NIAGARA FALLS, N.Y. (WKBW) — More than a hundred of Indigenous community members gathered in Niagara Falls for the 5th annual "Every Child Matters Walk," an evening of remembrance and awareness aimed at healing generational trauma from residential schools. This is part of Orange Shirt Day .

The walk honors victims, survivors and alumni of Indigenous residential schools, which contributed to a federal policy of forced assimilation that removed Native American children from their homes under the premise of Western education while forcing them to abandon their culture.

These children were often victims of physical abuse, and thousands are known to have died at these schools. The impact and pain of forced assimilation continue to be felt today, community members said.

The "Every Child Mat

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