September 30 is National Day for Truth and Reconciliation and Orange Shirt Day. It is an important day to acknowledge and honour the generational and inter-generational Survivors of Residential Schools and those who did not make it home.
This provides the NAIT community with an opportunity to listen, learn, understand, and reflect on the impacts of Residential Schools as we walk together toward reconciliation
NAIT will observe the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation with a series of events in September. A formal flag-lowering ceremony will be held on September 29.
Leading up to Orange Shirt Day, we encourage everyone to wear an orange shirt throughout the week of September 22 to show our shared commitment toward truth and reconciliation.
See below for events and activities, and ways to participate.
Drop-in for smudging at the Nîsôhkamâtotân Centre. Smudging is a cultural practice common among many Indigenous communities. Certain plants/medicines are burned and the smoke is used to cleanse and pray.
This is not a religious practice, but rather a spiritual one. The Nîsôhkamâtotân Centre will be using sage for the Monday Morning Smudging.
Drop in to explore an exhibition featuring six powerful banners. Each exhibit shares truths about the Residential School System, its ongoing impacts, and the path towards healing and reconciliation.
The exhibitions will also include pop-up library featuring Indigenous authors, music, videos, art projects, posters about resources, and more.
Count yourself in as a supporter as we undertake the ongoing work of decolonization at NAIT. We encourage all NAIT staff and students to wear orange and show solidarity with Indigenous Albertans and NAIT community members. You can purchase orange shirts here.
Come to share, to listen, to observe, and to commemorate those who lost their lives, identities, ways of life, and families to the colonial violence of residential schools.
Can’t make it in person? Share your message of reflection, remembrance, or hope — through words, GIFs, images, or video — on our Padlet wall and join NAIT’s shared journey towards Truth and Reconciliation.
We encourage you to download one of our Orange Shirt Day teams backgrounds.
Orange Background White Background Photo Background
Want to learn more about residential schools and truth and reconciliation? We've compiled some recommended reading here:
A commitment to healing and action
NAIT to honour the legacy of residential school survivors and the memory of those who never returned home
A community gathering place where Indigenous and non-Indigenous students can gather to network, study and share their post-secondary learning experiences.
Education and emotion collide in the unsettling history of colonization