Listening for understanding on Orange Shirt Day

The AC Hub on the Ottawa campus set up a book wrapping and key chain beading station to honour Indigenous people on the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, also known as Orange Shirt Day.

“I am a Sixties Scoop kid, that’s how they call us. I am part of the children that were taken away from their parent and put into white families. They told us we were not Indian anymore and were not allowed to do anything that was related to our native culture,” said Barbara Kelly, a pathways to Indigenous empowerment program student. “I left a brother and a sister, I had no siblings in my white family, it’s a very emotional day.”

She quickly grabbed a button and put it on her orange T-shirt. She started beading an orange key chain and mentioned that on the day of truth and reconciliation she feels recognized.

The final report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission said the establishment of residential schools could be described as “cultural genocide.”

The acknowledgement of survivors of residential schools and the trauma they have suffered was being heard through ceremonies across the country on Sept. 30.

At the AC Hub event, a book wrapping station was set up a few steps away. The book wrapping is a symbolic approach to all of the humans who did not get the chance to tell their stories, the event coordinator said.

“My partner has an Indigenous background and I am here to honour all Indigenous communities,” said Justine Dupuis, a social service worker student. “That’s the past and this is now.”

Samantha Therrien, an AC event officer, is of Indigenous descent and grew up in Winnipeg. Winnipeg has five identified territories on the Native Land digital map.