The flowers in the Heart Garden at the Whitehorse RCMP Detachment are snowy but still in bloom as the first National Day of Truth and Reconciliation approaches.
The third annual planting of the Heart Garden took place in June, with all categories of RCMP employees - frontline, support staff, Kwanlin Dün Policing Unit, Ta'an Kwäch'än Council Liaison member and the General Investigations Section - working with representatives of Kwanlin Dün First Nation and Ta'an Kwäch'än Council to plant petunias and marigolds over two days. The Garden was created in 2019 to honour all residential school survivors and their families, with the goal of letting it serve as a reminder of the Whitehorse RCMP's commitment to reconciliation and strengthening relationships with Yukon First Nations.
As a detachment, Whitehorse RCMP acknowledges the role that the RCMP played in the residential school program and other programs that had impact on First Nations, specifically the role in the Yukon with respect to delivering children to school. Despite this history, police officers from Whitehorse RCMP detachment have been honoured to be included at and welcomed into many events by the First Nation communities, and are grateful for opportunities that allow for education and gaining new perspective.
On September 8, 2021, Whitehorse RCMP Detachment held a ceremony to dedicate the Heart Garden to First Nations communities in Whitehorse. Representatives from Kwanlin Dün First Nation, Ta'an Kwäch'än Council, and Whitehorse City Council were in attendance, along with police officers and staff from the Whitehorse RCMP Detachment and Yukon RCMP Headquarters. Inspector Lindsay Ellis, Whitehorse RCMP detachment commander, says that both the dedication and the earlier planting of the Heart Garden this year were more poignant due to the announcement of the confirmation of 215 unmarked graves at a former residential school in Kamloops, BC.
"When we gathered with representatives from Kwanlin Dün First Nations and Ta'an Kwäch'än Council to plant the Heart Garden, we had just learned a few days earlier about the news from Kamloops," says Insp. Ellis. "We are thankful that officers were able to spend two meaningful days working in the Garden alongside community partners at that time. While the Garden is planted in the spring, as winter approaches, we are reminded that this relationship does not go into the earth like the flowers here. This relationship takes work, and we are committed to continuing the work to support safe and healthy First Nation communities in Whitehorse."
Through communication and commitment to reconciliation, Whitehorse RCMP hope that the relationship between police and Yukon First Nations can flourish like the flowers in the Heart Garden and continue to grow and strengthen in the future.