National Day for Truth and Reconciliation 2022

More
Email icon Back to Search
Orange image of a narwhal, eagle and flower over a pathway. Text: national Day for Truth and Reconciliation.

Each year, September 30 marks the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.

The day honours the children who never returned home and Survivors of residential schools, as well as their families and communities. Public commemoration of the tragic and painful history and ongoing impacts of residential schools is a vital component of the reconciliation process.

Both the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation and Orange Shirt Day take place on September 30.

Orange Shirt Day is an Indigenous-led grassroots commemorative day intended to raise awareness of the individual, family and community inter-generational impacts of residential schools, and to promote the concept of “Every Child Matters”.  The orange shirt is a symbol of the stripping away of culture, freedom and self-esteem experienced by Indigenous children over generations.

On September 30, we encourage all Canadians to wear orange to honour the thousands of Survivors of residential schools. 

Learn more at: https://www.canada.ca/en/canadian-heritage/campaigns/national-day-truth-reconciliation.html

National Day of Truth and Reconciliation Events

Truth and Reconciliation Walk

September 30, 12:30pm. Meet at the Kinsmen Park amphitheater. 
Join guest speakers for a short program, followed by a walk around Kinsmen Lake. Elder Eileen Black will say the opening prayer and our guest speaker is Butch Wolfleg. 

KAIROS Blanket Exercise

Presented by the Strathmore FCSS and Trellis Society in partnership with the Town of Strathmore and the Government of Alberta. 
September 30, 6:00 - 9:00pm at Lord of All Lutheran Church, 112 Lakeside Blvd
This workshop explores the Nation-to-Nation relationship between Indigenous and Non-Indigenous peoples in Canada. A traditional meal will be served. 
Please register by calling 403-983-0076 or emailing vwoods@growwithtrellis.ca. 

Orange Shirt Day

September 30 is also Orange Shirt Day. 

Orange Shirt Day is a legacy of the St. Joseph Mission residential school commemoration event held in the spring of 2013 at Williams Lake, BC, and was inspired by Phyllis (Jack) Webstad's story of how her new orange t-shirt was taken away on her first day of school at the Mission.

The confiscation of Phyllis' orange shirt was a common practice at Indian residential schools where the intent was to disconnect Indigenous children from their families and communities and erasing their Indigenous identity. Since then, the event has become an opportunity to continue the discussion on all aspects of residential schools happening annually.

As the number of events increases across the country, September was chosen because this is the time when school begins again and also reflects the time when indigenous children were taken from their families and placed in residential schools.

Everyone is encouraged to wear orange on September 30 to honor the children who survived residential schools and to remember those who didn’t.

 

Contact Us