Monday, September 30 marks the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, a day to honour residential school survivors and to help all Canadians understand this dark chapter in our country’s history and its present-day impacts.
The day coincides with Orange Shirt Day, an annual event that came to be through the fierce determination of Phyllis Webstad, a residential school Survivor, whose prized orange shirt was taken from her at school, and has become a powerful symbol for the attempted stripping of Indigenous rights and personhood. Phyllis is the founder of the Orange Shirt Society, an organization dedicated to building awareness of the individual, family and community inter-generational impact of Indian Residential Schools and to promoting the concept of Every Child Matters.
In 2021, almost one-quarter of a million Indigenous people called Manitoba home, making up 18.1% of the population, and more than 102,000 indigenous individuals live in Winnipeg. It is up to all of us to learn about the origins of the National Day for Truth & Reconciliation, and to strive for a more just, empathetic and compassionate society that champions Indigenous rights.
We have compiled a list of helpful learning resources as well as events taking place this week leading up to the National Day for Truth & Reconciliation next week:
Participate and learn:
- University of Alberta’s Indigenous Canada course:
Indigenous Canada | University of Alberta (free, online; 12+ hours) - 4 Seasons of Reconciliation (free, online; 3-4 hours)
- Orange Shirt Society: Programs – Orange Shirt Society
- “Remembering the Children: National Day for Truth and Reconciliation” September 30 on Parliament Hill (90 minutes)
- Truth and Reconciliation Week 2024: National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation (NCTR) is offering a week of learning and reflection, including webinars such as the “Health Related Impacts of the Residential Schools System,” to help us move toward reconciliation.
Read:
- 21 Things to Know About the Indian Act – Bob Joseph
- Indigenous Relations: Insights, Tips & Suggestions to Make Reconciliation a Reality – Bob Joseph
- The Inconvenient Indian: A Curious Account of Native People in North America – Thomas King
- True Reconciliation: How to be a Force for Change – Jodi Wilson-Raybould
- Highway of Tears: A True Story of Racism, Indifference and the Pursuit of Justice for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls – Jessica McDiarmid
Visit:
- September 28 to 30: Orange Shirt Days @ the Manitoba Museum – Manitoba Museum (all-day programming focused in partnership with the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation.)
- Canadian Museum for Human Rights: The Witness Blanket: large‐scale art installation made from hundreds of items reclaimed from residential schools, churches, government buildings and other cultural structures across Canada.
- WAG Qaumajuq: Three-storey glass vault is filled with thousands of Inuit carvings; free to view in the gallery lobby.
