For many Canadians, September means the end of summer vacations and the season when acres of green tree foliage transform into a kaleidoscope of brilliant fall colours.
Orange leaves form part of the spectacular panorama that draws tourists from around the world and sees busloads of nature-lovers travelling rural backroads to bask in the experience.
That particular colour has taken on special significance in this country.
Canada proclaimed the first National Day for Truth and Reconciliation on September 30, 2021 following the identification of potential unmarked burial sites at the former Kamloops Indian Residential School.
The establishment of a statutory holiday was inspired by the memorial movement launched by Phyllis Webstad, a Secwepemc (Shuswap) survivor of St. Joseph Mission Residential School in British Columbia.
In April of 2013, Phyllis attended a survivors’ reunion and shared a painful childhood memory. Forty years earlier, when she was six years old, her grandmother bought and dressed her in a bright orange shirt for her first day at St. Joseph. When she arrived at school, staff stripped her of her regular clothes – including her new orange shirt – and replaced them with institutional uniforms.
The first public sharing of Phyllis’s story inspired the creation of the Orange Shirt Society, the Every Child Matters movement, and ultimately Canada’s proclamation of the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.
Government announcements say September 30 should serve as a reminder of the painful legacy of the 130 residential schools that for over a century separated 150,000 First Nations, Inuit, and Métis children from their families.
Canada’s Residential School experiment informed Article 8 of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, which states: “Indigenous peoples and individuals have the right not to be subjected to forced assimilation or destruction of their culture.”
While the atmosphere at September 30 events across the country tends to be solemn in nature, it behooves Canadians to remember that historic injustices have not stopped the forward progress of Indigenous peoples, who continue to succeed and contribute in every sector of national life.
We are 1.8 million strong, and our numbers include world-renowned artists, athletes, educators, and business leaders. Indigenous professionals have recently served as presidents of the country’s foremost legal and medical associations.
In 2023 Manitobans elected a First Nations premier.
This fall’s orange leaves will flutter down to earth and within weeks be blanketed by winter snow. This marks the beginning of nature’s next act, not a finale.
In another few months the tree hosts will spring to life and sprout a leafy green crop which will again bloom orange in autumn.
Indigenous peoples understand that time is comprised of cycles, and that to everything there is a season.
