Commemorating the history and ongoing impacts of residential schools have been deemed a vital component of the reconciliation process.
With National Day for Truth and Reconciliation coming up on September 30, we’ve put together this list of resources and ways in which you can commemorate this important day and take action in helping Canada move forward on a path to true reconciliation.
Recommended Resources
We’re fortunate to represent and work with several prominent Indigenous leaders who are lending their voices, experiences, and stories to this vital conversation.
Meet them in the video below and hear their recommendations on how we can join together in moving reconciliation forward:
Dive deeper with their bestselling books:
True Reconciliation: How to Be a Voice for Change
By the Hon. Jody Wilson-Raybould
Broken down into three core practices — learn, understand, and act — True Reconciliation answers the question Jody is asked the most: What can I do to help advance reconciliation?
Seven Fallen Feathers
By Tanya Talaga
This award-winning book introduces seven Indigenous teenagers who died mysteriously in Thunder Bay, exploring systemic racism, policing and justice systems, and Indigenous rights.
The Right to Be Cold
By Sheila Watt-Cloutier
The Right to Be Cold explores the parallels between safeguarding the Arctic and the survival of Inuit culture — and ultimately the world.
Decolonizing Journalism
By Duncan McCue
Duncan McCue created the definitive guide to decolonizing journalism and how to respectfully share Indigenous stories and perspectives.
Coming Soon:
Mind Over Matter: Hard-Won Battles on the Road to Hope
By Jordin Tootoo
While trying to heal from the wake of suicide and violence that marks his family history, former NHLer Jordin Tootoo discovered the source of that trauma in his father’s secret past.
As he travelled back to Nunavut to try to speak with his father about what haunts him, he encountered the ghosts of an entire community. But, as Jordin says, we are continuously learning and rewriting our story at every step. Jordin has learned from his mistakes and his victories, from examples of great courage and humility, from being a father and a husband, and from his own Inuk traditions of perseverance and discipline in the face of hardship. Lessons he shares in his new memoir, available October 17.
Truth and Reconciliation Week 2023
Below is a collection of events, free to the public, to mark Truth and Reconciliation Week 2023 and National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.
Virtual Lunch and Learns
The National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation is hosting free, virtual lunch and learns from September 25-29.
- Day 1 – Sept. 25: Indigenous peoples and the history of residential schools
- Day 2 – Sept. 26: Unconscious bias and debunking stereotypes
- Day 3 – Sept. 27: Intergenerational impacts and ongoing systemic discrimination
- Day 4 – Sept. 28: Indigenous Peoples’ rights and the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
- Day 5 – Sept. 29: Taking action towards reconciliation
These 50-minute sessions will begin at 12:30 CDT each day. Register here.
Remembering The Children National Broadcast
APTN and the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation are broadcasting a 90-min commemorative gathering called Remembering The Children: National Day for Truth and Reconciliation 2023. The multilingual event will be broadcast live from Parliament Hill, starting at 12:30 pm (ET) on APTN.
Orange Shirt Day
Both National Day for Truth and Reconciliation and Orange Shirt Day take place on September 30. Orange Shirt Day is an Indigenous-led initiative that commemorates the residential school experience, witnessing and honouring the healing journey of the survivors and their families.
The orange shirt is a symbol of the stripping away of culture, freedom and self-esteem experienced by Indigenous children over generations. By wearing an orange shirt on September 30th, you show your commitment to the enduring truth that EVERY CHILD MATTERS, every day and everywhere.
