Orange Shirt Day: how we come together to heal.

(Winnipeg, MB.)

Pictured: Wa-Say Healing Walk in 2023. Community members walk united at Portage and Main.

Leader at the Wa-Say Healing Centre, shares why Orange Shirt Day is so important. Wayne Mason Jr. from Fisher River Cree Nation is the Director of Operations. The walk is a time to remember the children who never made it back from Indian Residential Schools and to support the survivors and their families.

“Wa-Say Healing Centre, we help residential school survivors and their families to get back to their traditions, their culture, and to heal from the trauma that has happened to the survivors at residential school.”

This year the event faced funding cuts, but thanks to the support of community leaders like Wab Kinew, Premier of Manitoba, and Grand Chief Jerry Daniels of SCO, along with the community coming together, the walk was saved.

“When our non-Indigenous friends want to support us, we should be open to helping them understand what happened. That’s how we build allies.” His message is all about friendship and working as a community for healing.

The 4th annual healing walk kicks off on September 30th, starting with a pipe ceremony at 10 a.m. at Oodena Circle where all pipe carriers can smoke their pipe, followed by a walk to the RBC Convention Centre for a powwow and speakers.

Mason Jr. encourages everyone to wear orange. Reminding us that community is key in the journey toward healing and reconciliation.

Written by: Kapanaise Thiebaut. Community Reporter with NCIFM.