24 Hour Ride For Residential School Survivors
Attention: This page includes descriptions, images, and graphics of the trauma caused by Residential Schools.
September 30th is Orange Shirt Day.
A day to honour Residential School survivors.
My goal is to bike between the three Residential School locations within a 24 hour period of time. While sharing stories, resources, and information along the way.
www.orangeshirtday.org
"More than 150,000 First Nations, Metis and Inuit Children were kidnapped from their homes and placed into these schools, which acted as prisons full of assimilation, torture, abuse and premature death. Thousands of Children died or went missing in these schools, and none of the Churches or officials were prosecuted for these crimes. By attacking the family, and forcefully removing children from hundreds of thousands of Indigenous families, the Canadian Government continued their aggressive attempts to colonize our People. This colonial agenda continued with Indian Day Schools where once again, 200,000 Indigenous children across this country were forcefully placed in schools aimed at assimilating them through language bans, and were rife with all forms of physical, mental, sexual and spiritual abuse. This has only continued with the 60’s and millennial scoop which continue to force our children into foreign Eurocentric systems, oppression and early death in attempts to colonize us and displace us from our traditional governance systems, languages and homelands to continue to have a free for all in natural resource extraction while a lot of our people struggle to survive day to day.
Despite all of this, we are here. We resist, we thrive, and we continue to bring our children into an Indigenous world that they can thrive in here on Turtle Island. " - Brianna Bristol Marie
THE RIDE
Of the 139 Residential Schools in Canada, 3 of them were located in Southern Ontario.
Mount Elgin Residential School on the territory of Deshkan Ziibiing, also known as Chippewas of the Thames First Nation.
The Mohawk Institute (Building now know as the Woodland Cultural Centre) on the territory of the Six Nations of the Grand River.
And the Alderville Labour School (Also know as the Alnwick Industrial School) on the territory of Alderville First Nation, home of the Mississauga Anishinabeg of the Ojibway Nation.
My goal is to bike between the three Residential School locations within a 24 hour period of time.
I will begin at the Mount Elgin Residential School memorial site at 4am on September 30th, and to reach the Alderville Manual Labour School memorial Plaque by no later than 4am on October 1st. While sharing stories, resources, and information along the way.
The number one goal is to raise awareness. So many people were not taught about Canada’s dark past and the Intergenerational Trauma it has caused. I have chosen this route so that I can share that the physical buildings still exist, to make a point that this is recent history. That it really was not long ago that children were forcibly taken from their homes and forced to assimilate with the goal of cultural genocide.
FUNDRAISING
My fundraising goal will be $2400 ($100 per hour of biking). There is no cap on the fundraising goal and there is no pressure to donate. If anyone would prefer to donate directly to an organization they would like to support they are encouraged to do so.
The funds will be split between the following organizations helping to either raise awareness of Residential Schools, or support those who have been affected both directly or indirectly from the trauma caused at Residential Schools.
The Orange Shirt Day Society
The Orange Shirt Society fosters Indian Residential School reconciliation, raises awareness across Canada of the continuing intergenerational impacts of the schools, and of the concept of “Every Child Matters”. Some of the activities your donations make possible include the creation and sharing of resources through this website, and the website itself. We plan to develop and offer a grant program to help defray expenses through our speaker series as funds become available.
The Save the Evidence Campaign
Save the Evidence is a campaign to raise awareness and support for the restoration of the former Mohawk Institute Residential School, and to develop the building into an Interpreted Historic Site and Educational Resource. As a site of conscience, the final goal is to create a fully-realized Interpretive Centre that will be the definitive destination for information about the history of Residential Schools in Canada, the experiences of Survivors of the schools, and the impact that the Residential School system has had on our communities.
The Underground Gym and Youth Centre
The Underground Gym offers free access to equipment and mentoring in a safe environment that is open to children & youth who lack the cultural, social or economic resources required to access existing facilities. The Underground Gym is a unique gathering place for community youth in transition, many of which have been affected by intergenerational trauma caused by Residential Schools. The Centre is currently raising funds for a new facility, as well as taking care of their youth outside the gym by delivering food, school supplies, and other necessities.
Toronto Indigenous Harm Reduction
Please also consider learning about and donating to the following Land Defending funds:
1492 Land Back Lane
Six Nations Land Defenders have mobilized to stop the the Mackenzie Meadows housing development project bordering the town of Caledonia. Mackenzie Meadows is one of several housing developments within the area that are directly violating the sovereignty of the Haudenosaunee. Collectively we remain firm in our stance that action must be taken to stop the ongoing development of our lands. The funds will go towards those on the front lines protecting their land.
Unistoten Camp
Your contribution ensures that supporters on the land have food and medical supplies, that Unist’ot’en Youth are able to visit their territories, that Wet’suwet’en Elders have the necessary materials on the land to teach traditional hunting, gathering, food processing, language skills, songs, stories and more. Your monetary contributions enable the Unist’ot’en Clan to stop the pipelines that threaten all of us.
Sipeknekatik First Nation Right to Moderate Livelihood Fisheries
MORE RESOURCES AND INFORMATION
11:00AM Orange Shirt Day Q&A with Phyllis Webstad
On September 30th (11am PST) join us to meet, learn and participate in Orange Shirt Day with Phyllis Webstad, founder of the Orange Shirt Day movement.
3:00PM ORANGE SHIRT DAY ON THE PATH TO RECONCILIATION
Featuring Mike Downie, award-winning documentary filmmaker and co-founder of the Gord Downie & Chanie Wenjack fund, plus special musical guest, William Prince. Join us live and IG Wealth Management will make a $20 donation* on your behalf to the Gord Downie & Chanie Wenjack Fund.
Banner art by: Mallory Warren Designs
Instagram
Etsy
