1st National Day for Truth and Reconciliation draws mixed feelings from Canada’s Indigenous

While Indigenous community members hope the federal holiday Sept. 30 will help raise awareness about the history of residential schools, they stress one day is not enough.

As Canada marks its first National Day for Truth and Reconciliation to honour lost children and survivors of residential schools, the Indigenous community is approaching the day with mixed emotions.

Coinciding with the annual Orange Shirt Day, Sept. 30 is being recognized as a federal statutory holiday to give Canadians a chance to reflect on the legacies of the residential school system, colonial policies and the cultural genocide of Indigenous Peoples in Canada.

As one of the 94 calls to action from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, it’s a “good first step” to have a formal day recognizing the genocide, but more needs to be done to deliver justice to the victims, said Dr. Sarah Funnell, a First Nations family physician and public health specialist in Ottawa, Ont.

“One day is not nearly enough,” said Funnell, who is an Algonquin native. “But we have to begin somewhere.”

The Orange Shirt Day began in 2013 to mark the story of a third-generation residential school survivor, Phyllis Webstad, whose new orange shirt – given to her by her grandmother – was stripped from her on the first day she attended a B.C. residential school.

The House of Commons unanimously supported legislation in June to also make Sept. 30 a federally recognized holiday for all government employees and workers in federally regulated workplaces.

But only a handful of provincial and territorial governments are having public servants and schools observe the day.

Ashley Bach, a member of the Mishkeegogamang First Nation, said while she was excited that the federal government was willing to support the day she said she was also “very disappointed that several provinces were not behind this at all.”