Cathexis Consulting

Evaluation Experts

Honouring Orange Shirt Day and National Day for Truth and Reconciliation at Cathexis

Photo: Trees and shoreline of Mazinaw Lake at Bon Echo Provincial Park. Mazinaw Rock, seen in the distance at right, is a sacred site featuring pictographs made by ancestors of the Anishnaabe. Photo credit: Liz Martin

Each September 30, people in Canada are encouraged to reflect on the genocide of Indigenous peoples in Canada through the Indian residential school system. The day officially became recognized as a federal statutory holiday (National Day for Truth and Reconciliation) beginning in 2021, but well before that, Indigenous communities and grassroots organizations had recognized September 30 as Orange Shirt Day to create awareness of the inter-generational impact of residential schools.

There is no mandate for how non-federally regulated organizations, like Cathexis, must operate on this day. Given the purpose of the day and the Calls to Action set out by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, and in alignment with our organization’s Reconciliation Action Plan, Cathexis now takes an active role in observing this day and providing guidance to our team to support their participation. September 30 is a “workday” for us, but what that looks like is a day devoted to personal and collective reflection.

2024 marked the third year that Cathexis observed September 30 as a team. Here’s a glimpse into how we organize the day:

  • In the morning, we gather virtually for about an hour. We open with a welcome and an invitation to set our own intentions for the day. We usually ground ourselves with an opening reading of words to inspire us.
  • We go our separate ways with the freedom to spend the next several hours devoted to our own personal learning, reflection, or connection with the land or community. People usually use this time to explore resources, take in a film or other programming, get out on the land, or attend an event.
  • In the middle of the afternoon, we reconvene to share our learnings and reflections, and to discuss the implications of the Calls to Action on our work at Cathexis.

Pulling this together does take preparation. Here’s what we do:

  • We set a time several weeks in advance of September 30 to discuss how we’d like to spend the day.
  • We assign one or two people the work of assembling an agenda for the day, including any readings, activities, and resources.
  • Collectively, we watch out for and crowdsource any resources and events that our team might be aware of.
  • We all set an out-of-office autoresponder on our email, so that clients and colleagues know we are not checking email that day – and the reason why.

Here are some resources our team shared and explored this year.

How does your organization recognize the day?