Burning up the past
“Ashes to ashes, dust to dust” is how the saying goes, and that’s exactly what happened on Thursday afternoon on the Lac La Ronge First Nation.
A two-day gathering ended with the burning of a replica boat, the same kind that once ferried First Nations children to a residential school in La Ronge. It was all part of an elaborate ceremony to put the past to rest and concentrate on positive change for the future.
“It’s a sacred fire”, explained Tom Roberts, one of the event organizers and a residential school survivor.
“And when that sacred fire burns, all those memories, all that negativity will burn with it. And when it’s all said and done only the positive stuff will come out.”