A number of events are happening this weekend in the region to commemorate the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.
Owen Sound Gichi-Name Wiikwedong Reconciliation Garden Committee member Colleen Purdon says there’s an event at Kelso Beach at Nawash Park on Saturday morning at 9:30 a.m.
It will be open to everyone.
“There will be a sacred fire and a pipe ceremony, songs and some speakers. Mayor Ian Boddy is attending and we will have some youth speakers talking about the future of truth and reconciliation and from their perspective what is needed, and Elder Shirley John is with us and will be doing a teaching on residential schools,” says Purdon.
The event will run until noon and will also include the city unveiling a new sign at the park recognizing the name change to Kelso Beach at Nawash Park this past summer.
Additionally, Chippewas of Nawash Unceded First Nation will be holding a fall festival at Cape Croker Park from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. to mark the day on Saturday.
It will include residential school survivor sharing and a walk of unity throughout the park. There will also be basket making, hide tanning and a trapping demo, and indigenous leg wrestling.
National Day for Truth and Reconciliation events will also be held at James Mason Centre from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. in Saugeen First Nation on Saturday as well.
Other communities in the region are holding their own celebrations, with some raising Every Child Matters flags outside municipal buildings.
In Saugeen Shores, staff will be joining elders from Saugeen First Nation on the Zgaa-biig-ni-gan Bridge on Friday to recognize the national day of reflection. The bridge will be closed from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Friday.
In Kincardine, the municipality is providing free posters and learning resources from Sept. 25 to Oct. 1 at the Davidson Centre, Underwood Community Centre, Tiverton Sports Centre, and Municipal Administration Centre. The municipality is also flying the Survivors’ Flag, which was created through the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation.
In 2021, the federal government passed Bill C-5 to mark Sept. 30 as a federal statutory holiday for National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.
