A large crowd gathered at civic square at Saskatoon city hall for the fourth annual Reconciliation Saskatoon flag raising.

The ceremony honoured those who survived the Residential School era, the 60s Scoop, and Day Schools, as well as Indigenous veterans and Elders.

“There’s a lot of people that still don’t know what happened. There’s a lot of people that don’t even know what a residential school is,” said Frank Badger, a Residential school survivor who spoke at the event.

He recalled his fear at the first days of school, his hair being caught off, other kids crying because they wanted to go home. He talked about indoctrination that told him he was lesser because he was Indigenous and that his language was gibberish.

“That was then but now is now and over the years I have seen a lot of changes. I myself have changed my life,” he said, talking about recovering from alcoholism.

Badger has been sober for 29 years.

“What’s happening here today is fantastic, it’s awesome,” he said there has been a shift towards Reconciliation.

Lisa Mooney, senior advisor of strategic inclusion for the company Nutrien, talked about the importance of land acknowledgement.

“Land acknowledgement means more than words,” she said, adding it is meant to spark conversation, lead to learning, and make us work towards Reconciliation.

The flag raising marks the start of a month-long process of understanding and reconciliation, meant to inspire residents to commit to the TRC Calls To Action.