Editor’s note: As a member of Discourse Community Publishing, Revelstoke Mountaineer uses quotation marks around the word “school” because the Truth and Reconciliation Commission found residential “schools” were “an education system in name only for much of its existence.” The Indian Residential School Survivors Society crisis line is available any time at 1-800-721-0066. Please reach out if you need support.
Oct. 10 Update: Revelstoke Mountaineer updated this story to include quotes at the end of the article from a council meeting following the march, and calls for more action from the city.
Last year’s Orange Shirt Day march and gathering included a call from organizers Michelle Cole and Marlene Krug that non-Indigenous community members needed to take on the labour of organizing future Truth and Reconciliation Day events and support the Indigenous Friendship Society of Revelstoke in their work. This year’s Orange Shirt Day march showed how the community answered the call, Krug told an audience of over 100 participants during the Sept. 30 march through Revelstoke’s downtown.
“It’s heartwarming. It’s amazing that other people stepped up to do the work.”
Orange Shirt Day 2024 was organized by Revelstoke Truth and Reconciliation Group, a group of community members who connected after hearing the calls for Revelstoke to take on the organizing of future Orange Shirt Day events. Earning financial aid from the Neighbourhood Small Grants program and Columbia Basin Trust funds for food costs and honorariums for Indigenous speakers, organizers followed the lead of last year’s event in the route of the march, and in the gathering held at Centennial Parks’ Worker’s Memorial. Their organizing also included events held at the Revelstoke library, through Stoke FM and the Revelstoke Visual Arts Centre as learning opportunities leading up to Monday, Sept. 30.
“The purpose of our group came about to relieve the responsibility of the Indigenous community from needing to organize events for Truth and Reconciliation Day,” organizer Jamie Kraus told Revelstoke Mountaineer. “We wanted to have established profits in town hold programming that aligned with the goals of Truth and Reconciliation leading up to Sept. 30,” referring to businesses and organizations often found supporting other events throughout the year.
While organizations like the Revelstoke library were able to host events such as a screening of WaaPake (Tomorrow) and the Revelstoke Visual Arts Centre hosting craft nights for banners and posters used during the march, Kraus noted that there were fewer organizations that stepped up to support than expected, and that some secondary events were lost in lack of communication.
“We were hoping for a more collaborative community effort,” Kraus said. “I think one event done well instead of a smattering of smaller events is maybe better for our community.”
Once marchers made their way to the Worker’s Memorial, organizers and Indigenous Friendship Society of Revelstoke representatives shared stories, words centered in the land around Revelstoke and songs for the group. A focus was on thanking the land and rebuilding a connection with it, something Krug and speaker Laura Stovel both noted have been lost over the years and noted as particularly important in a community that cherishes outdoor activities as much as Revelstokians.
“It’s the land that gives us that opportunity,” Krug said, mentioning the rivers, mountains and trails that many use throughout the years.
Community Connections Revelstoke Society provided food, offering a vegetarian stew along with various styles of bannock. Still, organizers Kraus and Alexis Aikenhead noted that the City of Revelstoke could have supported the event more alongside the permits that were provided for the day.
“The City of Revelstoke should be giving this day as much time, money and effort as Canada day,” Kraus said.
“I do feel the City and Tourism Revelstoke could have more of a role, and lead by example in contributing financially or otherwise towards the Sinixt and honoring the original place names with signage and other information,” Aikenhead said. “[Revelstoke] had such a large budget in recent years for ‘wayfinding’ signs and I found it was a missed opportunity to not include any indigenous names or history.”
The revitalization of language, story and song was also a call to action at this year’s Orange Shirt Day march. Supporting that revitalization could be a goal for the city with the inclusion of Sinixt words on city signage, Kraus said.
“The City of Revelstoke could also begin the process of assigning a portion of our tax base to a designated fund assigned to helping the Sinixt, who were forcibly removed from their homes, here in Revelstoke.”
Orange Shirt Day events ended with a drum circle and smudge, with speakers once again reminding folks to learn about the history of residential “schools” but also work to reconnect with the nations and teachings that have been long connected to the region.
Following up on calls from Revelstoke Truth and Reconciliation Group for the city to better support National Day for Truth and Reconciliation events and organizations, Revelstoke Mountaineer asked council if the city would plan for 2025’s National Day for Truth and Reconciliation and meet that call to action.
“One of the things that we would like to hear is comments from the group that organizes this, maybe even have them make a presentation to council prior to the event,” Mayor Gary Sulz answered, asking that staff reach out to Revelstoke Truth and Reconciliation Group to begin making arrangements for next year.
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