Marching in orange shirts

The Ki-Low-Na Friendship Society celebrated Truth and Reconciliation Day on Friday ahead of the long weekend, bringing over 100 people together to honour those who were impacted by residential schools.

The day included a group march to the Kelowna Courthouse, drumming, singing, telling stories, and educating others all while enjoying some bannock together inside the Society on Leon Ave.

“We marched with over 100 people wearing orange to represent Truth and Reconciliation and honouring our residential school survivors, our children that didn’t make it home, and we had a speech at the march, which was beautiful,” said Leanna Curtis of the Ki-Low-Na Friendship Society.

“It feels great to be a part of such a fantastic group of people that come together and have such passion for this Truth and Reconciliation that has to be recognized before its truth. We are here to move on as people. We are not going anywhere.”

The day honours the children who never returned home, as well as the survivors of residential schools, their families and communities.

Public commemoration of the tragic and painful history and ongoing impacts of residential schools is a major component of the reconciliation process.

While there’s still a long way to go for real truth and reconciliation, Curtis says she has noticed changes and improvements over the last few years.

“I have noticed a lot more acknowledgement, people asking questions, companies coming forward and wanting to have speakers so that they can educate their staff on what that means because some people just don’t know what that means," said Curtis outside of the Ki-Low-Na Friendship Society Friday.

"They don’t even know what residential school was. They are teaching it now in the schools, they are learning our languages in schools, it’s a beautiful thing."

Inter-generational trauma from survivors of residential schools is something Curtis believes people will never fully recover from and that it’s important for non-Indigenous people to continue to learn and educate themselves about Canada’s past.

“The doors are open to everyone who wants to join us as a community to honour this day and I think it’s absolutely imperative that people who aren’t Indigenous to come and learn and get educated on what happened to some of these survivors,” said Curtis.

“And sometimes it’s just as simple as that, listening to somebody who’s had these traumatic experiences and acknowledging them and understanding that what happened to them wasn’t their fault.”

People are encouraged to wear an orange shirt on Truth and Reconciliation day Monday to raise awareness of inter-generational impacts of residential schools and to promote the truth that every child matters.