Call to Action #80
The National Day for Truth and Reconciliation became a federal holiday in 2021 in order to enact Call to Action #80 of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada. The Call to Action states
“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.”
While having a federal holiday on September 30th is an important first step, ensuring all Canadians actually meaningfully engage with Indigenous communities and in solidarity is key and critical to achieving Call to Action #80, and much more is needed all year round in order to work towards reconciliation.
The Orange Shirt
Orange Shirt Day was started in 2013 by residential school survivor Phyllis Webstad from the Stswecem’c Xgat’tem First Nation. At the age of 6, she was taken away from her family to the St. Joseph’s Mission “School.” For her first day in school her grandmother bought her a beautiful orange shirt. When she got to the residential “school” all her belongings, including her new orange shirt were taken away. She never saw that shirt again.
The Orange Shirt has become a symbol of solidarity with residential school survivors because of how the colour orange reminded Phyllis of the experiences she and other Indigenous children had.
Every Child Matters
Like the Orange Shirt, the phrase Every Child Matters has become central as a message of solidarity with survivors. The Every Child Matters movement was started to raise awareness about the Indigenosu children who had to go through the Residential “School” System and the enduring and intergenerational impacts they faced.
Every Child Matters was created because many Indigenous children in Residential “Schools” were made to feel as though they didn’t matter. The inhumane and downright criminal ways in which Indigenous children were treated is inexcusable and we want to send a message to current and future generations of children that they do matter. Every Child Matters is not only a reminder of the atrocities of the past but also a call to action for all of us to fight for Indigenous rights today and everyday so no Indigenous child feels they don’t matter ever again.
What you should do on the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation
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Wear orange to visibly show solidarity with survivors
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Donate to the Indian Residential School Survivor Society and other Indigenous organizations
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Educate yourself about the Residential Schools System and the ongoing violence and injustice Indigenous communities face
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Educate others about these same topics
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