Community

Truth and Reconciliation Day

Located in the previous location of the Sechelt Residential School, the memorial sculpture stands over 1.6 metres high and depicts a shishalh Nation child being taken from the protective arms of its grandmother.

Truth and Reconciliation Day is held annually on September 30. Here are some ways to commemorate the day:
1. Attend an Event
  • Commemoration Ceremony
    A commemoration ceremony will take place to recognize, honour, and remember attendees of the Sechelt Residential School. Drumming and singing, speakers, moment of silence, and blanketing of the monument will take place.
    When: 11 am – 1:00 pm
    Where: shishalh Nation House of Hewhiwus Complex (behind Raven’s Cry Theatre at 5555 Sunshine Coast Highway)
  • Walk for Reconciliation and Community Feast
    After the commemoration ceremony, attendees are invited to participate in a walk for reconciliation.
    When: 1:00 pm to 3:00 pm
    Where: Beginning at the Residential School Monument site and continuing to Memmiman Street, sinku drive, and xenichen avenue; then shishalh Nation Community Hall
  • Sunshine Coast Museum & Archives (closed on statutory holidays)
    Visitors can listen to the Nation’s origin story from Ch’ḵw’elhp (Gibsons), and learn about Sḵwx̱wú7mesh culture and values.
    Where: Sunshine Coast Museum & Archives located at 716 Winn Rd, Gibsons

2. Wear an orange shirt on September 30th to show your support for survivors of residential schools.

  • Orange shirts from Candace Campo’s Love the Land Apparel are available for purchase at the Sunshine Coast Museum & Archives.

3. Watch

4. Read

5. Listen

6. Learn more

  • Learn how to pronounce a variety of words in the she shashishalhem language (the Coast Salish dialect spoken by the shíshálh Nation). Click the link and learn how to pronounce a variety of words, including days of the week, feelings, common phrases and the traditional place names seen on local highway signage.
  • The National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation is a place of learning and dialogue where the truths of the residential school experience will be honoured and kept safe for future generations. The NCTR Archives and Collections is the foundation for ongoing learning and research. Here, Survivors, their families, educators, researchers, and the public can examine the residential school system more deeply with the goal of fostering reconciliation and healing.
  • The Legacy of Hope Foundation (LHF) is a national, Indigenous-led, charitable organization that has been working to promote healing and Reconciliation in Canada for more than 19 years. The LHF’s goal is to educate and raise awareness about the history and existing intergenerational impacts of the Residential School System (RSS) and subsequent Sixties Scoop (SS) on Indigenous (First Nations, Inuit, and Métis) Survivors, their descendants, and their communities to promote healing and Reconciliation.

Is there a book, movie, podcast, website or other resource that you think should be included here? Please send us an email at communications@gibsons.ca and we’ll add it to the page.

Background

In recent years, September 30th has been known as Orange Shirt Day, so called because of the residential school experiences of the campaign’s founder, Phyllis Webstad.

In June 2021, the federal government announced that September 30th would become “a National Day for Truth and Reconciliation”, a new annual statutory day to commemorate the history and ongoing trauma caused by residential schools, and to honour those who were lost and the survivors, families and communities who continue to grieve.

Creating such a federal holiday was one of the 94 calls to action by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission back in 2015.

Truth and Reconciliation Day was created to provide Canadians with an opportunity to consider what each of us can do as individuals to advance reconciliation with Indigenous peoples and to recommit to understanding the truth of our shared history, to accept and learn from it and in doing so, help to create a better, more inclusive Canada.

Individual actions may take the form of personal reflection, education and awareness activities, or by participating in Orange Shirt Day or other community events.

In recent years, September 30th has been known as Orange Shirt Day, so called because of the residential school experiences of the campaign’s founder, Phyllis Webstad.

In June 2021, the federal government announced that September 30th would become “a National Day for Truth and Reconciliation”, a new annual statutory day to commemorate the history and ongoing trauma caused by residential schools, and to honour those who were lost and the survivors, families and communities who continue to grieve.

Creating such a federal holiday was one of the 94 calls to action by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission back in 2015.

Truth and Reconciliation Day was created to provide Canadians with an opportunity to consider what each of us can do as individuals to advance reconciliation with Indigenous peoples and to recommit to understanding the truth of our shared history, to accept and learn from it and in doing so, help to create a better, more inclusive Canada.

Individual actions may take the form of personal reflection, education and awareness activities, or by participating in Orange Shirt Day or other community events.