This year, the Upper Grand District School Board will commemorate National Truth and Reconciliation Week from September 22-26 and National Day for Truth and Reconciliation on September 30 with a sustained commitment to both learning and action throughout the board.
This year, the Indigenous Education Team will host two screenings for staff of the film Sugarcane, an Academy Award nominated film for Best Documentary, during Truth and Reconciliation Week on September 23 (Guelph) and September 25 (Orangeville). Sugarcane investigates the abuse and missing children at St. Joseph's, a residential school near Williams Lake, B.C., and honours the resilience and resistance of residential school survivors.
To commemorate National Day for Truth and Reconciliation on September 30, the Indigenous Education Team will host Aysanabee, a multi-instrumentalist, producer and singer songwriter from Sandy Lake First Nation, at Island Lake Conservation Area’s Waterfront Amphitheatre.
Students will have the opportunity to listen and learn from an intergenerational survivor, reflect on truth and reconciliation and what they can do to make a better future for everyone in their lifetimes. There will also be a more intimate session that evening with Aysanabee for Indigenous families.
Each year, educators are provided with an updated slide-deck of vetted digital and in-school resources organized by division. This slidedeck includes live-streams, opportunities for inquiry, exploration, research and action in classrooms, and suggestions for ways educators can engage in reconciliation in their classrooms and beyond. This year, each elementary school library was provided with the new picture book Miya Wears Orange by Cree author Wanda John-Kehwin to explore truth and reconciliation in an age-appropriate way.
Staff and students are encouraged to wear orange shirts on the 30th, to purchase shirts from Indigenous creators/businesses if interested and to participate in the activities recommended on the slidedeck including reading the 94 Calls to Action working towards meaningful individual, class and school commitments to action and change. School staff can share their commitments and events through social media and/or directly with the Indigenous Education Department.
For parents, guardians, caregivers and adult family members, the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation will again be offering free virtual ‘Lunch and Learn’ sessions each day of Truth and Reconciliation Week (Sept 22-26). These 50-minute sessions will provide opportunities to learn about the legacy of the residential school system, reflect on the TRC’s Calls to Action 10 years later, and about confronting residential school denialism. More information and registration can be accessed here.
If schools choose to fundraise, the Indigenous Education Team kindly requests funds be directed to Woodland Cultural Centre, the former residential school in Brantford or the Survivor’s Secretariat in Six Nations of the Grand River.