September 30 Orange Shirt Day #TRC

 

September 30 is the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation

September 11, 2023

September 30 is the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation in Canada. It is a time to recognize and commemorate the intergenerational harm that residential schools caused to Indigenous families and communities, and to honour those who have been affected by this injustice.

We urge our members, staff and allies to take this opportunity to learn about, and reflect on, our past and how we can meaningfully participate in reconciliation in Canada.

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission and its Calls to Action

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission ran from 2008 to 2015, providing those directly or indirectly affected by the legacy of the Indian Residential Schools policy with an opportunity to share their stories and experiences. The Commission released its final report detailing 94 calls to action. The National Day for Truth and Reconciliation responds to Call to Action 80 from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada: Calls to Action, which reads:

80. We call upon the federal government, in collaboration with Aboriginal peoples, to establish, as a statutory holiday, a National Day for Truth and Reconciliation to honour Survivors, their families, and communities, and ensure that public commemoration of the history and legacy of residential schools remains a vital component of the reconciliation process.

The National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation (NCTR) has become the permanent archive for the statements, documents and other materials the Commission gathered, and its library and collections are the foundation for ongoing learning and research.

Our 2023 National Day for Truth and Reconciliation artwork was created by Anishinaabe Onyota’a:ka artist, Tsista Kennedy (https://hotdogwaterart.com/.)

When I first read the theme of "healing and care", as well as the theme of "remembering the children" being worked into this art, the image of this first draft immediately came to mind.

The bison is a common image I use in my artwork, and I often use it to portray healing, resiliency, and strength, and wellness. When the buffalo were brought to near extinction, we as Indigenous people struggled due to our diverse relationships with these animals, and the nourishment, shelter, and tools they provided us. Since colonization began, both the bison and we as Indigenous people have maintained our strength and resiliency, and now we both are growing in numbers once again. Because of this, I wanted the bison to be a place for the past generations, the children and elders, to rest upon.

The elder and children on the bison fit the theme of "remembering the children", but also represent the children and elders of the present day who will pass on and receive the traditional knowledge our ancestors succeeded in passing down to us. The individuals on the far right looking at these children and the elder represent those that support the children and the elders in any way they can, ensuring that they are doing their part in the passing down of our culture, wellbeing, and way of life. This is all connected by a medicine wheel, and some floral patterns in the top right corner, which to me represents new life, and continuity.

Tsista Kennedy, Anishinaabe Onyota’a:ka artist

Orange Shirt Day

Orange Shirt Day is a legacy of the St. Joseph Mission (SJM) Residential School (1891-1981) Commemoration Project and Reunion events that took place in Williams Lake, BC, Canada, in May 2013. The events were designed to commemorate the residential school experience, to witness and honour the healing journey of the survivors and their families, and to commit to the ongoing process of reconciliation.

Each year on September 30, people across Canada wear orange shirts to raise awareness of, and start a conversation around, the history and legacies of the residential school system in Canada. Watch the video at right to learn more about how Orange Shirt Day came to be and to listen to Phyllis Webstad's story.

Share your Orange Shirt Day photos with the ONA community. Submit them via email to digital@ona.org.

Learn More

• The National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation is the permanent archive for the statements, documents and other materials the Commission gathered, and its library and collections are the foundation for ongoing learning and research.
• Orange Shirt Society
• Gord Downie & Chanie Wenjack Fund
• "Nursing and Indigenous peoples’ health: reconciliation in practice" By Maureen Fitzhenry
• Canadian Indigenous Nurses Association
• Assembly of First Nations
• Check out the First Nations Child and Family Caring Society of Canada website to learn about advocacy to support access and opportunities for First Nations children and youth. They also have a page dedicated to COVID-19 resources.
• #IndigenousReads reading list
• The Ontario Federation of Labour has assembled an extensive list of anti-racism resources, including readings, videos and podcasts.
• Federal Anti-Racism Secretariat
• Ontario Human Rights Commission

 

In The News

Continuing Coverage: (click headline)

First Nation condemns 'inadequate' punishment of BC lawyer who took on '60s scoop cases

Nelson Star

Stephen Bronstein was suspended for one month and fined $4,000 after admitting to mishandling the cases of Sixties Scoop survivors.  A First Nation in B.C.’s Cariboo region is condemning the B.C. Law Society’s handling of a Vancouver lawyer’s mishandling of residential school survivor cases.

Bronstein was  fined $4,000 after admitting to mishandling the cases of residential school survivors. He was also barred from acting as counsel for any ’60s Scoop claimants in the future.

The ’60s Scoop was a large-scale program that allowed child welfare organizations to remove Indigenous children from their families and place them in the foster care system and allow them to be adopted by white families.

The Tŝilhqot’in Nation on Wednesday condemned the law society for not adequately punishing Bronstein, noting that many of his clients were from the First Nation.

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NDP joins call for provincial gov't to apologize for residential schools

CKOM News Talk Sports

He pointed to an event in the legislative building when Moe jigged with '60s Scoop survivors but after that, Belanger said, the survivors got nothing.

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Lawmakers strengthen Oregon Indian Child Welfare Act

KTVZ

The bill codifies provisions from the federal Indian Child Welfare Act in state law and will ensure that Oregon's practices better serve Indian children, ...

