Slideshow image

Remember Rio and Elder Pablo Russell in your prayers with joy and thanksgiving for their lives and work on this day of National Truth and Reconciliation, as they travel to meet family in Europe.
Click here to learn more about Pablo Russell and his ongoing Truth and Reconciliation work.

Due to COVID restrictions, we are not hosting an event this year, but instead direct you to COVID-safe events happening in Calgary today. We also direct you to the September and October issues of the Crossbeams, which contain many avenues for continuing on your own path of Truth and Reconciliation.

The City of Calgary is hosting an online event at noon. Click here to join the live stream.

Calgary Foundation is the connecting place for online events happening today across the city. Click here to reach the full schedule of events. Be sure to read carefully, as most events ask you to register, then send you a direct online link to the event.

The Aboriginal Peoples' Television Network features great programming today, including the airing of 
We Were Children at noon,
Monkey Beach at 4pm and 
Indian Horse at 7pm.
Click here to be directed to their site.

The City of Calgary website has a great introduction to Orange Shirt Day and links to COVID-safe events happening in the city. We are reprinting that information here for your convenience.

Whether you are new to this conversation, or continuing the work of de-colonizing your life and the community around you,  we are here to support you on your journey and recommend these resources and events!

 To help reflect on and learn about the impacts of the Indian Residential Schools the City of Calgary is holding a National Day for Truth and Reconciliation and Orange Shirt Day event.  

This event will be broadcast live at calgary.ca/live on Thursday, Sept. 30 at noon to ensure the health and safety of Calgarians during the COVID-19 pandemic.

This is the first year The City has taken the lead on this event. An abundance of gratitude to the many individuals, Indigenous groups, and community partners who helped create this event. 

What is Orange Shirt Day?

 It is an opportunity to remember the children that didn’t make it home from Indian residential schools, the experience of survivors, and resulting inter-generational trauma. 

This day also provides an opportunity to witness, support, and honour the healing journey of survivors and their families. 

How did Orange Shirt Day begin? 

 

Orange Shirt Day is a legacy of the St. Joseph Mission residential school commemoration event held in the spring of 2013 at Williams Lake, BC, and was inspired by Phyllis (Jack) Webstad's story of how her new orange t-shirt was taken away on her first day of school at the Mission.

The confiscation of Phyllis' orange shirt was a common practice at Indian residential schools where the intent was to disconnect Indigenous children from their families and communities and erasing their Indigenous identity. Since then, the event has become an opportunity to continue the discussion on all aspects of residential schools happening annually.

As the number of events increases across the country, September was chosen because this is the time when school begins again and also reflects the time when indigenous children were taken from their families and placed in residential schools. 

 How to get involved 

 There are many ways to reflect on the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation and Orange Shirt Day and to learn about the impacts Indian Residential Schools had on the survivors, intergenerational survivors, and the many children that did not survive. 

  •  Watch the Live Stream at 12 pm, Thursday, September 30
  • Wear an orange shirt from a local Indigenous vendor to show your allyship and solidarity
  • Read the White Goose Flying Report
  • Review the Truth & Reconciliation Commission’s Summary Report that identifies 94 Calls to Action to “redress the legacy of residential schools and advance the process of Canadian reconciliation.
  • Be an ally to the Indigenous community 
  • Participate in one of the many community-led National Truth & Reconciliation events listed by the Calgary Foundation 

 Orange in Calgary 

 The following buildings and structures will be illuminated orange in honour of National Truth & Reconciliation Day:

  • Arts Commons
  • Calgary Tower 
  • Glenbow Museum
  • Historic City Hall
  • Olympic Plaza
  • Orange ribbon decals on all City fleet vehicles
  • Reconciliation Bridge
  • Southern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium
  • TELUS Spark Science Centre
  • Additionally, flags on City of Calgary buildings will be lowered to half-mast. 

We acknowledge Jesus' ministry for and amongst all people, bringing hope and dignity to all of human life as we strive to continue in his way, doing the work of truth-telling, reconciliation, and community building.

(Jesus) came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. And uas was his custom, vhe went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and he stood up wto read. And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written,
     “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
       because [God] has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor.
      [God] has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives
      and recovering of sight to the blind,
      to set at liberty those who are oppressed, 
      to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
                                                                Luke 4:16-19