On September 30 Broadmead Care will honour the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation and Orange Shirt Day.
The day honours the children who never returned home and Survivors of residential schools, as well as their families and communities. Public commemoration of the tragic and painful history and ongoing impacts of residential schools is a vital component of the reconciliation process.
September 30 is also the 10th anniversary of Orange Shirt Day, a grassroots campaign founded by Phyllis Webstad. Orange Shirt Day has become an important opportunity to engage in open dialogue about racism and bullying. This day is meant to also encourage deeper reflection, learning, and public dialogue about the relationship between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples.
Today, healing initiatives are taking place in every Indigenous community. Sharing circles, healing circles, smudging, sundances, sweat lodge ceremonies, and many more have been revitalized through ceremony with Elders in the communities.
Orange shirt day is a path for reconciliation for residential school survivors who are returning to their cultural roots, reviving traditions once lost to them, and finding strength in fail to create a better future for all Canadians.
Local artist Bear Horne designed the Victoria Orange Shirt t-shirts. Horne’s design features a bear to help us follow the right path, an eagle to help us have a vision of a bright future, a hummingbird to keep our mind, body and spirit healthy, and a flower to feed the connection of all these elements. You can purchase a Victoria Orange Shirt here, year round.
At Broadmead Care, we believe in the strength of families and communities to connect values and cultures across generations. Join us in marking this important Day. To honour the Day, the flags at Veterans Memorial Lodge will be lowered to Half-mast.
Sources: www.victoriaorangeshirtday.com; https://orangeshirtday.org/phyllis-story
