An Every Child Matters display at the Vancouver Art Gallery in September, 2021.

(MARSHALL JONES / iNFOnews.ca)

It has been many months since the provincial government marked National Day for Truth and Reconciliation a statutory holiday, and that day is finally arriving.

The special day on Sept. 30 is for Canadians to commemorate the history of the residential school system and “to honour the resilience, dignity and strength of survivors and intergenerational survivors and remember the children who never came home,” according to the provincial government website.

In June 2021, the Government of Canada passed Bill C-5 to make Sept. 30 the national day for truth and reconciliation as well as a federal statutory day for its workers. On March 9, British Columbia joined Prince Edward Island, Northwest Territories, Nunavut and Yukon in making the day a statutory holiday.

“It's a chance to engage and educate people about B.C.'s colonial history and how it has and continues to impact Indigenous communities,” the government site reads. 

Sept. 30 also marks the 10 year anniversary of Orange Shirt Day, a grassroots campaign founded by Phyllis Webstad, a residential school survivor who had her new orange shirt taken away by school administrators.

“It's a day to honour the healing journeys of residential school survivors and their families and a time to engage in meaningful discussions about the history and legacy of the residential school system,” the provincial government said. “Orange Shirt Day has become an important opportunity to open up dialogue on anti-racism and anti-bullying.”

READ MORE: Westbank First Nation wants to return to prescribed burning

Chief Rosanne Casimir of the Tk’emlups te Secwepemc First Nation reported in May 2021 the discovery by ground-penetrating radar of what were believed to be possible remains of more than 200 children at the site of the former Kamloops Indian Residential School.

Similar reports of possible remains at residential school sites at former institutions across Canada have been made since the Kamloops discovery.

READ MORE: West Kelowna politician calls for public review of wildfire emergency operations

Eligible BC workers are able to observe Sept. 30 with a paid day off or receive payment at premium rates if required to work, and are encouraged to talk about reconciliation and wear an orange shirt. 

There are several ways to commemorate the day in Kamloops and the Okanagan and here are a few. 

The Kamloops Museums & Archives is offering free admission from Sept. 26 to 29 where visitors can visit an exhibition on Leonard Marchand Sr., the country’s first person with First Nations status elected to Canadian parliament and Canada’s first Indigenous federal cabinet minister. There are educational resources from Kamloops Indian Residential School survivors available at the gallery. The gallery will be closed on Sept. 30 to observe the important day.

A Thompson Rivers University Orange Shirt Day event is taking place in front of the campus activity centre for all students, staff and faculty from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Sept. 29.There will be drumming, community speakers, local Indigenous vendors and a Reconciliation activity throughout the day. Campus flags will be flown at half-mast from sunrise to sunset.

The Museum & Archives of Vernon will be open on Sept. 30 to provide a “listen and learn” opportunity where 94 Calls to Action will be discussed along with the resilience of the sylix/Okanagan Nation who went to residential schools. There will be activities and syilx-themed games for kids and an OKIB production for adults to watch among other learning opportunities.

All museum admissions on Sept. 30 will be donated to the nk?maplqs i? snm?am?a?ya?tn i? k?l elementary school at Komasket Park to help fund their new building.

The Ki-Low-Na Friendship Society is inviting the public to gather at their building on Leon Ave between 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. on Sept. 30 to celebrate and recognize the day and learn more about how to support it. An “Orange Tshirt Day lunch will be provided and singers and drummers have been invited to attend.

In Penticton the public is invited to join a Walk for Children hosted by the Okanagan Nation Alliance.

The two kilometre walk starts at the Safeway Parking lot on Duncan Avenue W at 10 a.m. on Sept. 30 and ends at the  Syilx Indian Residential School   monument outside the Penticton hatchery on En’owkin Trail. There will be a lunch at the monument with priority given to Syilx residential school survivors, Syilx elders and nation members. Participants are encourage to wear orange shirts.

— WIth files from The Canadian Press 

To contact a reporter for this story, email Shannon Ainslie or call 250-819-6089 or email the editor. You can also submit photos, videos or news tips to the newsroom and be entered to win a monthly prize draw.

We welcome your comments and opinions on our stories but play nice. We won't censor or delete comments unless they contain off-topic statements or links, unnecessary vulgarity, false facts, spam or obviously fake profiles. If you have any concerns about what you see in comments, email the editor in the link above. SUBSCRIBE to our awesome newsletter here.

News from © iNFOnews, 2023