This year’s commemoration of Orange Shirt Day and National Day for Truth and Reconciliation was billed as “an afternoon of learning, reflection, and community connection.”
And hundreds of orange-clad individuals of all ages packed into the downtown core in front of city hall to do just that. It was far and away the largest gathering in the five years in which organizers have held a ceremony on Sept. 30.
In anticipation of such an outpouring of support, city fire trucks blocked off Talbot Street, between Mondamin and St. Catharine streets to provide a safe, traffic-free venue.
For the past five years, Betty Jean Phillips Budden has helped organize Orange Shirt Day and National Day for Truth and Reconciliation ceremonies at city hall. Budden, who identifies with Oneida Nation of the Thames, will never forget the event in 2021 that propelled her into action.
She remembers all the tears that flowed in late May of that year when about 200 potential burial sites were discovered at the former Kamloops Indian Residential School.
That led to organizing, along with good friend Amanda Stark, the annual Sept. 30 event in St. Thomas.
Accompanied by drumming – the Indigenous heartbeat – dancers, singers and the sweet aroma of smoke from a smudging fire wafting over the participants created a festival-like atmosphere.
And while progress is being made on the 94 recommendations from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, guest speaker Chris Patriquin stressed there is still a great distance to cover.
For the first time, there were elementary, high school and college students from at least five city schools sitting on the sidewalk across from city hall hanging on every word, song and dance.
An insight not lost on Elgin-St. Thomas-London South MP Andrew Lawton.
In his travels across the province as housing minister, MPP Rob Flack stressed three actions individuals can take.
And for St. Thomas Mayor Joe Preston, moving forward will require a cooperative approach between city administrators and the community.
To close out the 90-minute presentation, the public was invited to join the Indigenous dancers on Talbot Street in a joyous celebration of community that Mayor Preston alluded to.
Written by Ian McCallum
Photos by Kennedy Freeman
