National Day of Truth and Reconciliation Shirts for sale
 
Pick-up location: 211- 20644 Eastleigh Crescent (located on the second floor) 

In honor of National Day of Truth and Reconciliation the Lower Fraser valley Aboriginal Society will be selling Orange shirts with logo designed by local indigenous youth. This new day of recognition was inspired by Orange Shirt Day and the legacy of the St. Joseph Mission (SJM) residential school commemoration event held in Williams Lake, BC, Canada, in the spring of 2013. It grew out of Phyllis' story of having her shiny new orange shirt taken away on her first day of school at the Mission, and it has become an opportunity to keep the discussion on all aspects of residential schools happening annually.

The date was chosen because it is the time of year in which children were taken from their homes to residential schools, and because it is an opportunity to set the stage for anti-racism and anti-bullying policies for the coming school year. It also gives teachers time to plan events that will include children, as we want to ensure that we are passing the story and learning on to the next generations.
 
This year’s design was created by Car, a twenty-four-year-old artist, from from q’ic’əy’ (Katzie) First Nation located in the Lower Fraser Valley.
 
"This design represents many things; first, the adult and cub bear paws in the middle, show us the sacred bond between parent and child. At the bottom of the paw, there is a Salish eye which reminds us that Creator is always there to protect us. At the top, we have the cedar boughs to cleanse our survivors and their families. Lastly, at the bottom, we have two eagle feathers to honour the survivors and the children that never made it home. The Eagle is a very sacred animal to me and my family - it’s my grandfather’s spirit animal, and we always have eagles visiting us." -Car
 
We are honored to have their design on our shirts this year.