ORANGE SHIRT DAY EDUCATIONAL PACKAGE S E P T E M B E R 2 0 2 1 N Y A : W Ę H F O R Y O U R T A B L E O F I N T E R E S T & P A R T I C I P A T I O N C O N T E N T S I N O U R 2 0 2 1 P R O G R A M M I N G ! WOODLAND & SIX NATIONS CONFEDERACY T H I S P A C K A G E H A S B E E N P U T T O G E T H E R B Y T H E W O O D L A N D C U L T U R A L C E N T R E T O SETTLEMENT & MOHAWK A S S I S T Y O U R C L A S S I N L E A R N I N G A B O U T INSTITUTE T H E S I G N I F I C A N C E O F O R A N G E S H I R T D A Y TRUTH & RECONCILIATION A H E A D O F L E A R N I N G A B O U T T H E H I S T O R Y COMMISION AND PROGRAM O F T H E M O H A W K I N S T I T U T E I N D I A N R E S I D E N T I A L S C H O O L A N D T H E E F F E C T S ORANGE SHIRT DAY AND WCC I T H A S O N I N D I G E N O U S P E O P L E T O D A Y PROGRAMMING A B O U T W O O D L A N D C U L T U R A L C E N T R E V I S I T O U R W E B S I T E : W W W . W O O D L A N D C U L T U R A L C E N T R E . C A F O R M O R E I N F O O N P R O G R A M M I N G The Woodland Cultural Centre was established in 1972 under the direction of the Association of Iroquois and Allied Indians upon the closure of the Mohawk Institute Residential School. The Woodland Cultural Centre is a non-profit organization, which preserves and promotes the culture and heritage of the First Nations of the Eastern Woodland area. The property that once used to be the Mohawk Institute Residential School is on the Six Nations of the Grand River Territory, and now offers educational programming, tours of the museum, art galleries and virtual tours of the former Residential School building. A B O U T T H E H O D I N H S : N I / Ǫ̱ Ǫ S I X N A T I O N S C O N F E D E R A N C Y When referring to the Indigenous nations that make up the The word Haudenosaunee refers to the Six Nations, Iroquois is a word that is often used in text People of the Longhouse, who are the Six books, however that is a word that was given to us by the Nations Confederacy. These nations are the French explorers, and is not a word we use to describe who Onondaga, Mohawk, Seneca, Cayuga, we are. The word Ǫgwehǫ:weh, (pronounced Own-gway- Oneida and the Tuscarora. hon-way) means “real people,” referring to all Indigenous people. The word Hodin hs :ni (Ho-den-o-show-nee) means We are a matrilineal society and follow the ǫ̱ ǫ “People of the Longhouse” and refers to how we believe nation and clan of our mother of which and live. These are the words we use to describe ourselves. there are 9 clans. These clans are hawk, snipe, heron, bear, deer, wolf, beaver, eel and turtle. These clans are what the Confederacy was established on. Each nation is identified by the characteristics of their homelands. The Onondaga nation is known as the People of the Hills The Mohawk nation: People of the Flint The Seneca nation: People of the Great Hill The Cayuga nation: People of the Great Swamp The Oneida nation: People of the Upright Stone The Tuscarora nation: Shirt Wearing People (referring to clothing they fashioned from hemp) S E T T L E M E N T A T T H E G R A N D R I V E R The Mohawk settlement began after the 18-year battle of the American Revolution. First Nations people who fought alongside the British lost their homelands where New York state is today, and were given land 10 kms (6 miles) on either side of the Grand River from its mouth to its source (nearly 400,000 hectares or approximately 950,000 acres) in compensation. This deed "The Haldimand Treaty" was written in 1784 by Frederick Haldimand, Captain General and Governor in Chief of the Province of Quebec and Territories on behalf of King George III. Much of these lands have been taken away and used by the government to build Canada, leased, borrowed and sold. Currently, the reserve measures 184.7 square km (71 square miles), which is less than 5% of what was originally given. W H A T I S T H E M O H A W K I N S T I T U T E I N D I A N R E S I D E N T I A L S C H O O L ? A quote from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada: “For over 100 years, Aboriginal children were removed from their families and sent to institutions called residential schools. The government-funded, church-run schools were located across Canada and established with the purpose to eliminate parental involvement in the spiritual, cultural and intellectual development of Aboriginal children. The last residential schools closed in the The first residential school began here at the Mohawk mid-1990s. During this chapter in Canadian Institute in 1828 by the New England Company, a missionary history, more than 150,000 First Nations, organization of the Anglican Church, in an effort to Métis and Inuit children were forced to assimilate First Nations people into Christian, English- attend these schools, some of which were speaking Canadians. hundreds of miles from their home." VISIT WWW.NCTR.CA FOR TRUTH & RECONCILIATION REPORTS, FINDINGS, AND EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES W H A T I S O R A N G E S H I R T D A Y ? Orange Shirt Day is a legacy of the St. Joseph Mission (SJM) Residential School (1891-1981) Commemoration Project and Reunion events that took place in Williams Lake, BC, Canada, in May 2013. This project was the vision of Esketemc (Alkali Lake) Chief Fred Robbins, who is a former student himself. It brought together former students and their families from the Secwepemc, Tsilhqot’in, Southern Dakelh and St’at’imc Nations along with the Cariboo Regional District, the Mayors and municipalities, School Districts and civic organizations in the Cariboo Region. The events were designed to commemorate the residential school experience, to witness and honour the healing journey of the survivors and their families, and to commit to the ongoing process of reconciliation. Chief Justice Murray Sinclair challenged all of the participants to keep the reconciliation process alive, as a result of the realization that every former student had similar stories. Orange Shirt Day is a legacy of this project. As spokesperson for the Reunion group leading up to the events, former student Phyllis (Jack) Webstad told her story of her first day at residential school when her shiny new orange shirt, bought by her grandmother, was taken from her as a six-year old girl. The annual Orange Shirt Day on September 30th opens the door to global conversation on all aspects of Residential Schools. It is an opportunity to create meaningful discussion about the effects of Residential Schools and the legacy they have left behind. A discussion all Canadians can tune into and create bridges with each other for reconciliation. A day for survivors to be reaffirmed that they matter, and so do those that have been affected. Every Child Matters, even if they are an adult, from now on. 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 is an opportunity for First Nations, local governments, schools and communities to come together in the spirit of reconciliation and hope for generations of children to come. On this day of September 30th, we call upon humanity to listen with open ears to the stories of survivors and their families, and to remember those that didn’t make it. Visit our website to learn more: https://woodlandculturalcentre.ca/history-of-orange-shirt-day/ Interested in registering for our Orange Shirt Day 2021 Programming, click here! W H A T I S T H E T R U T H A N D R E C O N C I L I A T I O N C O M M I S S I O N O F C A N A D A ? To the Commission, “reconciliation” is about establishing and The TRC travelled across Canada for six years to maintaining a mutually respectful relationship between hear from more than 6,500 witnesses; hosted 7 Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples in Canada.