Written by: Joy Braga
Warning: The following article includes details ofCanada’s Indian Residential School System.The(24-hour, 7 daysa week)is available toprovidesupport for former students and those affected: 1-866-925-4419.
Recently in June, the House of Commons unanimously supportedlegislation to recognize September 30thas a federal statutory holidaycalled. This new holiday will bea paid day off for federal workers and employees in federally regulated workplaces.National Day for Truth and Reconciliation notably coincides with, a daywhen wehonourthe Indigenous children who were sent away to residential schools in Canada.
With this overlap, peoplemaybeconcernedthat the new statutory holiday will overshadow Orange Shirt Day, which started back in 2013 as a legacy of the St. JosephMission Residential School Commemoration Project and Reunion events that took place in Williams Lake, British Columbia.However, itis important to notesome ofthe history behind National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.
The History of Residential Schools in Canada
The Indian Residential School Systemoperatedin Canada between the 1870s and 1990s. Itwas runby the Canadian government in partnership with many churches including the Anglican, Catholic, Methodist, and Presbyterian. The goal of Indian residential schools was to remove Indigenous children from the educational, cultural, and spiritual influences of their families and communities, and assimilate them into Euro-Canadian society.
“I want to get rid of the Indian problem. I do not think as a matter of fact, that the country ought to continuously protect a class of people who are able to stand alone... Our objective is to continue until there is not a single Indian in Canada that has not been absorbed into the body politic and there is no Indian question, and no Indian Department.” - Duncan Campbell Scott, Deputy Minister of Indian Affairs in Canada (1920).
In 1920, amendments to the Indian Act made it mandatory for every Indian child between the ages of seven and sixteen years to attend Indian residential school. It is estimated that over 150,000 First Nation, Inuit, and Métis children attendedthese schools.
Please note that the term “Indian” is only used in this context because of its legal precedence under the Indian Act. In the 1970s, the term “First Nation” came into common usage to replace the term “Indian” and “Indian band” which many find offensive.Still,it is always best to ask how someoneidentifiesthemselves and what they would like to be referred to as.
Establishing the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC)
Ten years after the last residential school closed, thewas issuedon March 8, 2006.This was the largest class action settlement in Canadian legal history and was negotiated by several different partiesrepresentingIndigenous organizations, religious orders, Indian residential school survivors, and the federal government.Included in the Settlement Agreement was the establishment of a Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC)mandatedto inform all Canadians about what happened in residential schools.
In 2009, thebegan a multi-year process to listen toand document the truth ofresidential school Survivors, their families, communities, and others affected by the Indian Residential School System. In 2015, the TRC releaseda report outlining.The establishment of astatutory holiday (National Day for Truth and Reconciliation)was one of thesecalls to action.
Asstatedin their report,this day ismeant tohonour residential schoolSurvivors, their families, and communities andensure public commemoration ofthe history and ongoing legacy ofresidential schoolscontinues to bea vitalcomponentof the reconciliation process.
It isspeculatedthatthe recent uncovering of(nowincluding thosefromthree otherresidentialschools)sped up the process of declaring September 30thas National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.
Whilethe official name for the September 30thholiday may have changed,Orange Shirt Day and National Day for Truth and Reconciliationsharecommongoalsofhonouringthose who attended residential school, their families, and communities; creating meaningful discussionand reflectionabout the effects of these schools; andcommemoratingthehistory and ongoinglegacy of the Indian Residential School System.
This dayprovidesan opportunity for all Canadians to learn about and reflectonthe legacy of residential schoolsas well as honourtheSurvivors, those we have lost,and all who are affected by the residential school experience.