“This week has felt particularly heavy,” wrote Village of Pemberton Mayor Mike Richman on the 26 September, in his weekly message, before urging us all to join him wearing an Orange Shirt today, and make a commitment to learn more about Orange Shirt Day.

Over to Mike:

Recent events in our community, including potential flooding and new COVID information, has no doubt caused worry and concern over our safety here in Pemberton. I’m heartened to see how the community has increased its resiliency measures over the past few weeks; from clearing out storm drains to the use masks in public spaces.

You also continue to encourage and support one another; which further increases our resiliency and connectedness.

I’m grateful to each of you for your kind and generous actions.

In the spirit of support, it’s important to not lose sight of other current and pressing issues, including our role in advancing reconciliation locally and nationally.

On September 30, I encourage everyone to join me in wearing an Orange Shirt and making a commitment to learn more about Orange Shirt Day, and the real and devastating effects of residential schools and colonialism.

By learning from our past, we can create a better future.

Speaking of our future, last year, the Pemberton Secondary School students created a powerful video sharing the impacts of residential schools and colonialism. This is an educational, inspirational and worthwhile watch, even if you’ve seen it:

This Orange Shirt Day, commit to learning more about our shared history.

A list of resources can be found here: https://reconciliationcanada.ca/resources/useful-links/.

The University of Alberta also offers their Indigenous Canada course free via a MOOC (Massive Open Online Course). Registration is open now. You can learn more here: https://www.coursera.org/learn/indigenous-canada

I look forward to seeing your support of Orange Shirt Day online and in our community on September 30th.

Continue to take care of each other,

Mike