Matrons in ceremonial dress.

Nuxalk chiefs, elders, and community members gathered in Bella Coola for a ceremony to acknowledge the suffering imposed by residential schools, and to begin steps toward healing. The ceremony began at a totem pole carved in honour of residential school survivors, and a plaque telling the story of residential schools was unveiled. The ceremony proceeded to the Acwsalcta School, where another plaque listing all the names of the community’s residential school survivors was unveiled. The United Church moderator, Gary Paterson, repeated the apology that the Church had made in 1998. After a feast that evening, survivors were welcomed home by ceremonial drumming as they entered the school’s gymnasium, and Hereditary Chiefs danced in their honour.