Alayne McGregor
Orange signs, T-shirts, and banners filled Plouffe Park on September 30 as the Plant Pool Recreation Association (PPRA) again commemorated the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.
The PPRA hosted a story walk for all ages to learn about the Orange Shirt Story – how a six-year-old Indigenous girl had her brand-new orange shirt, a rare memory of home, taken away from her on her first day at a residential school. It was the first of many traumas she faced at the school. (More info: www.orangeshirtday.org/phyllis-story.html.)
The drop-in event was held in the late afternoon to allow families to take part in the creative activities dotted around the park.
It also included a display of books on reconciliation and the four sacred medicines (tobacco, cedar, sage, and sweetgrass), videos of speeches by Murray Sinclair, free maple water, and regular draws for books and T-shirts.
PPRA board member Suzanne Nash said it was important for everyone to step up to commemorate the day, and they wanted to have a community-based event to complement the bigger events elsewhere in the city.
Also on Sept. 30, hundreds of demonstrators walked on the Sir John A. Macdonald Parkway to demand the federal government rename that road because of Macdonald’s central role in creating Indian Residential Schools and the Indian Act.