College of Nursing dean Dr. Kellie Thiessen, UM President Michael Bennaroch, Chief David Monias of Cross Lake First Nation, and Nursing Students’ Association Indigenous representative Kayleigh Pagee lead the Orange Shirt Day walk through the Fort Garry campus.
Rady Faculty marks National Day for Truth and Reconciliation
Orange shirts filled the Brodie Atrium at the University of Manitoba’s Bannatyne campus on Sept. 26, as the Rady Faculty of Health Sciences community commemorated the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation (NDTR) at an event hosted by Ongomiizwin – Indigenous Institute of Health and Healing.
Chantal Daniels, director of Ongomiizwin – Education, opened the ceremony with a powerful message.
“This land has always been with our people,” Daniels said. “This land has always been a place of gathering, of ceremony and care. It holds memory and it holds our truth. But that sacred relationship was finally disrupted by the residential school system.
“Yet the land never forgot us, and we have never forgotten the land as Indigenous people. Here at Ongomiizwin, we are reclaiming that bond through ceremony, through teachings and through the fire burning as we speak now in our Medicine Garden.”
Elder Margaret Lavallee, Elder-in-residence at Ongomiizwin, addressed the crowd and said a prayer.
“We think about the children that have lost their lives for nothing,” she said.
George Muswaggon, Knowledge Keeper at Ongomiizwin, shared teachings and spoke about the significance of the ceremony.
“What we’re doing is acknowledging the richness of our past, the strength of our present and the hope of our future,” Muswaggon said.
A ceremony song was performed by Dr. Lisa Monkman, Indigenous physician advisor with Ongomiizwin.
Elder Charlotte Nolin places tobacco into the fire at the Medicine Garden.
Smudge was passed around. Elder Charlotte Nolin, Elder-in-residence at Ongomiizwin, shared teachings about sage, which was used in the smudge, and other Indigenous medicines.
“The medicines teach us about this — how to love one another, how to be gentle with one another,” Nolin said. “We’re speaking of everyone — not just Indigenous people — everyone, because we are all related.”
Dr. Peter Nickerson, vice-provost (health sciences) and dean of Rady Faculty of Health Sciences, spoke during the ceremony about the significance of NDTR.
“The National Day for Truth and Reconciliation is an important time for Rady Faculty educators and learners to reflect on the steps we can take to decolonize health care, improve access to equitable care, and provide culturally safe care in partnership with our Indigenous communities,” Nickerson said.
Melanie MacKinnon, executive director of Ongomiizwin – Indigenous Institute of Health and Healing, talked about Ongomiizwin’s growing reputation.
“I think we’re called gems of the university,” MacKinnon said. “And part of that is the work that our physicians, our nurses, our physiotherapists, our occupational therapists do, and a number of other disciplines on our behalf in community — every day, all day, throughout the year.”
In closing, Daniels said: “As health-care professionals, current and future, I want to remind you that you hold the power to shape the future of the care in Manitoba. You are not only healers and educators and advocates — you are the change makers, and Reconciliation must be a part of that.”
Attendees walked to the Medicine Garden, placing tobacco in the fire as a symbol of commitment. A spirit dish of bannock and tea was shared at the Brodie Atrium.
Orange Shirt Day Walk on Fort Garry campus
At Fort Garry campus, over 200 people took part in the annual Orange Shirt Day walk, hosted by the Nursing Students’ Association, on the morning of Sept. 26.
A ceremony was held prior to the walk, with an opening prayer by Elder Stan Manoakeesick, a lead researcher from Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak (MKO), an advocacy group for First Nations in the province.
Manoakeesick also spoke alongside student researcher Amari Hart about MKO’s Path Forward project, which investigates former residential school sites. He discussed the difficulty in identifying all of the children who went missing in the residential school system.
“We cannot properly identify them and we cannot properly help in commemorating them and burying them with ceremony according to our traditions. But we honour and commemorate them each day, such as today. We have to remember, in that way, we restore their dignity and we acknowledge their lives,” Manoakeesick said.
A crowd of people wearing orange shirts gathers inside the Helen Glass Centre for Nursing.
Other speakers included Chief David Monias of Cross Lake First Nation and College of Nursing dean Dr. Kellie Thiessen.
Following the walk, NSA senior stick Mariam Yusef renewed the nursing students’ pledge to practice culturally safe nursing care.
“Orange Shirt Day is a powerful opportunity to pause and reflect on the painful truths of the past. It is also a time to come together, to heal, to reconcile and recommit ourselves to building a future rooted in respect, dignity and justice,” she said.
Yusef reminded the nursing students in attendance not to overlook the lasting impact of residential schools on Indigenous families and communities. “Our responsibility is to walk alongside them with respect and compassion, providing client-centred care that acknowledges trauma, affirms cultural identity and fosters resilience.”
The event was hosted by NSA Indigenous representative Kayleigh Pagee, who reminded those gathered to continue to think about Orange Shirt Day year-round.
“To everyone here today, may we carry this work beyond this gathering, into our departments, our conversations, our budgets and our everyday decisions,” she said. “Let us move together from words to relationship, from acknowledgement to action, from remembrance to repair.”
The morning concluded with a cultural dance performance by UM kinesiology student Jordan Flett, from Norway House Cree Nation.
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Watch highlights on Instagram: instagram.com/reel/DPMlZULgVQJ/
