Every year, the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation asks us to do something deceptively simple: listen.
Listen to survivors. Listen to families and communities living with the enduring impacts of residential schools.
Listen to the truths that have too often been ignored, denied or left untold.
And listen to one another as we consider reconciliation not as a destination, but as an ongoing commitment shaped by learning, reflection and action.
Orange Shirt Day and the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation honour residential school survivors, their families and communities. It is a day to reflect on the legacy of residential schools and the systems and attitudes that made them possible — a legacy that remains present in Newfoundland and Labrador and across the country.
At Memorial University, the work of truth and reconciliation belongs to all of us.
Memorial is committed to advancing truth and reconciliation through indigenization, relationship-building and education.
Yet, meaningful progress begins with people, conversations, questions, personal reflection and a willingness to engage with difficult histories.
It happens in classrooms and residence halls, around kitchen tables, through community gatherings, and in moments when we choose to learn something new.
Students are an important part of that journey. They bring diverse experiences, perspectives and understanding to conversations about truth and reconciliation. Some are just beginning to learn about the history and legacy of residential schools, while others carry personal, family or community connections to these stories.
The student voices that follow offer personal reflections on what Sept. 30 means to them and why this day continues to matter.
Members of the Memorial University community are encouraged to engage in their own reflection and take part in gatherings and conversations that invite deeper engagement with the meaning of this important day.
For more information, visit Memorial’s Orange Shirt Day web page.
1/ Cheyenne Michel, second-year undergraduate student, School of Arctic and Subarctic Studies
“As an Innu woman from Sheshatshiu, for me it is not a day when Indigenous history is briefly remembered. It is a day when Canada is asked what it is willing to do with the truth once it has heard it. Truth isn’t only contained in archives, textbooks or government records. I feel like it lives in Innu-aimun, our oral history and families, in Nutshimit, and the routes that our ancestors walked on Nitassinan. When people speak from a place of anger, grief or frustration, they often need to be heard before anything can be repaired. Listening is not the whole of reconciliation, but I don’t think it can begin without it. Hearing is passive but listening comes with responsibility. Reconciliation cannot be limited to one day, one orange shirt or one statement. It must shape everyday choices and actions. It requires listening to Indigenous voices, facing uncomfortable truths, respecting our knowledge and taking responsibility. This day is painful and hopeful. It asks us to remember what was taken, honour what has survived and protect what continues. Being proudly Innu is resilience. Reconciliation must create a future where Innu children are safe, valued and rooted in who they are.”
2/ Hanna Linden, second-year PhD student, Department of Anthropology, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
"It is important to remember that action is embedded in the word reconciliation, so, as a settler, I see the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation as a call to action. It means going beyond acknowledging the legacy of the residential school system and finding ways to actively decolonize the structures and systems in our community and in ourselves. For example, engaging with and understanding how the history of residential schools carries into the present day means acknowledging that Indigenous children are vastly overrepresented in the Child Protection and Youth Services system, and that countless Indigenous languages are endangered or already lost. Indigenous-led organizations across the country, like First Light here in St. John’s, are actively addressing these issues through community programming. So to me, in part, reconciliation means finding out which organization is caring for the Indigenous community in your area and finding ways to support them. Read their work, share their resources, volunteer or donate, even a few dollars here and there, if you can, and hold the government accountable to their responsibilities to Indigenous Peoples."
