a pair of tiny shoes on the steps as symbols for the two boys we got to keep and raise. Two small pairs of shoes on the steps alongside all those shoes. Each pair representing a child. 

Standing at this memorial with tears streaming down my face I realized I never understood & no matter how hard I try I will never begin to understand what happened or how it happened. 

We stayed there rooted to the spot. Unsure how we could walk away leaving those children alone. The shoes standing vigil for the spirits of the children. After a very long time we slowly walked away while looking back at those shoes. 

How could this have happened in the country we know as Canada?

"There may be reasons why they wouldn't record the deaths
properly and that they weren't treated with dignity and
respect because that was the whole purpose of the
residential school ... to take total control of Indian children,
to remove their culture, identity and connection to their family," 

 1  ~Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond, Director of the

Indian Residential School History and Dialogue Centre   

This is my reflection on Canada's 1st National Day for Truth and Reconciliation!!!

This is why I search - 

Cause ... 

You can pick your friends, but you can't pick your family you know!

***Any errors are my own. Please send me any updates or corrections via the comments at the bottom of this blog post***

Footnotes:

1 Dickson, Courtney & Bridgette Watson (27 May 2021). Remains of 215 children found buried at former B.C. residential school, First Nation says. CBC News. Paragraph 19. Retrieved September 30th 2021 from  
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/tk-eml%C3%BAps-te-secw%C3%A9pemc-215-children-former-kamloops-indian-residential-school-1.6043778

Sources:

Canadian Press. (29 May 2021). Why Canada is mourning the deaths of hundreds of children. BBC News. Retrieved September 30th 2021 from
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-57325653

CBC Kids News. (31 May 2021). WShoes honour loss of 215 children at former residential school. CBC Kids News. Retrieved September 30th 2021 from 
https://www.cbc.ca/kidsnews/post/shoes-laid-to-honour-the-loss-of-215-children-at-former-residential-school

Davis, Wynne. (29 May 2021). The Remains Of 215 Indigenous Children Have Been Found At A Former School In Canada. National Public Radio (npr). Retrieved September 30th 2021 from
https://www.npr.org/2021/05/29/1001566509/the-remains-of-215-indigenous-children-have-been-found-at-a-former-school-in-can

Dickson, Courtney & Bridgette Watson (27 May 2021). Remains of 215 children found buried at former B.C. residential school, First Nation says. CBC News. Retrieved September 30th 2021 from
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/tk-eml%C3%BAps-te-secw%C3%A9pemc-215-children-former-kamloops-indian-residential-school-1.6043778

Gilmore, Rachel. (15 September 2021). Mapping the missing: Former residential school sites in Canada and the search for unmarked graves. Global News. Retrieved September 30th 2021 from
https://globalnews.ca/news/8074453/indigenous-residential-schools-canada-graves-map/

Greenpeace Canada. (2 June 2021). 215 Children. Greenpeace. Retrieved September 30th 2021 from
https://www.greenpeace.org/canada/en/story/48616/215-children/

Honderich, Holly. (15 July 2021). Why Canada is mourning the deaths of hundreds of children. BBC News. Retrieved September 30th 2021 from
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-57325653

Mosby, Ian. (1 August 2021). Canada’s Residential Schools Were a Horror. Scientific America. Retrieved September 30th 2021 from
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/canadas-residential-schools-were-a-horror/

National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, Government of Canada. Retrieved September 30th 2021 from
https://www.canada.ca/en/canadian-heritage/campaigns/national-day-truth-reconciliation.html

Paperny, Anna Mehler. (29 May 2021). Remains of 215 children found at former indigenous school site in Canada. Reuters. Retrieved September 30th 2021 from
https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/remains-215-children-found-former-indigenous-school-site-canada-2021-05-28/

Links:

Amy Johnson Crow, 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge
https://www.amyjohnsoncrow.com/

If you reference or use my blog posts in any way please

include a link to the specific blog and

credit http://somehowrelated.blogspot.com/

My blogs are ©Deborah Buchner, 2014 forward.

All rights reserved.

