Nookomis Gitche Name’ Kwe, the Grandmother Sturgeon sculpture by Indigenous artist Kathryn Corbiere, in the Gichi-Name Wiikwedong Reconciliation Garden Friday morning in Nawash Park

Gichi-Name, Grandmother Sturgeon, waits under an orange sky for a new day.

A sacred fire will be lit at 11:00 a.m. this morning in the Gichi-Name Wiikwedong Reconciliation Garden at Nawash Park (Kelso Beach) in Owen Sound, marking National Day for Truth and Reconciliation in the traditional territory of the Saugeen Ojibwa Nation.

Today is also Orange Shirt Day, honouring the thousands of Survivors of Canada's state-funded church-run residential school system, worn in reflection and remembrance of the lost children and the survivors, their communities and their families, a symbol of the purposeful attempts to destroy the culture of Indigenous peoples by systematically stripping away self-esteem and freedom, by the denial of basic human rights.

There were 140 federally-run residential schools in Canada operating from 1867 to 1996.

Today's commemorations and community gathering are open to all.

• 11:00 a.m. – Sacred Fire and Pipe Ceremony
• 11:15 a.m. – Drummers and Singers
• 11:20 a.m. – Speaker Shayla Adamson from the Junior Optimist Club who have painted Forget Me Not stones to be laid with Gichi Name (Grandmother Sturgeon)
• 11:30 a.m. – Guests to tie orange ribbons on the fence in honour of the children who didn’t make it home
• 12:00 p.m. – Sharing Circle – Elder Shirley John – Strong White Buffalo Woman
•   1:00 p.m. – Closing Song – Drummers and Singers

by Staff
David Galway