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Maple Ridge to mark National Day for Truth and Reconciliation
The ninth annual gathering at Memorial Peace Park on Sept. 27 will feature Indigenous drumming, dancing, stories, family activities and support space for people affected by residential schools.
Maple Ridge's ninth annual National Day for Truth and Reconciliation event will combine reflection with Indigenous drumming and dancing. This year's gathering, titled “Honouring the Truth: Past, Present and Future,” is intended to be a collaborative, inclusive, safe and family-friendly opportunity to learn and support the journey toward Truth and Reconciliation.
Indigenous drum groups and dancers will share cultural artistry, and special guests will tell stories. Free activities include orange-shirt painting and a community art project. The event will also offer resource and knowledge sharing, plus a healing tent and safe space where people affected by the residential school system can gather, share stories and bear witness.
Fifty artisans and vendors, along with more than 30 community organizations involved in planning, will have booths throughout the park. More than 3,000 people attended last year, and organizers hope to build on that attendance.
National Day for Truth and Reconciliation is also called Orange Shirt Day, following Phyllis Webstad's experience in 1976. At age six, she wore a new orange shirt given by her grandmother on her first day at a British Columbia residential school, where staff confiscated it.
Ginna Berg, executive director of the Fraser River Indigenous Society, said the day recalls residential-school history and Canada's continuing commitment to acknowledge harms and effects that still affect communities. She noted St. Mary's Indian Residential School, British Columbia's last residential school, closed only in 1984, and said healing remains necessary across the country.
Katzie First Nation Chief Grace George said the day is a time to reflect, pause, remember and honour survivors, children who never made it home, and the families and communities continuing to carry the impacts. She said reconciliation requires everyone to listen, learn and take responsibility for the work it demands.
Organizers still need volunteers for setup, teardown, garbage and recycling, and support for attending Elders. Interested people can contact volunteer co-ordinator Martina Nenasheff at FDmanager@frisociety.ca. Snacks and beverages will be available to part-day volunteers; full-day volunteers will receive lunch and a T-shirt.
Hosted by Katzie First Nation, Fraser River Indigenous Society, anti-racism community group BC SPOKES and PLEA Community Services, the event runs from 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 27, at Memorial Peace Park, 11968 224 St., Maple Ridge. More information is available at https://www.facebook.com/PLEAServicesBC.