Downtown Duncan became a sea of orange as hundreds of people from all walks of life in the Cowichan community donned orange shirts and sweaters to mark the fifth National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.
The Parliament of Canada elevated the day to a statutory holiday on Sept. 30 in 2021 following the announcement that 215 unmarked graves had been found at the site of the Kamloops Residential School in May of that year.
Phyllis Jack Webstad is the founder of the Orange Shirt Society and Orange Shirt Day movement, which operates out of out of Williams Lake. The movement was inspired by her own personal residential school experience at St. Joseph’s Mission residential school, which she was first forced to attend at the age of six. On her first day at St. Joseph’s Mission, she arrived wearing a bright and beautiful orange shirt given to her by her grandmother, only to have it taken away.
Orange Shirt Day was first established as a day of observance in 2013 to raise awareness and educate people about what really happened inside the walls of residential schools and to drive home the message that Every Child Matters.
Cowichan Tribes hit that message home at the Duncan event, which was held at Charles Hoey Memorial Park, as members of First Nation and Duncan Mayor Michelle Staples both spoke about some of Canada's history with Indigenous peoples, the importance of this day and what is needed to move forward. The resounding message of the morning was one of gratitude for all those who attended to march for all of the children that didn’t return home to their loved ones from residential schools. For more than 150 years, First Nations, Inuit, and Métis children were taken from their families, communities, and were unable to express their culture.
Canada Avenue was lined with food trucks for the event and attendees could purchase an orange 'Every Child Matters' shirt for those who did not have one.
The event, which began at 9 a.m. in the park, provided powerful speeches, the Tzinquaw Dancers and a Pow Wow performance as a prelude to the walk which began on Canada Avenue before turning down Ingram and up Jubilee Street.
This year the walk also made a stop at City Hall so that the Cowichan Tribes flag could be raised, then lowered to half staff in memory.
