Mi’kmaw Friendship Centre in Halifax hosts event for National Day of Truth and Reconciliation

Our friends at the Mi'Kmaw Native Friendship Centre share the importance of marking National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.

Tuesday is the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation and the fifth year the event – also known as Orange Shirt Day - will be observed as a federal holiday in remembrance of survivors and students who never returned from residential schools.

“We’re seeing a lot more folks want to come out and learn and become a bit more educated and understand some of the truths that are behind the day,” said Cheyenne Labrador, the executive director of the Mi’kmaw Native Friendship Centre in Halifax.

Labrador said the friendship centre is hosting an event on Tuesday to expand awareness about the history of the day and the services they offer. She said the event will include activities for children, artistic presentations, Indigenous education and cultural exchanges at the friendship centre on Brunswick Street, before the organization moves into its new location.

“We have a beautiful building that will be built over the couple of years,” said Labrador.

The new location will showcase Indigenous art, traditions and culture, she said.

“It will be a place where we can really be seen and heard and feel at home.”

Labrador said Indigenous people don’t have many spaces in Halifax, so they are looking forward to having a purpose-built space to call their own.

The Mi’kmaw Friendship Centre is hosting a salmon dinner on Wednesday for Treaty Day, another significant date in October, which is Mi’kmaw history month in Nova Scotia. On Saturday they are hosting their first gala as a fundraiser for the new building at the Halifax World Trade and Convention Centre. Labrador said there are still tickets available.

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