We will be CLOSED Tuesday Sept 30th in observance of the National Day of Truth & Reconciliation. We will be back to regular programming Wednesday October 1st.
The H&H team will taking the day to reflect upon the ongoing colonization of the unceded Indigenous territories we reside upon. If you are a settler residing on Lekwengen Territories, please take some time out of your day to attend the South Island Pow Wow, hosted by Songhees Nation.
We encourage all of you to take the opportunity to learn more about the land we occupy, the original peoples who were stewards of this land and their respective histories. And this is a good opportunity to review the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada: Calls to Action.
If it is within your means, we encourage you to support one of these organizations, in the spirit of reconciliation:
Support Victoria Orange Shirt Day Phyllis Webstad and Victoria Orange Shirt Day organizers Eddy Charlie and Kristin Spray are passionate about sharing their knowledge of Residential Schools and what that means for them today.
National Centre for Truth & Reconciliation The National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation is the archival repository for all of the material collected by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, purposed to compile the complete history and legacy of Canada’s residential school system.
Indian Residential School Survivors Society The Indian Residential School Survivors Society began in 1994 as a working committee of the First Nations Summit. We were known as the Residential School Project, housed out of and as a part of the BC First Nations Summit. Our work was primarily to assist Survivors with the litigation process pertaining to Residential School abuses. In more recent years our work has expanded to include assisting the descendants of Survivors and implementing Community education measures (Indigenous & Non-Indigenous).
XaXw Tenew Sacred Land Society Xaxe is non-profit organization is an Indigenous-led charitable society located on so-called Southern Vancouver Island. The people leading this work are Saltwater Salish people Indigenous to this region. We are focusing on the Rematriate Stewardship Project, which is an initiative for Land Back to house Saltwater Salish women to protect our right to learn our language, how to care for our land, heal through culture and being on the land, and to teach younger generations and our community these skills.
Victoria Native Friendship Centre The Victoria Native Friendship Centre (VNFC) has been in existence for over 45 years. VNFC provides services to an estimated 20,000 Indigenous people living off reserve in the greater Victoria area; as well as the 5,000 residents from the First Nations communities in the southern Vancouver Island region, in addition to a sizeable Indigenous population from across Canada. VNFC takes great pride in their exceptional approach to First Nation social issues.
Unist’ot’en Camp The Unist’ot’en Camp is an indigenous re-occupation of Wet’suwet’en land in northern “BC, Canada”. Year-round volunteer support is needed on the frontlines and beyond.
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