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Canadians struggling from a sense of shame, misinformation, Murray Sinclair says

Nunatsiaq News

Sinclair said the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's Calls to Action 71 to 84 discuss missing children and those burial sites specifically.

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Orange Shirt Day founder Phyllis Webstad was recently told she is a link for reconciliation between First Nations and non-First Nations in Canada.

Phyllis Webstad was 6 years old when the new orange shirt she chose for her 1st day of school was stripped off her back. It was the early 70s & she was the 3rd generation to attend St. Joseph’s Residential School in Williams Lake, BC.

OUR HOMETOWN: Truth and reconciliation champion

Phyllis Webstad continues to help the country understand the residential school legacy 

WATCH

• Monica Lamb-Yorski
• Jun. 10, 2021 

While the suggestion is daunting, the 53-year-old member of the Stswecem’c Xgat’tem First Nation said she cannot help but think about a picture of a bridge hanging on her living room wall that her Aunt Agnes Jack purchased at a yard sale.

“The bridge is woven together with rope and tree roots,” she said. “It’s not pretty, it’s not perfect, but it’s enough that you could walk across it.”

Webstad said she keeps thinking about that.

“That’s been my life it seems because I grew up on the reserve, I’m half Secwepemc, I’m half white and I have lighter skin so I’ve been more readily accepted in the non-Indigenous community and I’ve been able to be a bridge builder or gap person.”

She described the time period since the announcement confirming the remains of 215 children buried at the former Kamloops Indian Residential School as a whirlwind.

Webstad’s mom Rose Wilson gave birth to her in July 1967 at her grandmother Lena Jack’s home in Dog Creek. She found her birth father in Kamloops a few years ago. “I have eight other siblings, one passed away, so there are seven. They all live in Kamloops.”

 Read more: Orange Shirt Society launches first textbook on residential school history

READ EVEN MORE

 

Indigenous author shares painful memories of residential school

Guelph event organizer Dianne Dance said the turnout shows a sincere wish for reconciliation

By Anam Khan

It was a full house, many wearing orange shirts to recognize Orange Shirt Day, at the Italian Canadian Club Friday as community members gathered to hear Indigenous author Edmund Metatawabin speak about his residential school experience.

Several members of the community gathered as Metatawabin, a past recipient of the Order of Canada, spoke at the Rotary Club of Guelph.

Many wore orange t-shirts that read “Honouring Indigenous Peoples, Every Child Matters” to commemorate Orange Shirt Day on Sept. 30 which remembers the assimilation practices forced onto young Indigenous children.

The organizer of the event, Dianne Dance, said that the fact that many people came to the event shows that there is a sincere wish for reconciliation.

Dance said it is important to recognize the suffering of Indigenous peoples as Orange Shirt Day is right around the corner. 

“It's still impacting today and we need to understand that in the spirit of reconciliation,” said Dance. 

Metatawabin spoke about his personal experiences where he experienced the pain in residential schools and lived to see his children suffer as well. 

“Physical abuse comes in many forms, and without oversight, residential schools liberally applied that punishment,” said Metatawabin, who gave his speech wearing a traditional headdress reserved for chiefs.

He spoke about the helplessness in complying to the rules, the ostracization by the church, being treated like a criminal by the police, the scars on his body from a distinct orange strap which gauges the skin as it touches it, being made to stand outside minus-40 C overnight, suffering repeated slaps on both sides of the face, squatting for four hours on the concrete floor, not being able to access water to drink along with very few washroom privileges, getting electrocuted on an electric chair and being forced to eat his own vomit. 

“These are only a few, as there were other inventive ways to inflict pain or discomfort on the children. Sexual abuse committed by the bishop, the head priest, and other staff. When a girl was pregnant, it was abortion,” said Metatawabin, who still remembers his status number of that school. 

Like any father, he said, his heart would ache for the touch, noise and demands of children and having suffered humiliation first hand through pain methods, the immediate and long term effects can never be forgotten. 

A standing ovation followed Metatawabin speech which left the audience moved and he was given a certificate of appreciation in recognization of his presentation.

Ontario Regional Chief of Taykwa Tagamou Nation RoseAnne Archibald spoke about one of the most powerful results of residential schools being intergenerational trauma which is trauma that gets passed down to generations, and which each subsequent generation, that generation ends up with less coping skills to deal with the trauma. 

Archibald said the results of intergenerational trauma are evident in First Nations people in Canada and added that even though it subsists, the First Nations People like all human beings have a propensity towards healing. 

“So now we are now entering the age of healing and to have an organization like the rotary club of Guelph stand shoulder to shoulder with us really means something,” said Archibald.

“It means something that you are our allies in that healing process so I thank you for that."

One of Metatawabin's last words acknowledged the rank of women in Indigenous culture.  

“For a long time, we have acknowledged and we have known that the leader within each sacred fire is the woman, is the creator. If you think of the creator, none of us would be here without the women.”

He said women were placed in the centre of the fire, the children after and the men outside of the fire who served as protectors highlighting the important role children play in society.

Acknowledging the current climate strikes that have been taken globally, he spoke about the importance of caring for the next generation. 

“When the Europeans came, trees were cut. The real owners of this land are not yet born. Were just caretakers to make sure they have food and resources and clean stuff to use — what Greta is talking about.”

“Listen to her and support her.”

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