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![\"JOHN](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/4593721_web1_260927_police_reconciliation_08.JPG\")
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tJOHN WOODS \/ FREE PRESS<\/p>\n
Norman Chief Memorial Dancers perform at the National Day of Truth and Reconciliation event at the Winnipeg Police Service North District Station on Sinclair Street in Winnipeg on Sunday.<\/p>\n
The sacred fire, guided by elder Mike Calder, will burn for 24 hours at the Sinclair Street station, and then be allowed to extinguish naturally. It\u2019s the second year the WPS has lit a sacred fire in recognition of residential school survivors \u2014 last year, the fire was lit outside of WPS headquarters on Smith Street.<\/p>\n
Dancing, fiddling and food were also part of the Sunday\u2019s gathering.<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t Winnipeg Police Services chief Gene Bowers speaks during the event.<\/p>\n Manitoba is preparing to observe the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, also known as Orange Shirt Day, on Wednesday. It was first enshrined as a provincial statutory holiday on Sept. 30, 2024.<\/p>\n Justice Minister Matt Wiebe said the province has \u201cmuch work to do to address the over-representation of Indigenous people in our justice system.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe trauma that has been experienced by survivors, it continues to impact generations of Indigenous people throughout this province, and so we must recognize that pain,\u201d said Wiebe.<\/p>\n \u201cBut we also must acknowledge that it was law enforcement that played an integral role in enforcing the residential school system, and by acknowledging this fact, we can start to repair the trust and rebuild the relationships with Indigenous peoples.\u201d<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t Manitoba is preparing to observe the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, also known as Orange Shirt Day, on Wednesday.<\/p>\n A number of events are scheduled to mark Orange Shirt Day Wednesday, including the Southern Chiefs Organization\u2019s sixth annual Orange Shirt Day Healing Walk and Powwow.<\/p>\n Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs executive director Kayla Frank called the police\u2019s work to foster relationships with Indigenous Winnipeggers \u201cmeaningful.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cReconciliation cannot live in ceremonies alone. It cannot be something we acknowledge for one day and then leave it behind until next September. Reconciliation is ongoing work,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s about relationships we build, how we\u2019ve listened to one another, and how we acknowledge the past and ongoing harms, and what we choose to do with the truths that have been shared with us.\u201d<\/p>\n Among those in attendance Sunday was Jennifer Wood, a residential school survivor. She told the crowd that driving into Winnipeg and seeing the state of homelessness in the city was heartbreaking, and, as she described, a direct impact of the residential school system.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t A moment of silence is observed during the event.<\/p>\n She called for empathy and understanding leading up to Sept. 30 and beyond.<\/p>\n \u201cI always have to acknowledge our homelessness because I firmly believe that if you went to speak to any one of them, you would absolutely be guaranteed that they are a direct descendant or a direct legacy of the residential school,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n \u201cI can guarantee it, and a lot of them probably are enduring being a children of a survivor, an inter-generational survivor. They\u2019re carrying around that pain.\u201d<\/p>\n malak.abas@freepress.mb.ca<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t Malak Abas Malak Abas is a city reporter at the Free Press. Born and raised in Winnipeg\u2019s North End, she led the campus paper at the University of Manitoba before joining the Free Press in 2020. Read more about Malak<\/a>.<\/p>\n Every piece of reporting Malak produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print \u2014 part of the Free Press\u2018s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press\u2019s history and mandate<\/a>, and learn how our newsroom operates<\/a>.<\/p>\n
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tJOHN WOODS \/ FREE PRESS<\/p>\n
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tJOHN WOODS \/ FREE PRESS<\/p>\n
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tJOHN WOODS \/ FREE PRESS<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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