Orange Shirt Day events in B.C. marking National Day for Truth and Reconciliation

It will be the second time Kevin O'Neill participates in a pilgrimage to commemorate the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, also known as Orange Shirt Day, on Sept. 30.

Last year, the Tsleil-Waututh First Nation councillor along with 200 others walked 8.5 kilometres from the Tsleil-Waututh reserve, located along Dollarton Highway in North Vancouver, to the site of the former St. Paul's Residential School, now occupied by St. Thomas Aquinas Regional Secondary School.

But this year, participants of the pilgrimage will walk the other way around.

"We're completing the cycle," said O'Neill.

"This is a healing journey for our elders, for our youth, because there's a lot of intergenerational trauma."

WATCH | Hundreds join pilgrimage to former residential school last year:

The pilgrimage — to be held from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. — is one of dozens of events across the province commemorating the effects and legacy of residential schools. 

Sept. 30 was made a statutory holiday in 2021, days after the Tk'emlúps te Secwépemc First Nation confirmed the discovery of about 200 potential burial sites on the grounds of a former residential school in Kamloops last July.

Sept. 30 is also known as Orange Shirt Day, which honours people who were forced to attend residential schools. It began in 2013 to honour residential school survivor Phyllis Webstad, who had her orange shirt taken away on the first day of school.

O'Neill says he expects more community members will join the pilgrimage this year, and he hopes they will acknowledge the reactions of spectators, Indigenous and non-Indigenous, on the sidelines.

"Last year, the people on the sidelines … you can feel the pain from them," he said. "This isn't just a healing journey for the Indigenous people. This is a healing journey for everyone.

"It's not just about learning about residential schools or the trauma the came with the residential schools, but also learning about all the host nations that they live around," he added.

"It's about reconciliation and repatriation."

In addition to the pilgrimmage, the City of Delta is holding three "blanket exercise" events, where participants step on blankets as though stepping into the shoes of an Indigenous person.