Georgina residents welcome to attend National Day of Truth and Reconciliation flag raising

Orange Shirt Day on Sept 30 reaffirms that ‘Every Child Matters’

Yorkregion.com
Sept. 28, 2023
Laura Broadley

To commemorate the tragedy of residential schools in Canada, and to honour the Indigenous children who attended them, the Town of Georgina, in partnership with the Chippewas of Georgina Island, is hosting a flag raising on Sept. 30.

Residents are welcome to attend the event in recognition of the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. The morning will include “prayer, smudging, sacred fire, remembering and learning.”

Orange Shirt Day, also on Sept. 30, is an Indigenous-led grassroots initiative to bring awareness to the impacts of residential schools on individual people, families and intergenerational communities.

Orange Shirt Day is a legacy of the St. Joseph Mission Residential School Commemoration Project and Reunion in May 2013. This project was led by Esketemc (Alkali Lake) Chief Fred Robbins and brought together Secwepemc, Tsilhqot’in, Southern Dakelh and St’at’imc Nations along with local politicians, school districts and civic organizations in the Cariboo Region, according to the Orange Shirt Society.

According to the Orange Shirt Society, former student Phyllis (Jack) Webstad was a spokesperson for the Reunion group who told the story of her first day at residential school when her shiny new orange shirt, bought by her grandmother, was taken from her. She was only six-years-old.

Orange Shirt Day is "a day for survivors to be reaffirmed that they matter, and so do those that have been affected. Every Child Matters, even if they are an adult, from now on."

The National Day for Truth and Reconciliation flag raising takes place on Sept. 30 at 10 a.m. at the Georgina Civic Centre, 26557 Civic Centre Rd., in Keswick.