Two First Nations women who work at the Meadow Lake provincial court house were “shamed” and sent home for wearing orange shirts for National Day for Truth and Reconciliation on Monday, First Nations leaders say.
“One of the ladies is a second-generation [residential school] survivor and she left home that morning proud of that shirt she wore that day,” said Richard Derocher, vice-chief of the Meadow Lake Tribal Council (MLTC), which represents nine Cree and Dene First Nations.
“The way I see it is they silenced her spirit. She fought to stay to work, but they eventually made her go home.”
The MLTC and Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations (FSIN) urged the next provincial government to make the day, observed on Sept. 30, a statutory holiday in a press conference in Meadow Lake on Friday.
The National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, officially observed on Sept. 30 since 2021, is meant to honour the children who died while attending residential schools and the survivors, families and communities still affected by the legacy of that system.
It’s also known as Orange Shirt Day, in honour of Phyllis Webstad, whose orange shirt — given to her by her grandmother — was taken away from her on her first day of school at a B.C. residential school in 1973.
Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations Vice-Chief David Pratt spoke with media Friday, four days after two women say they were sent home from work at the Saskatchewan Justice Unit in Meadow Lake for wearing orange shirts on Sept. 30, National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.
FSIN vice-chief David Pratt called what happened to the two women “a sad day.”
“It was retriggering and retraumatizing what [they] had to face,” he said.
“We have a lot of work yet to do in this province, we have a lot of work, when our people can still be punished for acknowledging survivors of the residential school system. That’s not right.”
The women involved are not speaking publicly at this time out of fear of losing their jobs with the provincial Ministry of Justice, Derocher said.
The Saskatchewan General Employees Union, which represents many employees at provincial courthouses, says it was aware two of its members had been sent home for wearing orange clothing that day, but declined to comment on specifics, citing confidentiality.
FSIN vice-chief Craig McCallum says wearing an orange shirt is not only a gesture, but a “critical step” toward truth and reconciliation.
The incident is a “clear act of dismissal and disrespect for the truth” that shakes faith in the justice system and the reconciliation work it says is underway, he said.
“How can we expect a system to deliver justice for Indigenous people when it refuses to acknowledge the very history that continues to harm us?” McCallum asked.
A spokesperson for the Ministry of Justice declined to say whether it was aware of the incident or respond to questions about why the women were sent home, citing the current election period.
Calls for education
Several leaders who spoke said they want this incident to spur non-Indigenous elected officials and leaders to educate themselves on the truth of the harms caused by residential schools and the importance of honouring survivors and the thousands of children who died before they made it home.
“But what I see in this is an opportunity to educate. It’s an opportunity to take a bad situation and turn it around to something good,” Pratt said.
MLTC Chief Jeremy Norman said Elders have advised leaders to “try to spin it with a positive outcome.”
“Let’s work together, let’s educate the province. There was the Truth and Reconciliation Commission that had 18 calls [to action] for justice, where lawyers are to learn culturally sensitive history,” he said. “This still needs to happen.”
When asked by CBC News on Thursday about the incident, Saskatchewan Party Leader Scott Moe said his party, if re-elected, might consider extending last year’s legislation protecting the right to wear a Remembrance Day poppy at work to include orange shirts as well.
“There is a discussion that should be had around that piece of legislation and what happened the other day with the orange shirts being removed from the courthouse,” he told reporters at an unrelated campaign announcement in Prince Albert, noting any decision would be made in consultation with Indigenous leaders.
However he did not respond directly when CBC asked whether he would make Sept. 30 a statutory holiday.
Moe said discussions are underway and it is “never off the table,” but noted the province has “among the highest” number of statutory holidays and adding another would have ripple effects.
When asked by CBC on Friday, NDP Leader Carla Beck said she would also consider making it a statutory holiday if her party is elected.
“It’s an important day to honour survivors of residential schools, to allow Canadians to reflect on the history of colonization and the treatment of Indigenous people in this country and the province,” she said.
National Day for Truth and Reconciliation is observed as a statutory holiday by the federal public service and in seven provinces including British Columbia and Manitoba.