National Day for Truth and Reconciliation 2023
On the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation — September 30 in Canada — we honour the survivors of residential schools, the children who never returned home, and their families and their communities. It is a day for learning for non-Indigenous Canadians and a day for celebrating resilience and overcoming for Indigenous Peoples. This year, Canada marks its 3rd National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. The grassroots movement Orange Shirt Day is also on September 30 and dates back to 2013.
How can you prepare for and participate in this important day?
Commit some time to learning about and reflecting on the stories and people that animate this important day. Red Clover has an educational resource page for September 30.
Participate in the prayer audio journey or find learning events through the resource that Red Clover helped create in partnership with Canadian Baptists here (https://www.cbmin.org/nationalday/).
Plan to attend and participate in one of the local events that will take place on September 30. You may want to couple that with the prayer exercise from the CBM resource above.
If you still need an Orange Shirt for September 30 (school-aged kids might be encouraged to also wear them on September 29 in class), plan ahead by seeking out and purchasing from Indigenous artists and producers. If you aren’t sure how to do this, consider contacting a Friendship Centre near you and asking if they know how you could support an Indigenous artist in this way.