If you’ve attended a local event in the past few years, you’ve likely heard a land acknowledgement—a recognition that the event is taking place on unceded Anishinabe Algonquin territory.
I’ve been thinking a lot about what “green living” means in “Ottawa,” i.e. unceded Indigenous territory. What I’ve learned so far is that it requires understanding Canada’s colonial past and present, and that it entails supporting Indigenous-led action for sovereignty and Indigenous resurgence.
[CW: Contains references to the “Indian Residential Schools” that Canada and churches operated from 1831-1996. A list of supports for Survivors, families and communities is available here. Information on general mental health supports for Ottawa residents is available here.]
Several local groups are offering ways to take such learning and action a step further, in conjunction with Orange Shirt Day and National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. Both days are designed to raise awareness about the residential schools that Canada established for Indigenous children, the horrors these institutions caused for children, families and descendants, and what Canadians need to do to address their ongoing effects. Residential schools were just one part of Canada’s overall plan to replace Indigenous lands and peoples with a settler colonial country, a plan that forms the foundation for Canada today.
Understanding Canada as a settler colonial state
First Nations Child and Family Caring Society, along with Assembly of Seven Generations and Beechwood Cemetery, are hosting Reconciling History Tours on Saturday, September 30 and Monday, October 2, 2023. The tours enable participants to learn more about Canada’s residential school system, and how to advance the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action. The Beechwood event includes an unveiling of a Children’s Sacred Forest. This is an opportunity to understand how Ottawa’s spaces and people were central to creating and perpetuating the genocidal residential school system. You can find out more and register in advance on the Caring Society’s website, or do the tours virtually.
[Added:] Algonquin College and the Asinabka Film and Media Arts Festival are co-hosting a free film screening and discussion of Colonization Road, on Friday, September 29, 2023 from 4:15-6:30 p.m. The film discusses how public streets, infrastructure and art were used to—and continue to—assert and celebrate Canada’s colonization and settlement of Indigenous lands.
Learning and reflecting on harms, and on action needed
National Day for Truth and Reconciliation and Orange Shirt Day provide additional activities for learning more about residential schools and support Indigenous healing and redress:
The Ottawa Public Library is inviting people to participate in arts activities, watch films, and access books, a pre-recorded talk by Phyllis Webstad, the founder of Orange Shirt Day, and other resources. The OPL and the National Arts Centre are also co-hosting a play, Bloodline, by Algonquin Elder Albert Dumont and Ottawa writer Phil Jenkins, about how the Indian Act has affected Elder Dumont’s life and family. The performance on Thursday, September 28, 2023 from 7-8:30 p.m. is sold out but will be streamed online—see the event page for details. A second live performance has been added, on Thursday, November 16, 2023 at the Meridian Centrepointe Theatre (thanks to A New Dawn for the information).
[Added:] The co-owners of the Indigenous-run Beandigen Café at Lansdowne Park (106-900 Exhibition Way) are inviting people to hear from a family member who is a residential school survivor, on Saturday, September 30, 2023 at 12 p.m. See details on their FB page.
Adaawe Indigenous Business Hub is holding a memorial walk from their office at 338 Somerset Street to Parliament Hill on Saturday, September 30, 2023 from 12-1 p.m. A memorial event, Remembering the Children, organized by the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation and Orange Shirt Day and taking place on Parliament Hill on September 30, 2023 at noon (with broadcast on APTN), is the culmination of a week of activities that the NCTR is offering, which include daily learning sessions covering past and ongoing discrimination against Indigenous peoples, debunking myths and pointing towards action.
Engaging in dialogue and supporting Indigenous initiatives
A New Dawn is a local community-based group that has been supporting learning by non-Indigenous people and facilitating collaboration among non-Indigenous and Indigenous people. They’re hosting an evening with Algonquin Elder Albert Dumont on Friday, September 29, 2023 from 6:30-8:30 p.m. at Kitchissippi United Church, 630 Island Park Drive. A New Dawn is also selling orange shirts, designed by Elder Dumont, to commemorate Indigenous children who died at residential schools and to promote healing, respect and a new relationship.
A good place to purchase orange shirts locally is Adaawewigamig, a social enterprise store in the Byward Market run by Assembly of Seven Generations, an Indigenous youth-led organization. They have a lot of other great clothing, jewelry and other items; proceeds support Indigenous artists, businesses and causes. Orange shirts are also available through the Mādahòkì Farm or the Orange Shirt Society. If you purchase a shirt for Orange Shirt Day, make sure it supports Indigenous artists and groups, and is endorsed by the Orange Shirt Society.
There is much more to be done. Stay tuned for upcoming posts on ways to support Indigenous peoples, places and actions.
Green Living Ottawa 