6128 Orange Ribbons to be placed at the Vancouver Art Gallery

6128 Orange Ribbons to be placed at the Vancouver Art Gallery
to honour Residential School children buried in numerous
unmarked graves across Turtle Island.  

At noon on September 29, 2021, 6128 Orange Ribbons will be placed into the soil at the Vancouver Art Gallery-South Side.  This historic ceremony symbolizes the unreported actual count of First Nations children found buried in mass graves at residential schools across Canada and the United States.  While some of the gravesites have been reported by the media other Indigenous children remain unacknowledged.  Each Orange Ribbon represents every child whose lives mattered but were lost because of the colour of their skin.    

Tamara Bell, a seventh generation Haida matriarch and artist chose 6128 Orange Ribbons to speak boldly and creatively about the genocide of her people.  The Orange Ribbons embody 6128 ancestors who are now found and will be honoured for their spirit.  As an inter-generational survivor of residential school, Ms. Bell is inspired and compelled by Canada’s upcoming National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.    

Ms. Bell hopes that all Canadians join us at the ceremony to speak the truth about the history of Canada and its treatment of First Nations peoples. Once all Canadians acknowledge the truth, then we can proceed as a country towards reconciliation.

At 12:30, a ‘Truth & Reconciliation’ basket created by Ms. Bell will be placed close to the Orange Ribbons.  Ms. Bell would like anyone who desires to share their written comments, thoughts and prayers into the Truth and Reconciliation Basket, which will move our nation forward.  

Agenda:
Noon-Land Acknowledgement
Speaker-Tamara Bell – Haida Nation
Speaker – Desiree Simeon – Haida Nation
Speaker – Diana Day – Pacific Association of First Nations Women – Lead Matriarch
Truth & Reconciliation Haida Basket Reveal
Placement of the 6128 Orange Ribbons