Reflection, remembrance as National Day for Truth & Reconciliation approaches
Posted Sep 16, 2025 10:48:20 AM.
Last Updated Sep 16, 2025 03:54:06 PM.
The National Day for Truth and Reconciliation is on its way to Waterloo Region and the rest of the country, with a local group now looking to push a message of remembrance and reflection on the lasting impacts of residential schools.
Also known as Orange Shirt Day, it was first marked as a national statutory holiday in 2023, first celebrated as a day of remembrance back in 2013, but it’s a day that lives in the hearts and minds of impacted families and communities throughout the entire year.
Events will be held in Waterloo Region to mark the day, along with the annual walk for the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.
“We have one day that we come together and walk for the children who have been lost to the residential school system,” said Serena Wesley, Program Manager for the Dehsahsodre Program and Bail Supervisor for Healing of the Seven Generations. “We all come together to try to recognize that for us as Indigenous people, that’s something we live with every day and try to heal from.”
The history of residential schools began in 1831, when the first school was opened in Brantford, Ont. Then, in 1883, the government worked to fund the institutions, run primarily by the Roman Catholic and Anglican churches, among others.
Those residential schools would run until as late as 1997, when the last school located in Rankin Inlet, Nvt. was finally shut down.
Since that time, multiple political figures have given apologies for the damaging impacts of those schools, but not enough action has been taken, according to groups locally and nationally, to better promote awareness and overall education of the lasting and continuously impactful tragedies associated with them.
“We’ve lost so many kids that were taken from their families and put into other homes, and don’t know where they are; they’re lost. They always feel like there’s a piece of them that is lost and trying to find out where they fit in and find their communities and find their family and just find their cultures,” said Serena Wesley with Healing of the Seven Generations.
“The trauma from the residential school system is something that affects all our people,” Wesley mentioned. “We’ve lost so many kids that were taken from their families and put into other homes, and don’t know where they are; they’re lost. They always feel like there’s a piece of them that is lost and trying to find out where they fit in and find their communities and find their family and just find their cultures.”
Wesley stated that, while the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation is marked as having incredible significance to communities across Canada, to reflect on the tragedies surrounding residential schools, it’s just as important to look ahead, working to instill progress and understanding in the minds of Canadians across the country.
“We bring people together so they can ask questions and learn, and so we can try to move forward in a good way and to help you know people build those relationships and make you know help people heal.”
Healing of the Seven Generations is continuing to sell the well-known orange ‘Every Child Matters’ t-shirts, with Wesley saying the group is continuing to push through inventory that it’s had over the past few years. As well, the group is continuing to organize and prepare for the annual Every Child Matters walk on the day.
“We are doing the same route that we’ve done in previous years. We’ll have everybody meet up on the 30th. I believe we’re looking to leave around 10:00 a.m. to walk down to Victoria Park. I believe we’re going to meet at the clock tower.”
She said the event will also feature various guest speakers, along with snacks and refreshments, welcoming everyone across the region to attend.
