��ϲ�� marks Orange Shirt Day, National Day for Truth and Reconciliation

Christopher.Sorensen — Fri, 29 Sep 2023 19:58:33 +0000

Christopher.Sorensen Fri, 09/29/2023 - 15:58

Cutline

Attendees wear orange shirts at a tri-campus event at Hart House ahead of Orange Shirt Day and the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation (photo by Polina Teif)

Adina Bresge

Topic

Our Community

National Day for Truth and Reconciliation

Orange Shirt Day

Rose Patten

Hart House

Indigenous

New College

Ontario Institute for Studies in Education

Subheadline

Events took place across the three campuses in advance of Sept. 30

The ��ϲ�� community came together to commemorate Orange Shirt Day and the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation by honouring survivors of Canada’s residential school system, reflecting on its lasting impact on Indigenous communities and recommitting to reconciliation.

Attendees packed the Great Hall at Hart House for a tri-campus event Friday, with hundreds more tuning into a livestream – one of several events across the university’s three campuses in advance of Sept. 30.

The Hart House event included a panel discussion on the Indian Residential School Survivors’ Storybase, a project at ��ϲ�� Libraries that aims to make the stories of residential school survivors more accessible by compiling accounts from across the internet into a single searchable resource.

From left: Angela Henshilwood, Desmond Wong, Mikayla Redden and Grant Hurley (photo by Polina Teif)

Mikayla Redden, information services and instruction librarian at New College Library, says storytelling was instrumental in shedding light on the horrors of the residential school system and she hopes the storybase can be a tool to help address its ongoing harms.

“Stories are a huge part of the reason that we know the truth, the courage of residential school survivors in telling their stories for decades – even in the face of disbelief and denial from the Canadian masses,” Redden said.

“They're the reason we're here today. They are the reason for this day. They're the reason for the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and everything that resulted from it.”

From left: Ayeza Ahmad, Alexandra Gillespie, David Kim and Rose Patten (photo by David Lee)

Redden, who is a mixed-race woman of Anishinaabe and Anglo settler heritage, says library staff met last year to discuss ways they could go beyond reading lists to amplify the voices of residential school survivors, their families and communities.

They wanted the project to meet an educational need without “taking” from Indigenous Peoples by enlisting their labour or exacerbating intergenerational trauma, Redden said.

“Canadians of all ages, from all walks of life can access the storybase, and they can use these stories, to listen to more of the truth, and learn and unlearn,” Redden said. “Hopefully, they can take what they've learned, encourage others to do the same and turn the emotions that they are feeling … into an action. And that's what reconciliation is, it's an action.”

From left: Andrew Bomberry and John Croutch of the Office of Indigenous Initiatives (photo by Polina Teif)

Redden was joined on the panel by Grant Hurley, Canadiana librarian at the Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library, and Desmond Wong, outreach librarian at OISE Library, in a discussion moderated by Angela Henshilwood, head of the Engineering & Computer Science Library.

David Kim, warden of Hart House, emceed Friday’s commemoration, which also featured remarks by Alexandra Gillespie, ��ϲ�� vice-president and principal of ��ϲ�� Mississauga.

Gillespie thanked ��ϲ�� Mississauga student MJ Singleton for designing the orange shirts worn by many at the event, which shows a mother holding hands and walking forward with her two children beneath the words “Every child matters.”

��ϲ�� Chancellor Rose Patten described the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation as “one of the most important days in the life of our community and our country.”

The Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy building is lit up orange (photo by Steve Barratt)

“In so many ways, Canadians have only begun to take and show responsibility for this,” Patten said at the event. “And doing so requires an unfaltering commitment from all of us.”

After the event, First Nations House hosted a fire for Indigenous community members in the Earth Sciences Courtyard.

Also on Friday, Professor Kisha Supernant of the University of Alberta gave a talk at New College about her research using ground-penetrating radar to identify the sites of potential unmarked graves at former residential schools and her work with Indigenous communities to preserve the sites.

Meanwhile, at ��ϲ�� Scarborough Campus Farm, footage of the Indigenous Garden was livestreamed from sunrise to sunset.

