Solemn holiday observed

It’s a holiday meant as a day of recognition, not celebration.

The Tk'emlúps te Secwépemc band and the City of Kamloops partnered Friday to observe National Day for Truth and Reconciliation and Orange Shirt Day at the Tk'emlups powwow grounds.

The event ahead of the Sept. 30 holiday drew about 200 attendees and featured activities, cultural teachings, tours of the former Kamloops Indian Residential School and a one-mile Orange Shirt Day Walk.

Tk'emlúps elder Freda Jules started the event off with a prayer, noting the holiday was not a time for celebrating, but recognition of those who went through the residential school system.

“I send my voice up at this time and pray for all of us and that this gathering will be held in a good way going into the future as well,” Jules said.

Tk'emlúps Coun. Nikki Fraser, the band's acting chief, acknowledged all the survivors and intergenerational survivors of Canada’s residential schools system telling the crowd she wears her orange shirt on this day for her grandparents, who were among the survivors.

“They both did not live to see an apology, to receive compensation for years of attending the school, nor did they get to see the day where these other countries stood in solidarity with our survivors, our people and communities across Turtle Island,” she said.

Fraser noted it took decades for Indigenous Peoples to advocate to be heard, understood and believed when it comes to the impact of residential schools.

Kamloops Coun. Stephen Karpuk, this month’s deputy mayor, told the crowd that the city was honoured to partner with the band for the first time on this journey of reconciliation.

The National Day for Truth and Reconciliation honours Indigenous survivors and children who disappeared from the residential school system.

The enactment of a National Day for Truth and Reconciliation was among 94 calls to action put forward by Canada's Truth and Reconciliation Commission in 2015.

But Sept. 30 was only made a national holiday after what are believed to be hundreds of unmarked graves were discovered by Tk'emlups officials during a ground-penetrating radar survey of the grounds of the former residential school in the spring of 2021.

Hundreds more potential grave sites were found near residential schools across Canada in the months that followed.