Please & Thank you!

________________________________________________________________

R. Robert Mutrie ~ A Credible Source

 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks 2021: Week 7 (UNUSUAL SOURCE)

In the years I have been searching for broken branches of our Bramble Bush there has been a few unusual sources, but the majority of my searching has been through very traditional sources. 

In 2018 I attended a Genealogy Conference, and struck a jackpot find on the freebie table. There were Ontario Archives public record books that included my husband's 4th great grandfather in it. You can read about that find here:  |Jacob Buchner ~ A FRESH START in Canada

One of my early sources for the Buchner family line was
"R. Robert Mutrie, Norfolk County researcher, writer and publisher of more than four decades, is quite simply, "Mr. Long Point Settler.". " 1

Mr. Mutrie's writings and documentation has helped build our Bramble Bush. His information can be counted on to be accurate. I have read many of his writings, and quoted him as a source in many of my blog entries. Mr. Mutrie is a credible source. 

This week's UNUSUAL SOURCE is that we recently found an Ancestry DNA match to a person who I suspect is Mr. Mutrie's wife. My husband shares 21 cM across 3 segments (Unweighted shared DNA: 34 cM, Longest segment: 19 cM) with her. The Predicted relationship is 4th–6th Cousin. My husband does not match Mr. Mutrie himself. His match is to an account managed by Mr. Mutrie hence I suspect his wife.

What makes this UNUSUAL is that it appears as though my husband is related on all 4 sides of his lineage. This unusual discovery was made when looking at the shared matches. This unusual discovery resulted in the creation of a new DNA profile picture:

The DNA match is small. The value of the match is in the shared matches. As I have found many times in searching my husband's side of the Bramble Bush the lines intersect so often that it makes it very hard to determine the exact relationship. 

The best part about this unusual discovery is knowing the research that has gone into our Bramble Bush is correct. R. Robert Mutrie is a credible source in the Ontario Genealogy community. Our Bramble Bush matches the tree I found on Ancestry. It is a great feeling when credible sources confirm your research.

When your family has such long roots to the area that all 4 sides of your lineage are interconnected! 

This is why I search - 



Cause ... 





You can pick your friends, but you can't pick your family you know!
















***Any errors are my own. Please send me any updates or corrections via the comments at the bottom of this blog post***




Footnotes:

1 The Author, R. Robert Mutrie, St. Williams Ontario, History, . Retrieved February 14th 2021 from   https://sites.google.com/site/stwilliamsontariohistory/robert-mutrie

Sources:

The Long Point Settlers, Retrieved February 14th 2021 from
https://sites.google.com/site/longpointsettlers/Home?authuser=0

Links:

Amy Johnson Crow, 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge
https://www.amyjohnsoncrow.com/

If you reference or use my blog posts in any way please

include a link to the specific blog and

credit http://somehowrelated.blogspot.com/

My blogs are ©Deborah Buchner, 2014 forward.

All rights reserved.

Please & Thank you!

________________________________________________________________

 

Leaving the Old & Embracing the New ~ Canada Bound

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: 2020 Week 30 (THE OLD COUNTRY)

This week's prompt THE OLD COUNTRY had be searching through my tree on my mother's paternal line looking for how far back in the old country I had gotten in my research. I found the line below that I have been stuck for many years.

I decided to blog as cousin bait.
It worked last time.
I hope it will again!

My 5th great grandmother Marion Weir. I have quite a bit of confirmed information, and DNA matches to support my research this far. 

