Vernon Museum to hold special events on National Day of Truth and Reconciliation

It is the shame of a nation.

For generations, Indigenous children were torn from their parent's arms and sent to Indian resident schools.

Thousands of them never returned.

Sept. 30 has been declared the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation in Canada and the Greater Vernon Museum and Archives will be holding special events in honour of the area's Aboriginal heritage.

Alanna Strangway is the Indigenous planning intern at the museum and she said along with a static exhibit, there will a variety of activities.

“This includes presentations on the Truth and Reconciliation commission Call to Action report, survivor documentary accounts and we will be reading the Laurier Letter which is a letter addressed to Wilfrid Laurier in 1910 from various Indigenous leaders in the Okanagan area,” said Strangway.

Museum executive director Steve Fleck said it was decided to keep the museum open on Sept. 30 so the event honouring the area's Aboriginal peoples could be held “for a time of reflection for everyone in our community.

“The Greater Vernon Museum and Archives has been working very hard over the last couple of years to develop a deeper and more honest and transparent relationship with the Okanagan Indian Band and the local Syilx people,” said Fleck.

“We are working on a partnership in order to be able to tell the important stories of then and now of the Syilx people in the Okanagan.”