Kelowna Cathedral tolling bell 1,122 times for missing and murdered women
Anglican Church officially apologized for its role in residential schools in 1993
By Radio West, CBC News Posted: Jun 20, 2015
The church bells at the Cathedral Church of St. Michael and All Angels in Kelowna, B.C. will toll 1,122 times on Sunday to commemorate every missing and murdered aboriginal woman in Canada.
It's an event intended to mark the end of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and honor National Aboriginal Day.
"The whole point of this across the country is to raise awareness of the plight of the First Nations, and particularly of the women and girls who are missing and unaccounted for," says David Crawley, a retired achbishop from the Kootenay Diocese.
"We are not actually ringing them, we are tolling them. When you ring a bell it goes 'ding dong.' When you toll a bell, it goes 'bong, bong, bong' and that's traditionally what's done at the time of a death."
Recognizing past wrongs
Last month the Truth and Reconciliation Commission used the term cultural genocide to describe what had happened to the approximately 150,000 aboriginal children in residential schools and their families.
According to the
Anglican Church of Canada's website, the church operated roughly 36 residential schools between 1820 and 1969.
In 1993, the
Anglican Church officially apologized for their role in Canada's residential school system.
Crawley says elders from the Ki-Low-Na Friendship Centre are attending Sunday's event and will be performing a smudging ceremony.
From CBC News