2024 Intergenerational March to commemorate Orange Shirt Day
The 2024 Intergenerational March to commemorate Orange Shirt Day will take place on the traditional, ancestral and unceded territory of the xwməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam) People at UBC Vancouver on Monday, Sept. 30. Organized by the faculties of applied science, land and food systems, and forestry, the event provides an opportunity to honour Residential School Survivors and their families, and educate participants on intergenerational trauma, the impacts of colonial policies, and Indigenous resilience.
This year’s theme, “Reconcili-action,” calls on attendees to commit to actions that support meaningful reconciliation. The event will feature a welcome by Musqueam Elder Larry Grant, remarks from Residential School Survivors Sam George (Squamish Tribe) and Jeremy Jones, and performances by Spakwus Slolem (Eagle Song Dancers) and Aileen Michel (Lil’Bear) and Mitchell Tourangeau.
Participants are encouraged to join in the march down Main Mall and add messages of support and action towards reconciliation to the cairn outside the Kaiser Building and at the field at Thunderbird Commons.
Event Date/Time: Monday, Sept. 30, 2024, 11:45 a.m. – 3 p.m.
See here for a breakdown of march locations and activities.
Location: Outdoor “amphitheatre” at 1956 Main Mall (Indian Residential School History and Dialogue Centre), Vancouver, V6T 1Z1 (map)
Parking: North Parkade, 6115 Student Union Blvd., Vancouver V6T 1Z1 (map)
Interview opportunities:
- Dana-Lyn Mackenzie, member of the Hwlitsum First Nation, Senior Manager of EDI and Indigeneity for the Faculty of Applied Science, Land and Food Systems, and Forestry, and co-lead of the Intergenerational March
- Danilo Caron, PhD student in civil engineering and Indigenous Student Engagement Coordinator for UBC Engineering Academic Services
Note to 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. The event will begin promptly at noon.
Please arrive early to pick up a media badge and set up cameras. Please RSVP to sachi.wickramasinghe@ubc.ca by 10 a.m. on Monday, Sept. 30.
Media contact:
Sachi Wickramasinghe, UBC Media Relations – media.relations@ubc.ca
A note from the event organizers 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.
Visit here for more resources and information on events being held at UBC around Orange Shirt Day.
Educational resources
To learn more about Orange Shirt Day or Indian Residential School history, visit:
- 3 things you might not know about Orange Shirt Day
- 6 ways to deepen your understanding of Indian residential school history
- How the truth about Indian Residential Schools in Canada was suppressed
- What are Indian day schools? 3 things you might not know
- Truth before Reconciliation: 8 ways to identify and confront Residential School Denialism
