a very large orange flag flying in the sky - chris robertchris robert

National Day for Truth and Reconciliation 2024

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September 30, 2024 National Day for Truth and Reconciliation National Day for Truth and Reconciliation | Canada Each year, September 30 marks the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. The day honours the children who never returned home and Survivors of residential schools, as well as their families a ...Read More

Chipmunk gets his stripes

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We all enjoy stories. This month for the Reconciliation Dialogues I wanted to bring something a bit more light-hearted yet with some lessons/teachings embedded within. All cultures have myths, legends, and stories which are shared and handed down through generations. We share these stories at large family or community gatherin ...Read More

Caring about Cultural Safety

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You have probably heard that The Federation is offering cultural safety workshops to members. But what exactly do those workshops cover? What does cultural safety mean? Why should it be important for you and your agencies to undertake this work? Cultural safety is about creating and supporting spaces that are more equitable, safe ...Read More

Reconciliation Resolutions…

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It’s that time of year again—when we reflect on the past twelve months and consider what the next twelve might bring. If you are like me, there is usually a time, after putting up the tree or wrapping presents, when my thoughts turn to what the past year was like and what the next year might bring. For many people, those thou ...Read More

Popeing Ain’t Easy…

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Last year when the first unmarked graves in Kamloops were located, it became a flash point for Indigenous people, allies, and activists who had always known that these children were on the grounds of the former residential schools. Still, horrific memories surfaced for survivors and their families and communities. What became very int ...Read More

Looking at things from a different perspective

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Over the past few months, I have been working on developing a new workshop to enable and support the creation of more culturally safe workplaces in the community social services sector. I want to encourage people to look at our often untold history of colonialism and help them take responsibility for choos ...Read More

Monique Gray Smith on Reconciliation, Recognition, and Relationship

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Back in 2018, Monique Gray Smith helped The Federation launch our Reconciliation Book Club with a special guest appearance and reading at our June conference. Since then, she has been a friend of The Federation, donating books, offering training, and more. In early 2022, she sat down wit ...Read More

What do we do with our orange shirts after Sept 30?

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Canada’s first annual National day for Truth and Reconciliation coincided with Orange Shirt Day—September 30th. I saw a lot of orange shirts out and about in Victoria and it was inspiring and heartwarming to witness the support of Indigenous communities and survivors of residential schools. But Septemb ...Read More

National Day for Truth and Reconciliation

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What we are doing and what you can do… September 30th has been introduced as a National Day of Truth and Reconciliation by the federal government. The day—a new federal statutory holiday— has been created to give everyone an opportunity to recognize and commemorate the harmful legacy of the residential sc ...Read More

Introducing the Reconciliation Dialogues

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Welcome to this new Federation initiative and this new section of our website. My name is Riley McKenzie and recently joined the Federation as an Indigenous Advisor. I am Mohawk/Scottish and live in Victoria. I have been a guest on the lands of the Lekwungen people for over ten years. My role is to support the F ...Read More