Before students arrived at school on Thursday morning, signs with names of 139 residential schools were wrapped around the GCVI building.
The gesture was part of the schools direct response to call to action 80 of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission which calls on the federal government to establish a statutory holiday to honour Survivors, their families, and communities.
“This is the very first truth and reconciliation day since it’s adoption over the summer,” said Matteen Naziry, spokesperson for student group RISE (Recognition of Indigenous Sovereignty and Equality) that put the display together.
“We have created a display in front of the school building, in hopes that it will enlighten people to realize the true magnitude to which residential schools operated in Canada.”
Each sign either displays the number of children's remains found in unmarked graves or displays a question mark for the sites still unchecked. Some schools' names were on multiple signs because they had multiple grave sites in one location.
An orange Every Child Matters Flag was also placed on top of the school flagpole and an Every Child Matters sign was place right in front of the school.
Once students arrived, they began placing mini orange flags into the ground so they could feel a connection with the meaning behind this entire visual.
“They were part of making an integral part of our school reconciliation process,” said Naziry of the 400 orange flags placed in the ground.
“The flags you see here help get people real tangible, meaning value to numbers like 215 and other numbers that were associated with these residential schools,” said Naziry.
The school also sold orange shirts designed by Isaac Murdoch, a residential school survivor and story-teller.
Proceeds from the shirts will be donated to First Nations Child and Family Caring Society of Canada. The school will also hold a virtual assembly from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. to hear from Murdoch.
