Truth and Reconciliation week

Local higher education institutions join forces to raise awareness about current and past Indigenous Peoples’ realities

Next week Bishop’s University, Champlain College – Lennoxville, Université de Sherbrooke and the Cégep de Sherbrooke are inviting their communities and the general public to take part in a series of activities to raise awareness about the present and past realities of Indigenous Peoples from Sept. 26 to 30, and to participate in a large commemorative walk on the occasion of the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, also known as “Orange Shirt Day” on Friday, Sept. 30.

According to a press release from Pôle régional en enseignement supérieur de l’estrie (PRESE), the program of activities will begin on Sept. 26 with an online opening conference, in the presence of Suzie

O’bomsawin, Deputy Director General of the Abenaki Council of Odanak. Conferences, panels, a documentary screening, awareness workshops, formal ceremonies, a visual arts exhibit, artistic performances and other initiatives will take place on the four Sherbrooke campuses throughout the week.

Commemorative Walk

Truth and Reconciliation Week will culminate on Sept. 30 with the annual Orange Shirt Day Walk organized by Bishop’s University. The college and university communities, as well as the general public (including elementary and high schools), are invited to gather between 11:30 a.m. and noon at Bishop’s in the Quad, behind Mcgreer Hall, and to wear an orange shirt. A ceremony will begin at noon and the walk is scheduled to start at 1 p.m.

Participants are invited to bring their lunch.

“I am very pleased to be part of this collaboration between the post-secondary institutions - a collaboration that has shown the possibility of respecting diverse perspectives and Indigenous ways of seeing and knowing,” Vicky Boldo, Special Advisor - Indigenous Student Support, Bishop’s University stated in a press release. “The relationships being built are cutting new pathways - Throughout this first National Week of Truth and Reconciliation; through educational activities, the arts and the commemorative action of the annual walk, we hope to bring more awareness and to humbly honour Residential School Survivors, the Missing Ones and their families,” Boldo said.

The full program of activities for Truth and Reconciliation Week can be downloaded at the following link: https://prese.ca/en/projects/truthreconciliation.