Honouring the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation

On September 30, SOAHAC observes the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation and Orange Shirt Day.

We remember the children who never returned home from residential schools. We honour Survivors, their families and the generations who continue to live with the impacts of the residential school system.

For Indigenous people, this history is not distant, nor are its impacts confined to the past.  The effects of residential schools and colonial policies continue to be experienced within families, communities and the systems Indigenous people encounter today.

September 30 calls upon all of us to remember these truths.

It is also a day to recognize the culture, languages, ceremonies, Traditional Knowledge and ways of being that residential schools sought to suppress or eradicate, and which First Nations, Inuit, and Metis Peoples continue to protect, practice, reclaim, and pass to future generations.

At SOAHAC, we understand culture as foundational to health and healing.  Indigenous knowledge and ways of knowing guide our commitment to wholistic that honours the physical, mental, emotional and spiritual wellbeing of the First Nations, Inuit and Metis individuals, families and communities we serve.

Our work is Indigenous-led and grounded in community, culture and connection.  Traditional Healing and Anishnaabe, Haudenosaunee, and Lenape approaches to wellness are not additions to our work; they are essential parts of how we understand health, healing and the whole person.

The National Day for Truth and Reconciliation is one day.  The responsibilities it represents extend throughout the year.

We encourage our partners, neighbours, health and social service organizations, and communities across Southwestern Ontario to make space for remembrance and reflection. Listen to Survivors and Indigenous voices. Learn the history and its continuing impacts.  Support Indigenous-led organizations and initiatives.  Examine how colonial practices and assumptions may continue within the systems and institutions around us.

Wear your orange shirt.  Participate respectfully in opportunities for learning and gathering in your community.

Most importantly, carry what you learn – and the responsibilities that come with that learning – beyond September 30.

To Survivors, families and communities:  we honour you.

To the children who never came home:  we remember you.

Every Child Matters – today and every day.