Truth & Reconciliation
The Sisters of St. Ann, with their connection to the Kamloops Indian Residential School, issued the following statement on their website on Orange Shirt Day (2021):
On this National Day for Truth and Reconciliation / Orange Shirt Day (September 30th), the Sisters of St. Ann recognize with deep humility the intergenerational survivors, family members and community members of all those impacted by the dark legacy of Indian Residential Schools. We acknowledge this day as one of personal reflection, prayer, listening and learning with open minds and open hearts.
In the early 2010’s when the Truth and Reconciliation Commission held hearings and began the journey of creating the Calls to Action based on the courageous testimony of survivors of residential schools, the Sisters of St. Ann shared records of our involvement as staff at some of those institutions with what is now the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation; and now, over a decade later, we are again sharing our records, through a Memorandum of Agreement signed with the Royal BC Museum; and also through a developing collaboration with the Indian Residential School History and Dialogue Centre at UBC. We recognized then, as we do now, that reconciliation begins with truth, and that our contribution towards greater understanding of what took place is an essential contribution towards truth, reconciliation, and – we hope – towards restorative healing.
We are humbled and inspired by the courage and resilience of all Indigenous peoples impacted by this dark time of colonial history. We grieve with, pray for and honour the survivors. And we are grateful to be able to journey forward towards healing, hope and wellness.
The Sisters of St. Ann acknowledge, with gratitude, the unceded, ancestral and traditional homelands of the Lekwungen speaking peoples, the Songhees and Esquimalt Nations.