Orange Shirt Day 'a victory for all our nations,' powwow MC says after Winnipeg healing walk
CBC
Thousands dressed in orange in Winnipeg on Monday to remember Canada's dark history of residential schools, with a promise to never let it happen again.
The fourth annual Orange Shirt Day healing walk, held by Wa-Say Healing Centre, left The Forks at 11 a.m. and headed to the RBC Convention Centre, where a powwow began at 1 p.m.
This year's event almost didn't happen due to funding issues at Wa-Say, but last-minute financial support from the province as well as the Southern Chiefs' Organization saved the day.
Naomi Kay says she went to the healing walk to show support for those who did and didn't make it out of residential schools.
"Making sure that they feel the love and support that they didn't get throughout generations and as children," she told CBC News before the walk started.
"It is a very recent thing in our history, and we want to make sure that nobody forgets."
The National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, first officially observed in 2021, is meant to honour the children who died while attending residential schools and the survivors, families and communities still affected by the legacy of that system.
It's also known as Orange Shirt Day, in honour of Phyllis Webstad, whose orange shirt — given to her by her grandmother — was taken away from her on her first day of school at a B.C. residential school in 1973.
Michael Esquash Sr., the MC of the powwow, held a moment of silence at the convention centre for survivors and those who didn't make it home.
"Today's a victory for all our nations," he later told the crowd as people danced.
Orange Shirt Day is being marked as a statutory holiday for the first time in Manitoba this year.
"That means that every child, every parent, every family has the time today to honour the survivors," Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew told the crowd at the convention centre.
PHOTOS | Orange Shirt Day events in Winnipeg:
Kinew says his father attended the St. Mary's residential school outside Kenora, Ont., as a child.
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