Truth and reconciliation

Horse wisdom Yoga practitioner Dawn Lawson-Gula hosted an event to honour the land and the death of indigenous children during their time at the residential schools. Lawson-Gula said her drum, which stays with her in her bedroom, spoke to her about doing something to honor the national day for Truth and Reconciliation.

“Horror” was Dawn Lawson-Gula’s first thought upon hearing the news of the discovery of residential school graves earlier this year. Lawson-Gula works with sexual assault victims as well as domestic violence. Her farm allows her to call upon the wisdom of horses and animals to help support humans in trauma. Because of her work Lawson-Gula thought about the severity of the generational trauma that must be present within indigenous communities.

Horse wisdom Yoga practitioner Dawn Lawson-Gula hosted an event to honour the land and the death of indigenous children during their time at the residential schools. The event started at 11 am which included a walk around the farm alongside the animals while Dawn Lawson-Gula, host, used her drum as participants followed silently behind her.

A Truth and Reconciliation event hosted by Dawn Lawson-Gula at Foxtrot Fields-Horses Healing and Namaste Goats farm. The event was intimate including only three participants who walked silently and with social distancing as Lawson-Gula beat her drum on the walk.

A Truth and Reconciliation event started at 11 a.m. which included a walk around the Foxtrot Fields-Horses Healing and Namaste Goats farm alongside the animals while Dawn Lawson-Gula, host, used her drum as participants followed silently behind her. The walk ended at 11:11 and then some tobacco was offered back to the Earth by all participants.

Dawn Lawson-Gula’s farm, where a Truth and Reconciliation event was hosted, was built to call upon the wisdom of horses and animals to help support humans in trauma. Lawson-Gula said she expected to feel better after the walk and reflection, but she felt heavier, and the gloomy weather reflected the heaviness felt by all participants. The horses and other animals were turned to for support in feeling the emotions that stem from such a heavy day.

Dawn Lawson-Gula said Sandra, the horse, is drawn to the energy of grief which proved true as she followed the participant along the walk to support with the grief felt over the deaths of indigenous children.

Before heading back from the walk, participants like Pearl Robinson, reflected on the reality of Truth and Reconciliation as well as their family’s involvement with the Indigenous children. “I’m not trying to completely throw my parents under the bus, I think they really did think they were doing the right thing and the best thing, so acknowledging that maybe our thoughts and our beliefs aren’t always right and just being open to being wrong.”

Dawn Lawson-Gula’s goal of hosting the event was to try sending out love and hoping the group can help heal the trauma and pain that Indigenous communities feel. The event was hosted at Foxtrot Fields-Horses Healing and Namaste Goats farm. The event was intimate including only three participants who walked silently and with social distancing as Lawson-Gula beat her drum on the walk.

Pearl Robinson, reflected on the reality of Truth and Reconciliation during an intimate event hosted by Dawn Lawson-Gula, Horse Wisdom practitioner, Robinson said “It's just mind boggling to me because that is not the faith that I know, at any turn or point, and so knowing that things like that were done in the name of Jesus, or whatever they thought they were doing, I can’t, it’s just indescribable, and yeah that’s definitely not what Jesus would have done.”

Sandra the horse was rescued an hour before her slaughter. Ever since she healed with the help of Dawn Lawson-Gula, she has been supporting victims and visitors dealing with grief. Lawson-Gula said Sandra is drawn to the energy of grief which proved true as she followed us along the walk to support us with the grief felt over the deaths of indigenous children.

“For me working in sexual assault I just see so many of them, and it is so much from how they were raised and it’s just the trauma just keeps repeating itself, repeating itself, and it is like how do we break that cycle, how do we give them back their pride, how do we give them back their freedom,” said Dawn Lawson-Gula, event host and Horse Wisdom Yoga practitioner during the event held on Thursday September 30.

“It is an amazing opportunity to look at the past and try to bring healing to the future with love and acknowledgement. My son lives in Australia, and I know he works with some of the indigenous there and it is a similar situation,” said Pearl Robinson, a Truth and Reconciliation event participant during her time of reflecting on what reconciliation means. “This is a worldwide situation that we have, going on from the past. And so just wanting to be part of something right here in the Niagara Region is so important because this was the Indigenous area.”

During the Truth and Reconciliation event held by Dawn Lawson-Gula, she voiced her thoughts on the “horrors” of the reality lived by indigenous communities in the past. She said the church has persecuted people for years. “I practice a lot of pagan beliefs, and witches were burned at the stake, anything that goes against the norm is persecuted” said Lawson-Gula, “They’ve given them a voice.” Said Lawson-Gula, “they finally have a day to voice, to say I don’t pretend to be a victim I am trying to heal too.”

The gloomy weather reflected the heaviness felt by all participants at the Truth and Reconciliation event hosted by Dawn Lawson-Gula at the Foxtrot Fields-Horses Healing and Namaste Goats farm. The horses and other animals were turned to for support during the reflection time as well as at the end of the event.