Winnipeg turns orange for National Day for Truth and Reconciliation

The federal statutory holiday was recognized to acknowledge the immediate and generational impacts of residential schools, but is not yet recognized as a stat holiday in Manitoba.

More than 5,000 people flooded downtown Winnipeg Saturday as a sea of orange marched from The Forks to Canada Life Centre to mark the third-annual National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.

The federal statutory holiday acknowledges the immediate and generational impact of residential schools, but is not yet recognized as a stat holiday in Manitoba.

Speaking at the Oodena Celebration Circle at The Forks Saturday morning, Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs Grand Chief Cathy Merrick compelled the crowd to understand and reflect upon the events of the past.

“We talk about truth and reconciliation. It’s been talked about. It’s time to implement and we need to understand what it means,” she said. “And today the government does not understand what reconciliation means to our people.”

Later at Canada Life Centre Pine Creek First Nation Chief Derek Nepinak shared what the day meant to him.

“I’m here today because my mom survived the beatings when she spoke her language at the school. I’m here today because my mom survived the abuse that she experienced in the school, and her mom, and her grandpa, all the way back to the early 1900s,” he told the crowd.

Manitoba NDP leader Wab Kinew addressed the arena crowd, opening with greetings in six Indigenous languages.

“Every time you dance at a powwow, every time you sing, every time you speak your language, you prove that the architects of the residential school era failed in their quest to destroy our cultures,” he said, which was met with roaring applause.