National Day for Truth and Reconciliation is marked each year on Sept. 30 across Canada, and you're invited to mark the day in White Rock and Surrey.
Officially declared in 2021, the day is to recognize Canada's dark legacy of government-run residential schools and remember those who survived the system and those who never returned home.
In White Rock, the day will be marked with its annual walk, hosted by the Semiahmoo First Nation in partnership with the city.
Today (Monday, Sept. 30), the city and First Nation event will be held at Grand Chief Bernard Robert Charles Memorial Plaza at East Beach at 11 a.m. A walk down to Semiahmoo Park will commence with all who are able to participate, with a planned ending for 2 p.m.
Everyone is encouraged to wear orange shirts to represent the sentiment 'Every Child Matters' to raise awareness about the legacy of residential schools.
The government-sponsored, religious system stripped Indigenous children from their families in an effort to assimilate them to Euro-Canadian ideals and ways of living. Through the process, the children were not allowed to express their cultures through hair, clothing or language, and many children were abused physically and sexually at the hands of residential school staff.
A keynote speaker for the Semiahmoo event will be Grand Chief Steven Point from the Sto:lo Tribal Council, with music shared by Indigenous artists and an artist market. Food will also be provided to all in attendance to make the event low-barrier, the press release notes.
In Surrey, an event was held in advance of the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, on Friday, Sept. 27.
The City of Surrey invites people to walk through Surrey Civic Plaza, outside Surrey City Hall, which will be lit in orange. The flag at city hall is being flown at half-mast to mark the day.
Learn more about the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation
The City of Surrey also suggests a number of ways to learn more about the day:
- Review the Surrey Urban Indigenous Strategy
- Check out book recommendations from Surrey Libraries:
- See what the Surrey Urban Indigenous Leadership Committee is up to. The SUILC is a coalition of organizations that have come together to advocate for the more than 16,000 Indigenous people living in Surrey.
- Get familiar with the reports, findings and the 94 Calls to Action by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada
- Take a look at the United Nations Declaration of Indigenous Peoples
- Discover Indigenous-made films in the National Film Board's online collection
- Follow Surrey Art Gallery, Surrey Civic Theatres, Heritage Surrey, and Museum of Surrey on social media and look out for their related posts.
- with files from Sobia Moman and City of Surrey
