Truth and Reconciliation Day 2026

Today is the 6th Annual National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. It is the 13th Annual Orange Shirt Day.

Why was September 30th chosen for both of these days?

Historically, this is the time of year when First Nations children were taken from their homes and brought to residential schools. It commemorates a time of great loss, fear, and violence.

from Kent Monkman’s 2017 piece, The Scream.

Children were torn from their families and communities, wrested from their culture, and brought to schools where their hair was cut, their clothes were discarded, and where they would sometimes be experimented upon or lose their lives to deplorable conditions.

Systemic violence, like the residential schools, exists still within our colonial system. People still suffer under laws that would see them erased, minimized, disenfranchised.

One of the other reasons September 30th was chosen was so that it could set a tone for the school year, providing needed space for discussions around racism and colonialism. It gives students a chance to start off on the right foot.

Truth comes before reconciliation.

Stories about this nation have been without the truths of colonialism for many many years.

To rectify this takes time.

If you’re a settler, whether you’re in school or out, today’s a good day to spend some time learning or reviewing the history and context of the colonial violence that created our nation. Here are some resources to do that:

Lunch and Learn Webinars from the University of Manitoba

Virtual Education Materials for Teachers Grades 1-12 (must be a teacher to register)

Government Explainer Website on the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation

Annual Truth and Reconciliation Magazine

KAIROS Blanket Exercise Website

One source on LAND BACK in Canada (there are more!)

Learn about Wet’suwet’en Land Defense