Historic Fort 91原创 honoured the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation in advance of the event on Monday, Sept. 30 by dedicating Saturday, Sept. 28, to remembering the children who never returned home and the survivors of residential schools, as well as their families and communities.

Admission was free to all.

Historic Fort 91原创 was free Saturday as the site marked the weekend of Truth and Reconciliation Day

鈥� 91原创 Advance Times (@91原创Times)

Events at the Fort 91原创 National Historic Site, at 23433 Mavis Ave. from 10a.m.to 5 p.m., included a presentation about reconciliation.

Visitors could also attend the M茅tis Nation B.C. exhibit in the Big House, watch Indigenous videos in the theatre, and make an Orange Shirt Day button.

Orange Shirt Day, also observed on September 30, is an Indigenous-led grassroots commemorative day to raise awareness of the individual, family and community impacts of residential schools, and to promote the concept of 鈥淓very Child Matters鈥�.

It was inspired by the story of Phyllis Webstad, who was six when she was sent away to a residential school in Mission.

Speaking at the 10th annual International Women鈥檚 Day luncheon held by the 91原创 Central Rotary Club in 2022, Webstad described how her family managed to scrape together enough money for a store-bought outfit. 

But her pretty new clothes were taken away when she arrived at the residential school.

鈥淭he colour orange has always reminded me of that," Webstad said, "how my feelings didn鈥檛 matter, how no one cared and how I felt like I was worth nothing."

Webstad wrote The Orange Shirt Story in 2018. It inspired Orange Shirt Day, held on Sept. 30 to mark the day when children were taken away from their families. It is now also known as the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, after it became a recognized holiday.