Event: Intergenerational March to commemorate Orange Shirt Day 2023

An intergenerational march to recognize Orange Shirt Day will start at the Indian Residential School History and Dialogue Centre (IRSHDC) on Saturday, September 30. Wade Grant will provide a welcome and remarks on behalf of Musqueam before the march commences. The march will move down Main Mall and will pause at the Reconciliation Pole where participants will hear from Elder John Jones of the Snuneymuxw First Nation, a survivor of the Alberni Residential School. 

Date/Time: Saturday, September 30 11:45 a.m. – 2:30 p.m. 

See here for breakdown of march locations and activities 

Location: Outdoor “amphitheatre” at Indian Residential School History and Dialogue Centre, 1985 Learners’ Walk, Vancouver V6T 1Z1 (UBC Vancouver campus), map 

Parking: North Parkade, 6115 Student Union Boulevard V6T 1Z1, map 

Assignment editors:  

Organizers will be available for interviews at 11 a.m. outside the Indian Residential School History and Dialogue Centre, or after the march at 3 p.m. Event starts at 12 p.m. sharp.  

We ask that you arrive early to set up cameras. Please RSVP to media.relations@ubc.ca by 10 a.m. Saturday.  

Event photos and b-roll: Will be available before 3 p.m. Saturday. Contact sachi.wickramasinghe@ubc.ca  

Interview opportunities 

• Danilo Caron, engineering student, UBC Faculty of Applied Science. Caron has roots from Castelfranco Veneto in Italy and the Sagamok Anishnawbek First Nation in Ontario and is co-leading the Intergenerational March. 
• Dana-Lyn Mackenzie, senior manager EDI and Indigeneity, UBC Faculty of Applied Science and UBC Faculty of Land and Food Systems. Mackenzie is co-leading the Intergenerational March  
• Tricia Logan, interim academic director, Indian Residential School History and Dialogue Centre. 

Media contact: Sachi Wickramasinghe 

Experts 

Click here for a list of UBC experts who are available to comment on various aspects of Orange Shirt Day and/or Indian residential school history. 

Visit here for more resources and information on events being held at UBC around Orange Shirt Day.  

A note from the Indian Residential School History and Dialogue Centre (IRSHDC) on respectful engagement on Orange Shirt Day: 

Orange Shirt Day is a day to recognize the Indian Residential School system that many Indigenous children were forced to attend. The fallout of Residential Schools is felt and experienced generationally by Survivors and Intergenerational Survivors. September 30 is an important and meaningful day for Indigenous people to honour and remember our Survivors and children who didn’t make it home.  

As more non-Indigenous Canadians learn about the atrocities of Residential Schools and the impacts it has on Indigenous people, we want to encourage everyone to sensitively engage with Orange Shirt Day. We encourage honouring survivors by being respectful to Survivors’ healing journeys. It is not appropriate to ask insensitive or invasive questions of Survivors. We encourage acts of bearing witness and listening to Survivors sharing their personal stories. All questions for Survivors and Intergenerational Survivors should be directed to UBC staff and volunteers.