September 30 marks Canada’s second National Day for Truth and Reconciliation

This September 30, 2022 marks Canada’s second National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. Since 2013, it has been known as Orange Shirt Day, and last year Canada passed legislation to establish the day as a statutory holiday.

This day provides an opportunity for PHC to recognize and commemorate the tragic history and ongoing legacy of residential schools, and to honour the survivors, their families and communities. It is more than a stat holiday—it is a solemn and reflective day where we honour the children who suffered in the residential school system, and the ones who never made it home. This statutory holiday was created in response to one of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action and that challenges us to understand what we can do—today – to redress the dark legacy of the residential school and ongoing colonialism.

The National Day for Truth and Reconciliation provides an opportunity for us at PHC to reflect on our work as individuals and as an organization and ask ourselves, “Are we doing enough? What am I individually doing in my role to advance truth, reconciliation and culturally safe care for Indigenous patients?”

There are measures each of us can take to demonstrate our commitment truth and reconciliation. This can include:

Educating ourselves on these issues;
Taking time for reflection and to make personal commitments;
Participating in community events and/or memorials;
Contributing to change efforts (including Orange Shirt Day); and,
Supporting or contributing to Indigenous businesses and communities and/or donating to Indigenous organizations.

Below are some reminders and information from our Indigenous Wellness and Reconciliation team and our PHC Human Resources department.

Orange T-shirts and pins—Send in your team photos!

The IWR team will not be distributing Orange t-shirts for the organization. Below are some recommended vendors to purchase your orange t-shirts or pins from:

Native Northwest – Partial proceeds from each orange shirt will be directed to the Native Northwest Reconciliation fun to fund initiatives that support Indigenous Wellness, learning and culture. https://www.nativenorthwest.com/nnw/every-child-matters.html?mc_cid=a740a3b5ee&mc_eid=f2ba2a99f1

Leading Edge Promo—Orange t-shirt lapel pins can be purchased through this vendor. https://leadingedgepromo.ca/product/orange-shirt-lapel-pin/

Tribal Roots Imports—Beaded orange shirt pins can be purchased through this vendor. https://tribalrootsimports.com/product/orange-shirt-day-pin/

Decolonial Clothing—Bailey Ingram, wholesale sales rep. www.decolonialclothing.com

Send photos of your teams of yourself individually in your orange shirts to connect@providencehealth.bc.ca and our communications team will add them to the photo library!

Orange ribbons to be distributed to departments across PHC

The IWR team has arranged for orange ribbon kits to be delivered to each Site and/or Unit Leader for teams to make their own orange ribbons to wear and show their support on September 30. We hope that this mindfulness activity will be an opportunity for teams to reflect on the significance of this day, and ways to implement Indigenous Cultural Safety in their work area and one’s own commitment to Truth and Reconciliation

A note on operations from HR

As was the case last year, where applicable, PHC unionized staff who are scheduled to work on Friday, September 30, 2022 will receive statutory holiday pay and a stat day off in lieu in accordance with the collective agreements.

Staff who work on rotation and are scheduled day-off on September 30th will be receiving another stat day. People Staffing will work directly with managers to schedule in lieu stat days in advance of December 31, 2022.

PHC corporate non-contract staff will have the day off.

Indigenous Wellness & Reconciliation ICS Resources 2022

Below is a list of recommended resources compiled by our Indigenous Wellness and Reconciliation Team.

Commission/Inquiry Reports
In Plain Sight (2020)

Reclaiming Power and Place: The Final Report of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (2019)

Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada (2015)

Summary Report, Volumes 1-6, and Calls to Action

Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples (1996)

Volumes 1-5

Indigenous Human Rights

Indigenous Thought Leadership

Indigenous Health- and Wellness-Focused Organizations

Organizations to Donate & Support

Indigenous Wellness & Reconciliation at Providence Health Care
- - Under “Choose a fund” select “Other”. A new field will be added below called “Other Designated Fund” where you can type in “Indigenous Wellness & Reconciliation”
Indian Residential School Survivors Society
Legacy of Hope Foundation
Orange Shirt Society
- - Donations
  - Orange Shirt Day – Shirt Retailers
National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation
- - Donations
  - Shop
The Gord Downie & Chanie Wenjack Fund
The Witness Blanket
Circles for Reconciliation
First Nations Child & Family Caring Society
Native Courtworkers

