September 30th is the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation in Canada. This new statutory holiday, also known as Orange Shirt Day, was established to recognize lives lost to and survivors of residential schools across so-called Canada. As students who work and study at an educational institution, the UVSS Board acknowledges the connection our education system has to places of violence that claimed to be ‘schools.’ Colonialism continues to permeate many of our institutions. This includes our education system, but also other institutional systems, such as: the (in)justice system, healthcare, the environmental sector, and access to clean drinking water and food security.
The UVSS occupies space in the Student Union Building at the University of Victoria, which is situated on the unceded, unsurrendered, and stolen territories of the lək̓ʷəŋən and W̱SÁNEĆ peoples. Decolonization and Social Justice are key UVSS values, which direct our commitment to educate our members, create open dialogue, and take action to dismantle colonial systems. September 30th is an important day for settlers to lean into unlearning the stories we are often told about Canadian history, reflect on the ongoing cultural genocide of Indigenous peoples across Canada, and take action to dismantle colonial structures in our thoughts, our relationships, our workplaces, classrooms, and communities. For settlers, it starts with a lifelong commitment to discomfort and vulnerability, engaging in hard conversations, and educating ourselves and our peers. The UVSS is committed to initiating these conversations as an organization, and taking meaningful action to restore justice on campus and in our community.
To Indigenous students, faculty, and community: We see you. We support you.
For all students, here is a non-exhaustive list of resources on decolonization, land back, local peoples & histories, and how you can get involved:
- Beyond 94: this is an interactive website that outlines the 94 calls to action outlined by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission report published in June 2015.
- You can find the full Truth and Reconciliation Report and Calls to Action here: www.trc.ca
- Here are some calls to action from this report that relate to post-secondary education:
-
- We call upon the federal government to develop with Aboriginal groups a joint strategy to eliminate educational and employment gaps between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Canadians.
- We call upon the federal government to provide adequate funding to end the backlog of First Nations students seeking a post-secondary education.
- We call upon law schools in Canada to require all law students to take a course in Aboriginal people and the law…
- We call upon the federal, provincial and territorial governments, in consultation and collaboration with Survivors, Aboriginal Peoples and educators to:… ii) Provide the necessary funding to post-secondary institutions to educate teachers on how to integrate Indigenous knowledge and teaching methods into classrooms.
- We call upon the federal government, through the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, and in collaboration with Aboriginal Peoples, post-secondary institutions and educators, and the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation and its partner institutions, to establish a national research program with multi-year funding to advance understanding of reconciliation.
You can learn more about the local nations whose land on which we live, work, and play by taking a look at their websites:
W̱SÁNEĆ Leadership Council: https://wsanec.com/
- Tsartlip First Nation (W̱JOȽEȽP): https://tsartlip.com/
- Tsawout (SȾÁ,UTW̱): https://tsawout.ca/
- Pauquachin (BOḰEĆEN): https://www.pauquachin.ca/
- Tseycum (W̱SÍḴEM): http://www.tseycum.ca/
lək̓ʷəŋən Nations:
- Songhees Nation: https://www.songheesnation.ca/
- Esquimalt Nation: https://www.esquimaltnation.ca/
The SUB will be closed on September 30, 2021 and will reopen on October 1.