Sooke honours Orange Shirt Day

Tuesday, September 29, 2020 – The District of Sooke will honour former residential school students and their families on Orange Shirt Day Wednesday, September 30.

Orange Shirt Day is a national movement in Canada for Indigenous and non-Indigenous people. On September 30, people come together in the spirit of hope and reconciliation to honour former residential schools students whose families and communities have been affected by the policies and actions of the Government of Canada and the churches that operated the schools.

“During the residential school era it is estimated that 150,000 children and 6,000 died while attending these schools,” said Mayor Maja Tait. “While we take September 30 to give pause and added reflection to this history, it is imperative we look for small acts of reconciliation every day.”

The Sooke Region Museum has Orange Shirt day t-shirts available for purchase. Proceeds from the sales will go to Reconciliation Canada and Orange Shirt Society. Lee Boyko Executive Director of the Sooke Region Museum shares, “our mission is inspiring an appreciation of the Sooke Region’s past and its relevance to our present and future and finding meaningful ways to honour Reconciliation is a part of that.” Boyko adds that the Museum is also partnering with the Vancouver Island Regional Library to host an outdoor StoryWalk® featuring Phyllis’ Orange Shirt as another way to honour Reconciliation. The StoryWalk® will be available from Tuesday, September 29th to Tuesday, October 6th at the museum, located at 2070 Phillips Road.

The First Peoples have been here since time immemorial and their history in this area is long and rich. The District of Sooke is within Coast Salish territory, the traditional territory of T’Sou-ke Nation.

Sooke Council is committed to taking an active role in the process of healing wounds of the past and becoming a more just, fair and caring society.

In the SENĆOŦEN language, the word T’Sou-ke is the name of the Stickleback fish that live in the estuary of the river.

 
Media Contact:
Maja Tait, Mayor
District of Sooke
Tel: (250) 642-1634
Email: mtait@sooke.ca