On Sept. 30 the McMaster community observed the second annual Truth and Reconciliation Day with on-campus gatherings, an educational panel and Indigenous artwork 

On Friday, Sept. 30, 2022, the McMaster University community observed Truth and Reconciliation Day. The federal holiday was first established in 2021 to honour the victims, survivors and all members of the Indigenous community affected by the painful history of Canadian residential schools. This is the second year Canada has observed Truth and Reconciliation Day as a national holiday.  

Truth and Reconciliation Day coincides with the previously established Orange Shirt Day, which is an Indigenous-led grassroots commemorative day honouring all Indigenous children taken from their homes and put into residential schools.  

Orange Shirt Day commemorates survivor Phyllis Jack Webstad’s experience being stripped of her new orange shirt on her first day of residential school. The orange shirt is now used to represent how Indigenous students had their identities stripped away from them by the residential school system.  

While other Canadian provinces designated Sept. 30th as a statutory holiday, Ontario did not.  

Several events were planned approaching Truth and Reconciliation Day, including a virtual tour of the Mohawk Institute Residential school as well as a recorded panel discussion hosted by the Indigenous Studies faculty.  

The panel featured guest speakers Dr. Vanessa Watts, Dr. Mary Jane Logan McCallum and Dr. Lianne Leddy. It was moderated by the director of the McMaster Indigenous Research Institute, Dr. Savage Bear. They focused on the historical context behind the creation of the residential school system, as well as how these institutions were falsely contextualized in archives, using propaganda and the erasure of painful truths.  

Additional to the informational panel, the MSU Diversity and Equity Network facilitated both social media-based and in-person informational campaigns leading up to Truth and Reconciliation Day. Infographics and informational resources were posted on the MSU Diversity Instagram

Avantika Vaidya, a social and political advocacy coordinator for the MSU Diversity and Equity Network, described how, along with the advocacy role they played on social media, the social and political advocacy team also commissioned Indigenous muralist Kyle Joedicke to paint a piece to be displayed on the McMaster campus.  

The piece is currently being displayed in the Peter George Centre for Living and Learning and will be later given to the Indigenous studies department. Vaidya explained the main goal of this project was to create a space of visible expression of Indigenous culture and bring that into the McMaster community. 

“I think art in all forms is one of the only universal languages that ties in humans from across cultures and identities. I think that using this kind of medium as a celebration on the second year of Truth and Reconciliation Day seemed very appropriate, and we're excited that it was able to be carried out and is there for everyone to appreciate and understand its value,” said Vaidya. 

“I think art in all forms is one of the only universal languages that ties in humans from across cultures and identities. I think that using this kind of medium as a celebration on the second year of Truth and Reconciliation Day seemed very appropriate, and we're excited that it was able to be carried out and is there for everyone to appreciate and understand its value.”

Avantika vaidya, MSU DEN Social and Political Advocacy Coordinator

Vaidya spoke on the importance of recognizing Truth and Reconciliation Day as a federal holiday. Although classes were canceled, campus was alive with vibrant celebrations and meaningful recognitions. Community members marched together, participated in painting an orange armour stone at the on-campus Indigenous Circle and gathered for a film screening of Indian Horse.  

“I think when you explicitly create a day for recognition and when you announce it as such, it does create a space for opening up discussions amongst people who maybe aren't as informed of its significance and of its history.” said Vaidya.  

“I think when you explicitly create a day for recognition and when you announce it as such, it does create a space for opening up discussions amongst people who maybe aren't as informed of its significance and of its history.”

Avantika vaidya

C/O Paige Porter

Local business owner Paige Porter is rediscovering her Indigenous heritage through her beadwork

Beading has a historical and cultural significance among Canada’s Indigenous communities as an art form passed down through generations. For Paige Porter, the Hamilton-based Indigenous beadwork artist behind House of Beads, it is a means of reconnecting with her heritage and carving out a cultural identity of her own.

Porter’s small business specializes in Indigenous beaded jewellery, accessories and custom commissions. Though beading is traditionally passed from parent to child within Indigenous communities, Porter’s journey to beading arose out of a self-driven search to learn more about her heritage. She is Haudenosaunee and Onyota'a:ka from Six Nations of the Grand River. As an intergenerational survivor of the residential schools system, Porter described feelings of disconnection from her culture within her family in her formative years. 

“Growing up, I didn’t know that much about my culture. Down the line, my family was afraid to acknowledge and speak the language. Over the years it died off, which is sad to say, but because of residential schools I know some older Indigenous people went through especially traumatic experiences and were ashamed of being Native. That’s how they were brainwashed. Being Indigenous, I grew up and had to learn about my culture myself,” explained Porter.

In her efforts to reconnect with her heritage, Porter became involved with the Hamilton Regional Indian Center, where she gained more exposure to resources and other Indigenous community members. She began beading in November 2019 to rekindle the traditional art form within her family, entirely through self-teaching and her own devices. 

“Beading is usually a tradition passed down generations and generations, but in my case, my family was never taught beading. I wanted to become the first-generation leader in my family . . . It’s not only for myself, but also so I can pass it down to my family and my grandkids — I can be that grandma that teaches them how to do it,”

Paige Porter

Porter began learning to bead through online resources and imitating designs, before beginning to create original designs of her own. The learning process has provided her with a sense of resilience and pride in her heritage.

Initially, Porter never saw herself as a business owner. Along her self-teaching journey, she began posting her work on Instagram. She started to amass a following and it was her mother who first had the idea to sell the art Porter had created. Her mother’s encouragement incited the transformation of her passion into a business, now with over 1,500 followers on her combined social media platforms.

