Artists, arts organizations mark National Day for Truth and Reconciliation
Vancouver Art Gallery, MOA, Chan Centre, and more hold special events to honour survivors and lost children of residential schools
Thunderbird performed by Joseph Paul, Photo by Sarah Race, Courtesy of Tsatsu Stalqayu and Mortal Coil Performance Society. Tsatsu Stalqayu, Mortal Coil, and Butterflies in Spirit co-created Xweýene:msta:m ?əkwəsqwel, seýeḿ, taking place at Vancouver Art Gallery on September 30.
SEPTEMBER 30, 2021 marks the first National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.
The day honours the lost children and survivors of residential schools, their families, and their communities.
The date is also Orange Shirt Day, founded by Phyllis Webstad, a member of the Stswecem'c Xgat'tem First Nation. People are encouraged to wear orange to raise awareness of the tragic legacy of residential schools and to honour survivors.
There are several ways people can learn more about and mark the day.
The National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation (NCTR) just unveiled a new Survivors’ Flag to mark the first official National Day of Truth and Reconciliation. The Survivors’ flag was designed during six weeks of consultation, discussion, and collaboration with survivors from across Canada. Inuit, Mi’kmaq, Atikamekw, Cree, Ojibway, Dakota, Mohawk, Dene, Nuu-chah-nulth, Secwepemc, and Métis survivors were involved in the flag’s creation. (It will soon be available for the public to purchase, including in additional formats, such as car flags and window decals.)
Emily Carr University of Art + Design graduate Shoshannah Greene, SGidGang.xaal, is an artist in residence at the Skwáchay’s Lodge.
Shoshannah Greene (SGidGang.xaal), an artist in residence at the Skwáchay’s Lodge, has designed a Haida #EveryChildMatters orange T-shirt, "Celebrating the Indian in the Child", which depicts children adorned with spruce root hats with two skil (the rings on the hat), one child wearing a labret, and a copper shield between the two, all representing status. With a degree in media arts with a major in animation from Emily Carr University of Art + Design, she is a member of the St'awaas X̲aaydaG̲aay clan.
The Tk'emlúps te Secwépemc Nation, which announced earlier this year that unmarked graves of 215 children were found at a former residential school in Kamloops, has created a video to help people learn the Secwépemc Honour Song and is inviting people across Canada to drum and sing, whether at home or at work, on September 30 at 2:15 p.m.
Galleries and museums have been called upon as a public resource on this day.
Many local arts organizations are holding special events leading up to and on September 30. Here’s where to find them—and watch for this list to be updated as announcements of other events come in.
Honour With Orange: Lantern Workshop and Indigenous Stories
Museum of Anthropology (MOA)
September 25, 10:30 am to 12 pm PDT
MOA’s curator of Indigenous programming, Damara Jacobs-Petersen, will read a selection of children’s stories written by Canadian Indigenous authors during this event geared to families. Jacobs-Petersen, who is of Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish) and African American ancestry, carries the ancestral names Cha7awtenaat iy Siyamiya.
Following the storytelling, people will have the chance to create a commemorative orange lantern and button while learning more about the significance of Orange Shirt Day with MOA’s public programs assistant, Nadin Hassan.
Returning Home and Pathways to Reconciliation: Film Screening and Conversation with Phyllis Webstad
Chan Centre for Performing Arts
September 27, 11 am to 1 pm PDT
Presented by the Indian Residential School History and Dialogue Centre, the First Nations House of Learning, UBC Learning Circle, and the Centre of Excellence in Indigenous Health, this live, in-person screening and conversation begins with a Musqueam welcome and opening remarks by Jo-Ann Archibald and IRSHDC academic director Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond-Lafond (Aki-Kwe).
Returning Home weaves the story of two parallel narratives. The first is Webstad’s story; the second is about the steady decline of wild Pacific salmon. This 45-minute film is the first feature-length documentary produced by Canadian Geographic. Directed by Sean Stiller, it is set to tour the film festival circuit this fall, beginning with the Vancouver International Film Festival 2021.
Xweýene:msta:m ?əkwəsqwel, seýeḿ
Vancouver Art Gallery
September 30, 12 pm PDT
VAG presents Xweýene:msta:m ?əkwəsqwel, seýeḿ (translation: call to witness/listen to respected one), a performance co-created by Tsatsu Stalqayu, Mortal Coil and Butterflies in Spirit.
Taking place at šxʷƛ̓ənəq Xwtl'e7énḵ Square (formerly known as Vancouver Art Gallery North Plaza), the work blends traditional Coast Salish song and regalia with contemporary music and performance, It asks people to bear witness to the ongoing tragedy of the lost children of Canada’s residential schools and the country’s missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls. The pain and grief of these losses are an integral part of the presentation, yet Xweýene:msta:m ?əkwəsqwel, seýeḿ ultimately also offers a message of hope, speaking to the strength and resilience of the Indigenous peoples of this land.
Bearing witness, the act of honouring and remembrance in a public forum, is an important and crucial component of Coast Salish culture.
The newly launched Survivors’ Flag was created by residential-school survivors from across Canada.
Bill Reid Gallery of Northwest Coast Art
In addition to being open on September 30 from 11 am to 3 pm PDT, the gallery is also hosting a small pop-up exhibition by Ts’msyen artist Morgan Asoyuf, with original drawings and writings around her new children’s book, Learning My Rights With Mousewoman, to October 3.
A graduate of Vancouver Metal Art School, where she studied under German goldsmith Gerold Mueller, Asoyuf has apprenticed with artists such as Richard Adkins (Haida) and Henry Green (Tsm'syen).
Asoyuf has designed an #EveryChildMatters shirt. A portion of sales will support a Bill Reid Gallery staff initiative to start an Indigenous resource library for students by donating books of Indigenous authors and content to a local school.
Squamish Lil’wat Cultural Centre (SLCC), Whistler
September 30, 10 am to 5 pm
Survivors from residential schools will speak, the Warrior song will be sung, stories will be told, and a seven-foot totem will be unveiled to commemorate the children of residential schools—survivors and those missing and buried in unmarked graves—during this day of reflection and truth. Admission is free that day courtesy Fairmont Chateau Whistler and is complimentary October 1 to 3 through the support of CIBC.
Audain Art Museum, Whistler
September 30
Audain Art Museum is open that day and will be sharing information from pieces in its collection that provide learning opportunities related to Truth and Reconciliation.
BC Culture Days
Online resource, ongoing
As part of National Culture Days, BC Culture Days is today launching an online resource that will be available year-round related to National Day of Truth and Reconciliation and Orange Shirt Day. The permanent section will feature links and information divided into segments: Listen, Learn, Act, Donate, Watch, Support, and Attend. The month-long festival’s website will also highlight activities taking place across the country to mark September 30.
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