Canada Day has always been a day of pride, of family, festivities and our ORESTA Canada Day Sale.
This year, it's difficult to feel pride.
At ORESTA, we acknowledge that we are living on stolen land.
We are committed to educating ourselves about the true history of Canada, fully acknowledging its atrocities and its genocide associated with the residential schools.
We promise to be better than the non-Indigenous people of the past.
We stand in solidarity with the Indigenous people of this time.
We promise to fight for Indigenous rights and uplift and amplify Indigenous voices.
A good place to start to learn: native-land.ca
Recommended Readings available at your local bookstore:
- We All Go Back to the Land: The Who, Why, and How of Land Acknowledgements by Suzanne Keeptwo
- The Inconvenient Indian by Thomas King
- 21 Things You May Not Know About the Indian Act by Bob Joseph
- Indian Horse by Richard Wagamese
- They Came for the Children: Canada, Aboriginal Peoples, and Residential Schools by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada
- My Name is Seepeetza by Shirley Sterling
- Dear Canada, These Are My Words: The Residential School Diary of Violet Pesheens by Ruby Slipperjack
- In Search of April Raintree by Beatrice Mosionier
- The Train by Jodie Callaghan
- Fatty Legs by by Christy Jordan-Fenton and Margaret Pokiak-Fenton
- I Am Not A Number by Jenny Kay Dupuis & Kathy Kacer
- When We Were Alone by David A. Robertson
- Porcupines and China Dolls by Robert Arthur Alexie
- Sugar Falls by David A. Robertson
- As Long as the Rivers Flow by Larry Loyie
- Five Little Indians by Michelle Good
- The Education of Augie Merasty by Joseph Auguste Merasty
- Speaking Our Truth by Monique Gray Smith
- They Called Me Number One by Bev Sellars
Indigenous Activists to follow and support:
- @theindigenousfoundation
- @the_landk
- @aisipi
- @shaylah0h
- @tiplerteaches
- @larissaspeaks
- @matriarch.movement
- @codycoyotemusic
We have much to learn. We must acknowledge the truth about residential schools, past and present injustices and recognize our country’s own genocide against Indigenous people. We need to do better.