Earlier in the week, Orange Shirt Beading Workshops were held at the St. George, ��ϲ�� Mississauga and ��ϲ�� Scarborough campuses.

Flags will be lowered to half-mast across ��ϲ��’s three campuses on Sept. 29 ahead of the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, which is formally recognized across Canada on Sept. 30.

Members of the Indigenous ��ϲ�� community in need of support can reach out to:

The National Indian Residential School Crisis Line (1-866-925-4419)

Students:

��ϲ�� Telus Help Student Support can be accessed 24-7.

Other mental health resources, programs and supports are available through the student mental health resource page.

Staff and faculty:

Employee and Family Assistance Program (1-800-663-1142)

Survivors' Flag raised on ��ϲ��'s three campuses

Christopher.Sorensen — Mon, 25 Sep 2023 13:23:39 +0000

Survivors' Flag raised on ��ϲ��'s three campuses

Christopher.Sorensen Mon, 09/25/2023 - 09:23

Cutline

The Survivors' Flag flies alongside the Varsity Blues and ��ϲ�� flags at Varsity Stadium on the St. George campus (photo by Jason Wang)

Jelena Damjanovic

Topic

Our Community

National Day for Truth and Reconciliation

Orange Shirt Day

Faculty of Kinesiology & Physical Education

Hart House

New College

��ϲ�� Libraries

Subheadline

��ϲ�� will mark Orange Shirt Day and the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation with an event in advance of Sept. 30

As the ��ϲ�� community prepares to mark Orange Shirt Day and the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, the Survivors’ Flag, which honours Indigenous lives and communities impacted by the residential school system in Canada, has been raised on each of its three campuses.

On the St. George campus, the Faculty of Kinesiology & Physical Education (KPE), in partnership with First Nations House and the ��ϲ�� Office of Indigenous Initiatives, raised the Survivors’ Flag at Varsity Stadium last week. It will be lowered to half-mast on Sept. 30 when the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation is formally recognized across Canada.

Professor Gretchen Kerr, dean of the Faculty of Kinesiology & Physical Education, said the flag is an important sign of support and solidarity with Indigenous communities.

“Public commemoration of the painful history of Canada’s residential school system, whose tragic consequences continue to reverberate today, is a vital component of the reconciliation process,” said Kerr. “It’s also a time for settlers to reflect on taking action to strengthen relationships with Indigenous Peoples and build a better future together.

“I take this opportunity to invite all students, staff and faculty members of KPE to attend Truth and Reconciliation events where their schedule permits and to spend some time reflecting on their own efforts towards reconciliation.”

��ϲ�� will commemorate Orange Shirt Day and the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation with a tri-campus event on Sept. 29 in the Great Hall at Hart House that can be attended in person or watched via YouTube livestream. It will feature remarks by Alexandra Gillespie, ��ϲ�� vice-president and principal of ��ϲ�� Mississauga, and ��ϲ�� Chancellor Rose Patten.

Emceed by Hart House warden David Kim, the event includes a panel discussion on making residential school survivors' stories accessible at ��ϲ�� libraries. The panel, moderated by Angela Henshilwood, head of the Engineering and Computer Science Library, features Grant Hurley, Canadiana librarian at the Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library, Mikayla Redden, information services and Instruction librarian at New College Library, and Desmond Wong, outreach librarian, OISE Library.

“There is no way to quantify the trauma suffered by the victims and survivors of residential and day schools. Yet this trauma has been shared – as Phyllis Webstad did by recalling the childhood experience that gives Orange Shirt Day its name,” Kelly Hannah-Moffat, ��ϲ��’s vice-president of people strategy, equity and culture, said in a statement.

“I urge non-Indigenous members of the ��ϲ�� community to seek out this and other survivors’ stories to gain greater knowledge, to foster deeper compassion, and to strengthen your resolve to engage in work that restores mutual respect and understanding between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples.”

National Day for Truth and Reconciliation

������ϲ����� marks Orange Shirt Day, National Day for Truth and Reconciliation

Survivors' Flag raised on ������ϲ�����'s three campuses

��ϲ�� marks Orange Shirt Day, National Day for Truth and Reconciliation

Survivors' Flag raised on ��ϲ��'s three campuses