Celebration planned for Every Child Matters Memorial in Snowdon Park

An Every Child Matters Memorial will be dedicated at Snowdon Park in early-August.

The Children of Shingwauk Alumni Association will be hosting the event as part of a gathering of former students, family of former students, and their supporters each year on the Shingwauk Historical Site.

The gathering will be held on Aug. 5, beginning at 3 p.m.

Following is a full release with additional details:

The Children of Shingwauk Alumni Association (CSAA) hosts a gathering of former students, family of former students, and their supporters each year on the Shingwauk Historical Site at what is now Algoma University. Though the Gathering always supplies mental wellness support persons and therapeutic activities, it is also a time of reconnection and reunion, where survivors and their friends and families can laugh and dance and share food together.

“There is joy in this Gathering,” explains Jay Jones, CSAA President, “people come together from all over, there are activities for youth and families, we see where we’ve come from and talk about where we’re going. This year's theme, Celebrating our Footsteps: Our Journey, is a direction right from our committee of Elders and Survivors.”

A special event is taking place Saturday, Aug. 5 at Snowdon Park. The newly created Every Child Matters Sacred Memorial will officially open with a celebration to honour the lives of four boys who drowned in the pond that is located behind the former Shingwauk Indian Residential School.

The Children of Shingwauk Alumni Association warmly invites the media and interested members of the public to join us from 3 to 5 p.m. in Snowdon Park. The event will feature a Sacred Fire, a Dedication Service provided by Archdeacon Harry Huskins, and special remarks from regional dignitaries and First Nations
leadership, with a feast to follow.