Sioux Valley Dakota Nation stands today with Survivors, families, youth, and Nations in honouring those who never came home and those who carry this history. While Survivors, Elders, leadership, and allies gather today in Winnipeg, Sioux Valley Dakota Nation is hosting its own National Day of Action on the lands where the Brandon Residential School once operated. Both gatherings carry the same call. The work of truth, healing, and the search for our missing children must be sustained, and the supports that make this work possible must be protected.
The Brandon Residential School operated for nearly a century, and children from Sioux Valley were among those taken there. The investigation into the missing children of that institution is ongoing. This is detailed and ceremonial. It is emotionally demanding and cannot be completed in short funding cycles. Searches require continuity. Survivors require continuity. Families waiting for answers about their relatives require continuity.
Sioux Valley Dakota Nation joins in calling on the Government of Canada to protect and sustain the Residential Schools Missing Children Community Support Fund, and to ensure that Survivor supports remain in place. These are not temporary commitments. They are responsibilities that were taken on by Canada under the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action, and they must be honoured through stable, ongoing support for community-led and Survivor-driven initiatives.
We also recognize the rise of residential school denialism in this country. It is a threat to Survivors, to families, and to the sacred work. Survivors have spoken. The records exist. Children died while attending these institutions. Denialism does not exist on its own. It grows when funding is cut, when searches slow, and when governments treat this work as optional. Sioux Valley Dakota Nation stands with Survivors and families in affirming these truths, and in continuing the work of remembrance, healing, and accountability.
To Survivors, to families still waiting, and to the children who never came home: we have not forgotten. We will continue the work we stand with you.
“Our Dakota Nation has always carried the responsibility of caring for our relatives and protecting the next generations. We stand committed to Survivors and families by ensuring the children who never returned are never forgotten, and by continuing to support our people as they heal and move forward together.”
– Chief Jennifer Bone
“Sioux Valley Dakota Nation stands united with Survivors, families, and our partners across Indigenous communities on this National Day of Action. Our Nation has walked this path for many years, supporting our Survivors, caring for our families, and doing the Sacred work of remembering the children who never came home. We do this work to bring truth forward, to bring light to what has been hidden for far too long, and to restore honour and dignity to every Survivor, every family, and every child whose story must be told. Together with our partners, we will continue to lift up Survivors, honour the children who never came home, and ensure that every truth is carried forward with care, respect, and dignity. That is our promise: yesterday, today, and for every generation still to come.”
– Councillor Melissa Hotain
“They took our language, they took us from our families and they took our childhoods. Those are things you cannot put a price on, but the healing and searches cost something. This Sacred work is still here, and it must be allowed to continue.“
– Eleanor Elk, IRS Survivor
“The residential school system happened to us, and cutting federal funding is a massive step backward for the true reconciliation we need to heal. We are focusing our energy on finding answers and honouring our history, and no matter the obstacles, we are not going anywhere. If we keep working together, slowly but surely, we will be successful in bringing our children home and finding our peace.”
– Lorraine Pompana, IRS Survivor