Videos, Documentaries & Films

“A Mother’s Voice” (2019) – via STORYHIVE on YouTube
“Angry Inuk” (2016) documentary film dir. by Alethea Arnaquq-Baril
“Atanarjuat” (2002) drama film dir. by Zacharias Kunuk
“Blood Quantum” (2019) horror film dir. Jeff Barnaby
“The Body Remembers When the World Broke Open” (2019) film drama dir. By Elle-Maija Tailfeathers
“Boy” (2012) comedy-drama film dir. by Taika Waititi
“The Grizzlies” (2018) drama/sport film dir. by Miranda de Pencier
“Guardians of Eternity” (2015) documentary film dir. by France Benoit
“Indian Horse” (2017) film drama dir. by Stephen Campanelli
“The Invisible Nation” (2007) documentary film dir. by Robert Monderie & Richard Desjardins
“Kanehsatake: 270 Years of Resistance” (1993) documentary film dir. by Alanis Obomsawin
“Monkey Beach” (2020) mystery/drama film dir. by Loretta Todd
“Nîpawistamâsowin: We Will Stand Up” (2019) documentary film dir. by Tasha Hubbard
“The Pass System” (2015) documentary film dir. by Alex Williams
“Reel Injun” (2009) documentary film dir. by Neil Diamond, Catherine Bainbridge & Jeremiah Hayes
“There’s Something in the Water” (2019) film dir. by Elliot Page & Ian Daniel
“Tunnit: Retracing the Lines of Inuit Tattoos” (2018) documentary film dir. by Alethea Arnaquq-Baril
“We Were Children” (2012) film dir. by Tim Wolochatiuk
“Rumble: The Indians Who Rocked the World” (2017) documentary film dir. by Catherine Bainbridge, Alfonso Maiorana

Webinars/ Series

Indigenous Cultural Safety Collaborative Learning Series webinars
National Collaborating Centre for Indigenous Health Structures of Indifference webinar
Mi’kmaq Elder Albert Marshall’s Etuaptmumk or ‘Two Eyed Seeing’ approach to knowledge sharing
Former Senator Murray Sinclair’s response to “Why can’t you just get over it?”
The First Nations Health Authority: Cultural Safety and Cultural Humility Webinar Action Series
READ THE TRC REPORT – Compilation of Individuals reading the TRC Report (YouTube)

Books

“Our Stories: First Peoples in Canada” by Centennial College (Free on Apple Books)
“A Knock on the Door” by Phil Fontaine, Aimée Craft, The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada
“Apple: (Skin to the Core)” by Eric Gansworth
“Five Little Indians” by Michelle Good
“The Inconvenient Indian: A Curious Account of Native People in North America” by Thomas King
“21 Things You May Not Know About the Indian Act” by Bob Joseph
“’Real’ Indians and Others: Mixed-blood Urban Native Peoples and Indigenous Nationhood” by Bonita Lawrence
“Separate Beds: A History of Indian Hospitals in Canada, 1920s-1980s” by Maureen K. Lux
“Structures of Indifference: An Indigenous Life and Death in a Canadian City” by Mary Jane Logan McCallum and Adele Perry
“The Colonial Problem: An Indigenous Perspective on Crime and Injustice in Canada” by Lisa Monchalin
“As I Remember It: Teachings (Ɂəms tɑɁɑw) from the Life of a Sliammon Elder Elsie Paul” with Davis McKenzie, Paige Raibmon & Harmony Johnson
“Unsettling the Settler Within Indian Residential Schools, Truth Telling, and Reconciliation in Canada” by Paulette Regan; Foreword by Taiaiake Alfred
“They Called Me Number One” by Xat’sull Chief Bev Sellars
“Dear Canada: These Are My Words: The Residential School Diary of Violet Pesheens” by Ruby Slipperjack
“Loss of Indigenous Eden and the Fall of Spirituality” by Blair Stonechild
“Call Me Indian: From the Trauma of Residential School to Becoming the NHL’s First Treaty Indigenous Player” by Fred Sasakamoose
“Suffer the little Children” by Tamara Starblanket
“Seven Fallen Feathers: Racism, Death, and Hard Truths in a Northern City” by Tanya Talaga
“All Our Relations” by Tanya Talaga
“Indigenous Writes: A Guide to First Nations, Métis, and Inuit Issues in Canada” by Chelsea Vowel
“One Story, One Song” by Richard Wagamese
“Elements of Indigenous Style: A guide for writing by and about Indigenous Peoples” by Gregory Youngling
“Unreconciled: Family, Truth, and Indigenous Resistance” by Jesse Wente
“Johnny Appleseed” by Joshua Whitehead
“A History of My Brief Body: A Memoir” by Billy-Ray Belcourt
“NDN Coping Mechanisms: Notes from the Field” by Billy-Ray Belcourt
“This Wound Is a World” by Billy-Ray Belcourt
“The North-West Is Our Mother: The Story of Louis Riel’s People, the Métis Nation” by Jean Teillet
“Split Tooth” by Tanya Tagaq
“The Right to Be Cold” by Sheila Watt-Cloutier
“Anti-Racist Health Care Practice” by Elizabeth McGibbon, Josephine Etowa
“Medicine Unbundled: A Journey through the Minefields of Indigenous Health Care” by Gary Geddes
“Settler: Identity and Colonialism in 21st Century Canada” by Adam J. Barker and Emma Battell Lowman
“Making native space” by Cole Harris
“A Fair Country: Telling Truths About Canada” by John Ralston Saul