Friday was National Day for Truth and Reconciliation and Calgarians took time to remember and honour the children who never returned home, survivors of residential schools, as well as their families and communities. Events took place across the city and many people marked the day for reflection on social media.
The City of Calgary held an Orange Shirt Day livestream, a good place to learn about about intergenerational trauma and how best to reconcile our country’s fraught history.
The stream follows the day’s events at Fort Calgary which started at 10am and featured a number of speakers including Mayor Joyti Gondek.
Across the city and province, leaders, organizations and Indigenous groups posted their thoughts on the new federal holiday.
Political leaders
Former mayor, Naheed Nenshi retweeted this Canadian Paintings post of The Scream, showing that you can reflect on the reality of our history without saying a word.
Indigenous groups
Many Indigenous communities held private ceremonies on Friday. Some also marked the day in a more public ways in the city and on social media.
Community organizations
Many of Calgary’s biggest organizations also used this day to reflect and share their respect and condolences to the Indigenous community’s that used to protect the land we live on now.
Police
The relationship between the police and Indigenous communities has often been fraught in Canada. The RCMP in particular is seen in many communities as the face of colonialism.
As a show of reconciliation, a number of police organizations marked the day on their social media accounts.
Mount Royal University
Photos from campus
Photos: Rogan Bowen-Harper