May only truth be
spoken and truth received. Amen.
(Quoted
from https://orangeshirtday.org/ )
In
the summer of 2021, the government of Canada declared September 30th
to be a federal statutory holiday called the National Day for Truth and
Reconciliation. It is also known as Orange Shirt Day. It is a legacy of the St.
Joseph Mission Residential School Commemoration Project and Reunion events that
took place in Williams Lake, BC, in May 2013.
This
project was the vision of Esketemc (Alkali Lake) Chief Fred Robbins, who is a
former student himself. It brought together former students and their families
from the Secwepemc, Tsilhqot’in, Southern Dakelh and St’at’imc Nations along
with the Cariboo Regional District, the Mayors and municipalities, School
Districts and civic organizations in the Cariboo Region.
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. Chief Justice Murray
Sinclair challenged all of the participants to keep the reconciliation process
alive, as a result of the realization that every former student had similar
stories.
As
spokesperson for the Reunion group leading up to the events, former student
Phyllis Webstad told her story of her first day at residential school when her
shiny new orange shirt, bought by her grandmother, was taken from her as a
six-year old girl. Here is her story…
The
annual Orange Shirt Day on September 30th opens the door to global
conversation on all aspects of Residential Schools. It is an opportunity to
create meaningful discussion about the effects of Residential Schools and the
legacy they have left behind. A discussion all Canadians can tune into and create
bridges with each other for reconciliation. A day for survivors to be
reaffirmed that they matter.
(Quoted
from “Phyllis’ Orange Shirt”)
So,
each year, on September 30th, many people, including Phyllis, wear
bright orange shirts to honour residential school survivors and their families.
Phyllis’ story is only one among many. We must listen to these stories, and we
must learn from our past. By doing so, we can walk into the future without
making the same mistakes again. When we wear our orange shirts, we reaffirm that
every child matters – the children from every nation around the world, the residential
school survivors, and the Indigenous children who didn’t come home.
Now
some people might be wondering why we still talk about this topic, why we still
wear orange shirts on (or near) September 30, and maybe even why we continue to
give land acknowledgements before every worship service and every council
meeting. Let’s talk a bit about why we still need to talk about truth and
reconciliation.
(Quoted
from https://www.cbc.ca/newsinteractives/beyond-94?&cta=1)
In
March 2018, CBC News launched Beyond 94, a website that monitors progress on
the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s 94 Calls to Action. Beyond 94 was the
result of a year’s worth of research and interviews with survivors,
stakeholders and all levels of government. (According to the CBC website,
Beyond 94 was updated as recently as April 2025.)
The
site provides up-to-date status reports on each call to action, as well as
extensive summaries explaining those status reports. It includes in-depth
features and short video documentaries that tell some of the community stories
behind the calls to action. It also features residential school survivors
sharing their experiences. (I strongly recommend you go and explore the
website.)
In
researching the progress of each Call to Action, CBC reached out to relevant
governments, faith groups, professional and community organisations for
comment. [They] fact-checked each response with invested stakeholders. [They]
also cross-referenced federal funding announcements with actual and past
financial expenditures. [They] also drew information from past and current CBC
stories.
Beyond
94 measures the progress of the Calls to Action based on the following;
“Not
started” refers to Calls to Action in which no action plan has been
developed and/or no funds have been committed, to implement the Call to Action.
“In
Progress – Projects proposed” refers to Calls to Action in which the
relevant parties involved have either committed to an action plan or funding,
but not yet followed through with it.
“In
Progress – Projects underway” refers to Calls to Action in which the
relevant parties involved are actively working towards implementing that call,
with both a timeline and (where needed) the funding to make it happen.
“Complete”
refers to Calls to Action which have been fully implemented.
Now
I’m not going to list them all, but I will give you a summary. Of the 94 Calls
to Action, 17 aren’t even started, 29 have proposed projects, and 33 have
projects underway. Have you done the math? That leaves 15 that are completed. 15
out of 94, since the Calls to Action were created in 2015.
And
that folks, is why we still talk about residential schools, why we wear orange
on September30th, and why truth and reconciliation should continue be at the
forefront of everything we do.
No comments:
Post a Comment