Marion Weir (my 5th great grandmother)
BIRTH 14 JUL 1781 • Lesmahagow, Carnwath, Lanarkshire, Scotland
DEATH 17 AUG 1826 • Lesmahagow, Lanarkshire, Scotland


her parents (my 6th great grandparents)
John Weir 
BIRTH ABT. 1755 • Lanarkshire, Scotland
DEATH Scotland
and 
Anne Stark 
BIRTH ABT. 1757 • Lanarkshire, Scotland
DEATH Scotland

This is where I am stuck on this family line. I have tugged on ancestry, but with such common names of the time I am not confident the records or trees are for the correct person.
I only have 4 other children besides Marion


Marion Weir married
Andrew Hamilton (my 5th great grandfather)
BIRTH 2 SEP 1775 • Baddom, Douglas, Lanarkshire, Scotland
DEATH 28 JAN 1836/37 • Goathouse, Lesmahagow, Lanark, Scotland

I descend through their child 
Susanah (Susan) Hamilton
BIRTH 03 NOV 1814 • Carnwath, Lanarkshire
DEATH 11 APR 1894 • Forth, Lanarkshire, Scotland
and
Robert Graham
BIRTH 16 JAN 1814 • Thornhill, Closeburn, Dumfries-shire, Scotland
DEATH 24 MAR 1892 • Forth, Lanarkshire, Scotland

Skipping a few generations forward - it's Marion and Andrew's great grandchild, Robert Graham) who brought my family line to Canada.

Robert & Jessie Crawford (nee Gray) Graham
my X2 great grandparents

Robert Graham
BIRTH 23 DEC 1884 • Carluke, Lanarkshire, Scotland
DEATH 13 JAN 1929 • St Boniface Hospital, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
married to
Jessie Crawford Gray
BIRTH 23 JUN 1884 • Wishaw, Lanarkshire, Scotland
DEATH 17 JUL 1952 • Manitoba, Canada

They immigrated to Manitoba in 1911 with their three oldest children. They had 7 more children in Canada. My great grandfather was their oldest child. He was 5 when they immigrated to Canada, and settled in Manitoba.



Robert & Jessie Crawford (nee Gray) Graham's 10 children:


Robert (Bob) (Bobby) Graham (my great grandfather)
BIRTH 3 MAY 1906 • Holytown, Lanarkshire, Scotland
DEATH 10 AUG 1960 • Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada


Jessie Crawford Graham
BIRTH 29 JUL 1908 • Holytown, Lanarkshire, Scotland
DEATH 18 MAY 2001 • Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada


Margaret Burt (Meg) Graham
BIRTH 29 JUN 1911 • Holytown, Lanarkshire, Scotland
DEATH DEC 1985 • Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada


Charlotte Gray (Dot) Graham
BIRTH 11 JAN 1913 • Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
DEATH 8 DEC 2008 • Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada


Susan Hamilton (Sue) Graham
BIRTH 5 FEB 1915 • Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
DEATH 15 FEB 2001 • Edmonton, Alberta, Canada


William Gray (Bill) Graham 
BIRTH 15 DEC 1916 • Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
DEATH 1 APR 1993 • Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada


Douglas Charles (Doug) Graham
BIRTH 19 MAR 1919 • Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
DEATH 11 NOV 1979 • Shoreham, Worthing, West Sussex, England


Andrew Burt (Burt) Graham
BIRTH 2 MAY 1921 • Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
DEATH Ontario, Canada


Georgina (Ina) Gray Graham
BIRTH 20 MAR 1923 • Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
DEATH 13 APR 2011 • Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada


Jean Gray Graham
1927–2006
BIRTH 21 JAN 1927 • Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
DEATH 2 JUL 2006 • Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

Jessie Crawford (nee Gray) Graham
my X2 great grandmother

Meg Jesse Bill Sue Dot
Burt Doug Ina
Jean

Bill Doug and Burt

Bob Jessie Bill
Doug Burt

My great grandfather, Robert (Bob/Bobby)
is missing from this photo
his ex-wife Nellie and son Jack (my grandfather) are in it

Jessie centre back
Doug's wife Josephine holding son Doug
and others

This is where my story began

My mom with her parents
father Jack is the first Canadian born
in my mother's paternal line

Proudly Canadian because my ancestors chose this country!







This is why I search - 



Cause ... 





You can pick your friends, but you can't pick your family you know!
















***Any errors are my own. Please send me any updates or corrections via the comments at the bottom of this blog post***






Links:

Amy Johnson Crow, 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge
https://www.amyjohnsoncrow.com/

If you reference or use my blog posts in any way please

include a link to the specific blog and

credit http://somehowrelated.blogspot.com/

My blogs are ©Deborah Buchner, 2014 forward.

