National Day for Truth and Reconciliation

Sept. 30 is the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. This day honours the Indigenous 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.

Leduc County encourages everyone to reflect on the tragic legacy of residential schools, listen to stories from residential school survivors and their families, while honouring those who did not make it home.

The National Day for Truth and Reconciliation is a federal statutory holiday that fulfills the 80^th call to action from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada’s (TRC) final report, which called upon government to create a statutory holiday “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.”

The federal government estimates that more than 150,000 Indigenous, Metis and Inuit students attended residential schools, and more than 4,000 are believed to have died. The federal residential school system operated from the 1880s to 1996, and were church-run and federally funded.

Orange Shirt Day

Sept. 30 also marks Orange Shirt Day. Orange Shirt Day has been observed since 2013 to honour residential school survivors and their families to commit to the ongoing process of reconciliation. It honours Phyllis (Jack) Webstad’s story of her new orange shirt – a gift from her grandmother – being taken from her at just six years old on her first day at a residential school.
Learn more about Orange Shirt Day

Participation

There are numerous activities throughout the region for you to recognize National Day for Truth and Reconciliation:

City of Leduc

Flag raising ceremony at the Leduc Civic Centre on Sept. 30 at 11 a.m. The ceremony will include raising the Treaty 6 and Metis flags, prayer and blessings by a Cree Elder and traditional drumming and singing by Chubby Cree.

National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation

On Sept. 30 the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation is working with the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network (APTN) and partners to bring the country a live national broadcast called Remembering the Children that will commemorate National Day for Truth and Reconciliation and Orange Shirt Day. The event takes place on Sept. 30 at Parliament Hill and will also be broadcast live.
Learn more

Online learning resources

Videos and documentaries

Finding Our Way Forward, Together

Directed and animated by Justin Stephenson, the animated short tells the true story of the first map of the land we now call “Canada”. (2 min)
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Our Maternal Home

Tracing their origins to the Cree Nation of Waswanipi, a family confronts the impacts of generational and cultural disconnection, discovering a potent form of medicine: the bonds of kinship. (27 min)
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Heartbeat of a Nation

This short documentary by Eric Janvier celebrates Dene cultural reclamation and revitalization as a father passes on traditional knowledge to his child through the teachings of a caribou drum. (20 min)
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Finding Dawn

Acclaimed Métis filmmaker Christine Welsh brings us a compelling documentary that puts a human face on a national tragedy – the epidemic of missing or murdered Indigenous women in Canada. The film takes a journey into the heart of Indigenous women's experience, from Vancouver's skid row, down the Highway of Tears in northern BC, and on to Saskatoon, where the murders and disappearances of these women remain unsolved. (73 min)
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Birth of a Family

Three sisters and a brother meet for the first time. Removed from their young Dene mother during the infamous Sixties Scoop, they were separated as infants and adopted into families across North America. Betty Ann, Esther, Rosalie, and Ben were only four of the 20,000 Indigenous Canadian children taken from their families between 1955 and 1985, to be either adopted into white families or live in foster care. As the four siblings piece together their shared history, their connection deepens, and their family begins to take shape. (79 min)
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Oshkikishikaw: A New Day

12 year-old identical twins Tapwewin (Truth) and Pawaken (Totem) have never cut their hair. Jules Koostachin, Tapwewin and Pawaken’s mom - and documentary filmmaker - learned of a sacred coming-of-age ceremony when she was in her early 20s. An Elder told her that when boys hit puberty, a ceremony around the cutting of hair is a right of passage that supports and uplifts youth as they transition into the next phase of their lives. (25 min)
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Becoming Nakuset

As a small child, Nakuset was taken from her home in Thompson, Manitoba and adopted into a Jewish family in Montreal. The story of how she reclaimed her Indigenous identity, with help from her Bubby. (13 min)
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Twilight Dancers

It’s the 58th Winter Festival in Pimicikamak Cree Nation. The Twilight Dancers are competing in the square dancing category - but they’re not just dancing to win. They’re dancing to cope with the trauma of a suicide epidemic in their community. In 2016, 140 youth attempted suicide. 6 young people took their own lives. Dancing helps the community heal. At the Winter Festival, everybody comes together to dance. (17 min)
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Online learning resources

Indigenous Voices Online Learning Modules, University of Saskatchewan

This is a series of five self-paced interactive modules on the following topics: Power and Privilege, Land Agreements, Indigenous Education, Place and Culture, and Land Acknowledgements. These modules provide understandings about Indigenous histories, cultures, and worldviews in a culturally appropriate way.
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Indigenous Canada, University of Alberta

This is a free 12-lesson online course from the Faculty of Native Studies that explores the different histories and contemporary perspectives of Indigenous peoples living in Canada. From an Indigenous perspective, this course explores complex experiences Indigenous peoples face today from a historical and critical perspective highlighting national and local Indigenous-settler relations.

Learn more

Resources

National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation: nctr.ca
Indian Residential School Survivors Society: irsss.ca
Orange Shirt Day: orangeshirtday.org
Learn about the land you inhabit: Native-land.ca
Indian Residential School Crisis Line: 1-866-925-4419