This week, all Richmond schools are displaying the “Every Child Matters” flag in commemoration of victims and survivors of the residential school system.
The campaign is spearheaded by current and past students of Hugh Boyd secondary’s social justice class, who raised funds to purchase and distribute 50 flags for the upcoming National Day for Truth and Reconciliation and Orange Shirt Day.
The goal of displaying the flags is to “create meaningful conversations in schools” about the significance of the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, said Grade 12 student Jasmine Dulay, co-chair of the Boyd Equity and Diversity Student Committee.
The students also hope to “make survivors and their families feel acknowledged and welcomed within Richmond schools,” she added.
Dulay told the Richmond News taking action is critical for truth and reconciliation.
“Without action and steps like these, National Day for Truth and Reconciliation is just going to become another day off,” she explained.
“We hope that by having these flags in schools, it reminds students to educate themselves on reconciliation and how they can be better allies.”
The campaign was led by Boyd teacher Michael Taylor and received support from Richmond School District's Indigenous learning consultant, Sheila Maracle, and administrator for equity, inclusion and indigenous success, Navshina Savory.
Although the students were hoping all schools would raise the flag on their flagpoles during the school week, most may not be able to do so.
“Because of Canadian flag protocol, they’re not allowed to do that, so they would have to actually get a third flagpole to fly another flag,” explained Maracle.
For now, most schools will be displaying the flag at their main entrances.
In addition to displaying the “Every Child Matters” flag at the main entrance, Boyd students will be placing gifts, shoes and candy under the flag and writing letters to children who didn’t make it home.
They will also gather in a circle on the school field for drumming and a moment of silence.
Maracle will then collect their letters in an orange container and burn them as an offering as part of her Haudenosaunee Mohawk culture.
Asking to be heard
The “Every Child Matters” flag is a reminder of the legacy of Canada’s residential schools system, or the “Indigenous holocaust,” as Maracle calls it.
“Every child that went to residential school, every child that didn’t… make it home, every child that was murdered, thrown into an incinerator as a baby, or thrown into the river and unmarked graves…
“The flag is to remember that this happened,” she said.
When planning activities and campaigns for the National Day of Truth and Reconciliation, Maracle said it is crucial to focus on the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s calls to action for education.
The calls to action include consulting and collaborating with survivors, Indigenous peoples and educators to create mandatory age-appropriate curriculum on the issue and committing to building students’ capacity for intercultural understanding, empathy and respect.
“The calls to action, everything, is all part of the same movement to make ourselves seen and heard by this country that is socialized to look down on us and think less of us,” said Maracle.
