This past Saturday marked the Country's third National Day for Truth and Reconciliation & Orange Shirt Day.

Originating in 2013, Orange Shirt Day honours Survivor Phyllis Webstad, who had her brand-new orange shirt taken from her on her first day attending Residential School when she was just six years old. After years of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission examining the abuses of the residential school system, they called upon the federal government to establish, as a statutory holiday, a National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.

On September 30th, 2021, just days after the horrendous discovery of over 200 unmarked graves at a former Residential School site in Kamloops, BC, Parliament approved the new federal statutory holiday recognized as the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.

Here in Portage, local community members and organizations flocked to the grounds of The National Indigenous Residential School Museum of Canada to take in the activities. Still, most importantly, they attended to honour and remember the hundreds of children who never made it home from Residential Schools, the Survivors who have passed on, and the Survivors still with us today, and to work together towards a sense of understanding, hope, and healing as a community. The National Indigenous Residential School Museum (NIRSM) of Canada is located along Crescent Road West on Treaty One Territory.

Chief of Long Plain First Nation Kyra Wilson says that the day is crucial for everyone, not just people impacted by residential schools.

"There's a lot of that compassion that we see with a lot of our allies," she continues. "It's an unfortunate history that many, if not all, First Nations have been affected by the residential school system. Every First Nations person is impacted by the residential school system someway somehow," 

Wilson adds that it is essential to remember this dark part of Canadian history.

"You can't erase history. It's so important to understand history in order to move forward, and this is a part of our history, not only just First Nations history but the history of Canada and also the history of the United States. And then we also know other indigenous communities worldwide that have experienced boarding schools as well. So, this is a history that many indigenous people, including First Nations, have experienced."

In a video interview with Travel Manitoba, Executive Director of the Museum and Residential School Survivor Lorraine Daniels says, "Even though this building did represent the painful past, there is hope. It was once a place of hurting, so now it's a place of healing. There's a light at the end where we'll all learn from this, and we all work together."

You can watch the full interview here: National Indigenous Residential School Museum of Canada