September 30 • Epekwitk (Pei)
National day of
Truth and Reconciliation
11:30 am
Shaw Building
95 Rochford Street, Charlottetown
ALL ARE WELCOME
These events are open to the public. We encourage all Islanders to attend and take part in honouring Mi’kmaw culture, heritage, and our shared history.
On the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, we pause together to honour Survivors of residential schools, their families, and the many children who never returned home.
The ceremony will include prayers, song, and reflection, followed by the lowering of flags at the Shaw Building. Chiefs, Elders, the Premier, and the Lieutenant Governor will come together to mark this solemn occasion and encourage all Islanders to reflect on the ongoing journey of truth, healing, and reconciliation.
WHAT DOES RECONCILIATION MEAN TO YOU?
What is National Day for Truth and Reconciliation?
September 30 recognizes the colonial legacy of residential schools and honours the survivors and children who never returned home, as well as their families and communities. National Day for Truth and Reconciliation is a day for sombre reflection and a key step towards reconciliation. Public commemoration of the tragic and painful history and ongoing impacts of residential schools is a vital component of the reconciliation process.
Why do we wear orange on National Day for Truth and Reconciliation?
The “orange shirt” in Orange Shirt Day refers to the new shirt given to Phyllis Webstad, a residential school survivor, by her grandmother for her first day of school at St. Joseph’s Mission residential school in British Columbia. When Phyllis got to school, they took away her clothes, including her new shirt. It was never returned. To Phyllis, the colour orange has always reminded her of her emotional trauma and negative experiences at residential school.
Epekwitk (Prince Edward Island) is located in Mi’kma’ki, the ancestral and unceded territory of the Mi’kmaw People. The Epekwitnewaq Mi’kmaq have occupied this Island for over 12,000 years. We honour the “Treaties of Peace and Friendship,” which recognize Mi’kmaw rights and establish an ongoing relationship between nations, past, present and future. We are all Treaty People.