All rights reserved.

Please & Thank you!

___________________________________________________________

The Land of Prosperity ~ Prince Harry

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: 2020 Week 8 (PROSPERITY)


I have always thought of prosperity as wealth. 
To be prosperous one must have a lot of money. 

I was surprised when I looked up the definition of prosperity to discover
Mirriam -Webster online dictionary defines it as:
"the condition of being successful or thriving" 1

Which nicely explains how my ancestors all chose Canada to be their new home. Canada has always been known as the land of prosperity. When my husband and I travel we always meet locals who tell us how much they would love to visit or move to Canada.


When Prince Harry announced he was moving his family to Canada I was briefly surprised, but immediately realized it made total sense. In England he will always be viewed as a royal family member. His family will be haunted by the media. They will be featured with bold headlines depicting stories that may or may not be true. 


There is no family without some conflict. Imagine standing at the grocery store line up with your toddler acting up, and seeing your family drama shouting from all the magazines and papers right there. 


Harry will never be King. 


British Columbia is a perfect spot for Harry, Meghan & Archie to call home. We are known as relaxed with a healthy lifestyle. British Columbia is beautiful.


Why are we talking about Prince Harry's move to British Columbia?  


I am the 11th cousin of Diana. 


That makes Harry the 12th cousin to my children. 


Now that he is practically in our backyard we have a complication.


My oldest son got engaged this year. 

It will be a small wedding with an exclusive guest list. I had previously told my son that he didn't have to invite anyone out of obligation. 


Then Harry announced his move to Canada. 


There is nothing more irritating that having to invite the royal relative. It's an obligation really.

Thankfully the wedding plans are not yet finalized. 

It's not too late to adjust the plans and budget. 

Were they planning to invite children?  If not - the drama of excluding Archie!!!  

What about security?  

Will the Canadian government cover the cost since the wedding is likely happening in the nations' capital?  

If not - is that an expense the groom's family normally covers?  

Will Canadian dignataries feel slighted if Harry is invited, and they aren't since it will be down the street from their offices and temporary homes?  

We haven't even started taking about Meghan Markle's social circle. 

I see the groom's parents alcohol budget exploding?  

Will we need to sell our house, and the neighbour's too?  

I see a GO FUND ME page in our future!

12th Cousins

When the obligation of family becomes just too much!







This is why I search - 



Cause ... 





You can pick your friends, but you can't pick your family you know!
















***Any errors are my own. Please send me any updates or corrections via the comments at the bottom of this blog post***





Footnotes:

1 Prosperity, definition, Miririam-Webster Dictionary, retrieved February 21st 2020 from
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/prosperity



Sources:

Photo, Prince Harry, Retrieved February 21st 2020 from
https://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=https%3A%2F%2Fupload.wikimedia.org%2Fwikipedia%2Fcommons%2Fc%2Fcc%2FPrince_Harry_speaks_during_the_opening_ceremonies_of_the_2017_Invictus_Games_%252837232242166%2529.jpg&imgrefurl=https%3A%2F%2Fcommons.wikimedia.org%2Fwiki%2FFile%3APrince_Harry_speaks_during_the_opening_ceremonies_of_the_2017_Invictus_Games_(37232242166).jpg&tbnid=CyTlpePGn2CTJM&vet=12ahUKEwiYltSxh-PnAhXDCTQIHfFzAl4QMygBegUIARCJAg..i&docid=E4Aer0FiSlkHFM&w=4264&h=2843&q=prince%20harry&hl=en&ved=2ahUKEwiYltSxh-PnAhXDCTQIHfFzAl4QMygBegUIARCJAg


Links:

Amy Johnson Crow, 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge
https://www.amyjohnsoncrow.com/

If you reference or use my blog posts in any way please

include a link to the specific blog and

credit http://somehowrelated.blogspot.com/

My blogs are ©Deborah Buchner, 2014 forward.

All rights reserved.

Please & Thank you!

___________________________________________________________