Woodland Cultural is running online educational programming this month, which will be capped off with an event on September 30 for National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.
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NDTR, also known as Orange Shirt Day, originated in 2013 by author and residential school survivor Phyllis Webstad to remember and heal from the trauma suffered in residential schools across the country.
Woodland will be hosting an event for NDTR on Sep. 30 from 1 pm to 6 pm The public can book a spot for the event with a donation.
Woodland is the site of the Mohawk Institute, which was the longest-running residential school in Canada. Mohawk Institute started as a day industrial school in 1831 and closed in 1970.
“Our programming in September consists of both virtual programming, which includes virtual tours, and for classrooms, especially pre- and post-activity that teachers can do that have been developed by our education staff, who are all Indigenous,” said Heather George, executive director of Woodland.
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Though the facility is not fully open to the public with renovations still ongoing, Woodland will be running in-person tours meant for community members and survivors.
There will also be a walk hosted by Brantford Regional Indigenous Services Centre, which will start at the Brantford Civic Center at 1 pm and arrive at Woodland at 3 pm
“That’s a really, really. right way for folks to show solidarity on that day and their support of survivors. Even if they haven’t been personally affected by residential schools, I think when folks show up for those survivors on that day, that is a really, really powerful statement as well,” said George.
The event will be a chance for survivors and the community to join together in one place and talk through and heal experiences of the past.
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The event will also include a screening of the film “Silent no More,” a survivor talk and Q&A and other activities.
“So, we really do want it to be an opportunity for people to build relationships with each other and not just focus on the negative, but we also want to be able to talk about ways that we heal and the things that we can celebrate together too so that we really do balance that.”
For more information and to book a spot for the Sep. 30 events go to: www.canadahelps.org/en/charities/woodland-cultural-centre/events/osd-2024/
The Local Journalism Initiative is funded by the Government of Canada.
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