Porter fondly recalled memories from the Together in Dance Festival at Mohawk College, which she attended as a vendor in February 2020. The celebration of diversity and multiculturalism was one of Porter’s first times presenting her work to the public. After the festival, Porter went on to collaborate with Sweet Peas Baby Company, a seasonal subscription box for parents of young children, where her bead art was featured.

“My products are handmade and take time. You're getting something that is authentic and handmade by an actual Indigenous person rather than Indigenous-inspired and when you support an Indigenous business, then you're also supporting the Indigenous community. When you go and shop in Canada, those proceeds go into Canada,” said Porter.

Beyond her bead art, Porter stressed the importance of bringing awareness to injustices committed against Indigenous peoples in Canada. She called students to action to educate themselves on Orange Shirt Day, Truth and Reconciliation Day and the missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls and two spirit.

Porter’s small business has helped her to build a bridge back to the Indigenous culture that was stolen from her and her family and her art is a reminder of the importance of Indigenous culture and legacies. 

How McMaster observed the first official National Day for Truth and Reconciliation

C/O Marcus Urbenz, Unsplash

On Sept. 30, the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation was observed across the country. Meant to acknowledge the tragic legacy of the residential school system and honour those who were and are impacted by it, the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation became a federal statutory holiday in June 2021 and was celebrated for the first time in September. Although it is a federal statutory holiday, it is not recognized as a statutory holiday by numerous provinces, including Ontario.

At McMaster University, this day was observed through a series of events on campus. Katelyn Knott, coordinator of Indigenous-focused events at McMaster, explained the significance of these events.

“As part of the Orange shirt campaign, we did a commemoration event at the beginning of the day, which included a sacred fire, some drummers and dancers. The drum group was called Spirit Vision and they’re a local Hamilton group. We put this on to commemorate the uncovering of Indigenous children at residential schools as well as acknowledging [Phyllis Webstad],” said Knott. 

A survivor of the residential school system, Phyllis Webstad founded Orange Shirt Day in 2013, as a way to acknowledge the history and legacy of residential schools in Canada. As of this year, Orange Shirt Day became officially recognized as the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. 

“[This was] significant because music and dance is a great way for Indigenous people to come together to celebrate, to honour or to heal each other. And so we did that and we invited the McMaster community to join in with us for some teachings and some honoring,” explained Knott.

Knott also discussed how on National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, many Indigenous faculty and staff members at McMaster called on the community to take steps towards reconciliation. 

“Some of the recommendations were to pick [just one call to action] and make that commitment to addressing it. Other ones were to read and familiarize yourself, if you haven't already, with the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, to look into the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, to do that self-education beyond September 30,”

katelyn knott

Despite the on-campus events that acknowledged the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, classes and tests continued to operate at McMaster. While instructors had the option to cancel their classes or to use their classes for relevant discussion, they also had the ability to continue classes and assessments as usual. 

One on-campus event, A Conversation about Indigenous Inclusion, was originally scheduled to take place on Sept. 28 but was cancelled on Sept. 27. This event, organized by McMaster's Equity and Inclusion Office and Indigenous Link, was advertised as a discussion about how to best include Indigenous peoples in the workplace.

On Sept. 24, the Cooperative of Indigenous Students Studies and Alumni at McMaster published an Instagram post calling for the cancellation of this event. In their post, CISSA highlighted the lack of on-campus Indigenous voices included in the planning of this event, the questions about identity raised by the description of the speaker as having Métis ancestors and the focus on Indigenous inclusion rather than self-determination. 

“[F]rom Indigenous perspectives, the idea of ‘identity and inclusion is highly problematic. Grounded in a [World Health Organization] Commission, Indigenous peoples have largely rejected a social inclusion framework — our goal is to self-determine,” CISSA stated. 

When the Silhouette reached out to the Equity and Inclusion Office to discuss the cancellation of this event, they declined to interview. 

When discussing McMaster’s approach to reconciliation and support for Indigenous peoples, Knott expressed appreciation for the services available on campus. 

“They have so many different programs, so many different initiatives and supports. In my time as an undergraduate and graduate at McMaster University, they were foundational to my success. If folks are looking for support or just a sense of belonging, [I really encourage] that they reach out to Indigenous Student Services and Indigenous studies program,” said Knott.

Adrienne Xavier, director of the Indigenous studies program, noted that McMaster’s Indigenous studies program has been in place for a long time and as a result, McMaster is somewhat ahead of other universities in their reconciliation efforts. 

“There were a lot of movements that have been made, but those were things that McMaster chose to do before the TRC. They didn’t need to be asked by the government; they were asked by Indigenous communities,” said Xavier. 

However, Knott also highlighted that there is much more progress to be made. 

“[Regarding] the dialogue that we're having as Indigenous people with the institution, I think that there are definite positive parts and positive people. But we can always do better,” said Knott. 

In discussing how McMaster can continue to take steps towards reconciliation, Knott emphasized the need for more Indigenous staff and faculty members. 

“Indigenous staff and faculty do really incredible work and are overburdened by the demands that are put on Indigenous people,” explained Knott. 

Xavier emphasized that reconciliation is a long process, but that the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation has opened a wider conversation about Indigenous affairs. For many individuals, Xavier explained, the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation is their first introduction to this conversation.

“We aren't a problem. At the end of the day, Indigenous people have history in this country, but we aren't an issue. We aren't a problem to be solved. We are people to be celebrated. We are people to be acknowledged. We are histories that have to be understood,” said Xavier.

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