We honour Orange Shirt Day – a vivid representation of a dark part of our past and a hope for a brighter future.
Officially, September 30th is designated as the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. It acknowledges the injustices visited on the hundreds of thousands of children who were stolen from their families and placed in Indian Residential Schools.
As a community, we honour the lives lost and those forever impacted. We commit to walking beside our neighbours on the path of reconciliation. It is not an easy path and it is not a straight one. It is a journey that requires us all to acknowledge the past.
Wearing orange today is a start. The colour represents truth-telling and healing. It represents all those children and the families who are dealing with the trauma generations on.
Orange Shirt Day began with one woman – Phyllis Webstad - having the strength of recalling how a gift of a new shirt from her grandmother was taken from her by school officials and along with it her identify. Now that story acts as an inspiration for us to do better.
Listening to the stories of the survivors is painful, but not as painful as the memories carried by Indigenous peoples. It is a day for tough discussions and ownership of terrible decisions. And it is a reminder that these events happened right here in our community.
Today’s Walk for the Children will start at Safeway at 10 a.m. and end at the Syilx Okanagan Indian Residential School Monument, next to the hatchery – a location chosen as it is where the train and the cattle trucks came to gather the children to take them away from their families.
Following the Walk for the Children in Gyro Park, we invite you to attend a special gathering featuring an Indigenous drum circle, dancing, and storytelling. This is an opportunity to experience the power of medicine in Indigenous culture, as we come together to reflect, learn, and honour Truth and Reconciliation. This gathering serves as a continuation of our collective journey—one that requires healing, respect, and shared understanding.
For reconciliation, we must all do our part. There is no map that says we have reached the end. So today, wear the colour orange, listen with an open heart and learn about the Indigenous history of the lands we reside on. Together, we can continue the shared journey to truth and reconciliation.