2022 National Day for Truth and Reconciliation
Thank you for taking part in the 2022 National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. We encourage you to continue to explore ways to put reconciliation into action.
Sings Many Songs Women (Pearl White Quills, Deb Green and Noreen Demeria) sang for the opening of the healing garden at the Alberta Children's Hospital, a place of refuge for patients, staff and physicians. Photo courtesy of Albert Woo
Wearing an orange shirt symbolizes the harm done to residential school students and their families, and shows a commitment to the principle that every child matters. By acknowledging and understanding the truth of the past, we can take steps to move forward towards reconciliation.
AHS has been commemorating Orange Shirt Day on September 30 for many years, to recognize the history and truthful impacts of residential schools in Alberta. The Orange Shirt Day movement started in 2013 after a Residential School Survivor spoke about having the orange shirt her grandmother bought for her taken away on her first day of school when she was 6 years old. Read her story here.
In 2021, Orange Shirt Day became the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. AHS will be commemorating the day with reflective sessions on Thursday, September 29. (Watch the recorded presentations here.) We encourage everyone to honour September 30 as a day of personal reflection or to take part in events in your community.
*Please note: this page is moderated and any inappropriate or disrespectful content will be edited and/or removed.
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Who's Listening
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Interim VP, Provincial Clinical Excellence
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VP & Medical Director, Cancer Care Alberta, Clinical Support Services & Provincial Clinical Excellence
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Videos
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“They just told me to write what’s relevant to what I’m feeling,” says Alexia Calliou, 10, one of a group of youth from the Fishing Lake Métis Settlement in Alberta who shared their experiences and feelings in the song ‘We Are Strong.’
With the help of N’we Jinan Artists and a grant from the AHS Honouring Life program, the group then turned it into a music video.
Honouring Life is an Indigenous life promotion and suicide prevention program developed to support First Nation, Métis and Inuit youth.
With funding administered by the AHS Indigenous Wellness Core, a vision of Honouring Life is that Indigenous youth in Alberta experience life with hope, meaning, belonging, and purpose. View the music video here: https://youtu.be/7iIFC2QS-yc
Fishing Lake Métis Settlement in Cree, Packechawanis, is one of the original 12 colonies of the Métis people in Alberta, and one of the eight that now remain.
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The Indigenous Wellness Core walks us through the historical truth of the impacts of Residential Schools in Canada, that we continue to witness today. AHS strives to uphold our commitment to the TRC Recommendations for Health by providing education resources.
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The Indigenous Wellness Core walks us through the historical truth of “Indian Hospitals” in Alberta and Canada. AHS strives to uphold our commitment to the TRC Recommendations for Health by providing education resources.
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This is a story of health planning and co-design in action with Calgary Zone Indigenous communities. Harley and Penny share their journey of the process which is centered on trust, relationship building, shared vision and collaboration. Grounded in ceremony, sacred stories, and a commitment to co-design, they connect with the diversity of urban and rural Indigenous communities to build the Calgary Zone Indigenous Health Action Plan.
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This story was gifted to us by Jeraldine, a woman who has discovered strength and healing by celebrating her Indigenous culture.
Having persevered through dark days, she has entered a new season in her life.
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After an exclusive screening of her film, Kímmapiitssini – The Meaning of Empathy in 2022, filmmaker Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers and her mother, Dr. Esther Tailfeathers discussed the change brought by community members with substance-use disorder, first responders and medical professionals as they strive for harm reduction in the Kainai First Nation.