Sept 30 - From a classroom to a stadium

Good morning !

Today is the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, which is now marked locally by the South Island Powwow. Read more on that below, as well as updates on local ship voyages, Victoria tech winning awards, school funding, and more.

— Cam

Today’s approx. read time: 5 minutes

🌡️ Weather Forecast

Today: ☀️ 17 / 8

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Wednesday: ☀️ 16 / 6

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NEWS

Local Truth & Reconciliation events continue evolving, as Powwow returns for a third year

In just under a decade, Sept. 30 commemorations in Victoria have gone from an idea in a classroom to one of the region's major fall gatherings.

Orange Shirt Day Victoria 

When Kristin Spray and Eddy Charlie met in an Indigenous studies course at Camosun College in 2015, they were inspired by Phyllis Webstad. Webstad had an orange shirt taken from her when she arrived at a residential school, and in 2013 talked about the shirt as a symbol of freedom from the institutions.

Spray and Charlie, who is a residential school survivor himself, felt compelled to do something in Victoria and began organizing their own Orange Shirt Day event. It grew into a significant gathering in Centennial Square every fall.

Truth & Reconciliation Day became an official national holiday in 2021. Charlie told Capital Daily in 2022 that Elders who experienced trauma in residential schools are starting to become more willing to open up about their experiences.

The South Island Powwow 

2022 also marked the beginning of the South Island Powwow, a free day-long event that pairs commemoration of survivors and those who have been lost with celebrations of Indigenous cultures and resilience. The inaugural event featured intertribal dances in which participants danced together rather than competing. Last year it drew 10,000 locals to Royal Athletic, and the Orange Shirt Day gathering that used to be held in Centennial has now been merged into the Powwow.

It begins today at 10am, with the Grand Entry at noon and the colours retired at 10pm.

The CRD will be flying a flag with the Xe Xe Smun’eem “Our Sacred Children" design for the rest of the week.

Island region had 5 residential schools, each with documented horrors

On the Island, five residential schools operated—as late as the 1980s—and 200+ children are known to have died at them. The many stories from St. Michael's, Christie, Alberni, Ahousaht, and Kuper Island Residential Schools include unsanitary conditions, beatings, disease outbreaks, sexual abuse, confinement, failed escape attempts, and a deadly fire.

Student deaths became more widely known in recent years after several Nations announced the identification of potential burial sites, which will continue to be investigated over the next several years. But disproportionately high deaths (at times over 30% of attendees) at residential schools were already well-known, and in many cases were documented and discussed by officials at the times that they were happening.

Island also had Indian Hospital & day schools

Indian Hospitals were sites to which children were often sent after contracting tuberculosis (which often broke out at residential schools, and caused many of the deaths). At sites including Nanaimo's, numerous survivors allege that they were abused and some believe they were subjected to experiments.

Day Schools allowed children to return home at night, but were also used for assimilation and produced numerous stories of abuse, and are the subject of a federal class action settlement.

On Friday, a W̱SÁNEĆ decommissioning ceremony was held for the last remaining day school site on the peninsula. The old building is being taken down due to poor condition, but had a second life as a positive community space after being taken over in the 1970s and turned into an Indigenous-run education centre and SENĆOŦEN language revitalization hub.

Supports available include the Indian Residential School Crisis Line (1-866-925-4419) and the Indian Residential School Survivors Society​. 

⚠️ Capital Bulletin

Sooke water main break is now repaired.

Free downtown parking at city parkades & on-street meters for the holiday.

Cougar on campus, UVic warns. See some tips for deterring cougars at The Westshore.

Gyro Beach Board Shop closing down after today, citing 18-month street construction. [CHEK] 

Winter tires on Malahat & other Island routes required as of Oct. 1.

NEWS

Local ocean companies win US awards

This year’s World Maritime Day (last Thursday), capped off a very successful month for the Island’s “blue economy” innovators.

Barnacle Systems (BRNKL), which develops and builds security and monitoring products for boats, won the Best New Product Award at the 2024 National Marine Electronics Association conference in Rhode Island. That new product is BRNKL Blue, which enables boaters to monitor vessel systems, trigger automated video recording, and share moments on social media.

Open Ocean Robotics won the Autonomous System Award at BlueTIDE 2024—also on Rhode Island—for its Advanced DataXplorer, an uncrewed surface vehicle. At the in-water demo event, the DataXplorer showed off its 360-degree visual & thermal cameras, towed hydrophone, environmental sensors, and AI computing systems.

Other recent successes in local ocean-tech include:

• $3.5M in federal funding (incl. $800k to Open Ocean and $900k to Victoria-based Industrial Plankton)

• MarineLabs, a local ocean data and weather prediction company, winning new projects with the Ports of Vancouver and Prince Rupert and the parent company of Hullo ferries.

Read more at Victoria Tech Journal.

⭐️ Capital Picks

🏝 “Stinky Island” full of seals. [Facebook video]

🆒️ Victoria named one of best “coolcation” spots in new USA Today list of vacations that don't involve increasingly hot summer weather.

💿 Speaking of cool… Victoria-based Cool Band has a new album of laid-back alt-rock tunes. Listen below:

🗞️ In Other News

Provincial support needed to offset rising costs, SD61 says
The school board has written to the education minister seeking a funding bump to offset a $2M rise in WorkSafeBC and health & dental premiums as well as inflation of fuel, toilet paper, computers, and more. It also flags a lack of student mental health funding; BC currently gives $48k. [Times Colonist].

80-0 win closes UVic women’s rugby home schedule
Sunday’s win over Calgary (0-5) was the biggest margin for the Vikes (4-0) since 2017. Vanessa Chiappetta’s 6 converts tied the league-high for the most in a single game this season.

Pandora refurbishment underway with new gates for Goolden hall
The music venue says it lost business over the past year due to using side-entrances while people with no shelter were sleeping on the stoops of the main entrance. Mayor Alto says BC Housing has assured the city it will have space for most people leaving the block. [CHEK]

HMCS Edmonton & HMCS Yellowknife return to local waters
The 1997-completed Kingston-class ships participated in Operation Caribbe with the US Coast Guard. The joint anti-trafficking operation says that it recently seized $60M CAD in cocaine.

🗓️ Things to do

🧡 South Island Powwow: Immerse yourself in local Indigenous culture with this powwow in honour of residential school survivors. Wear orange to acknowledge Truth and Reconciliation Day. Royal Athletic Park. Mon. Gates 10am; Grand entry 12pm. [Info]

📽 Free movie: Sugarcane at Vic Theatre: This Sundance documentary award winner looks at how an investigation into a residential school sparks a reckoning on the nearby Sugarcane Reserve, near Williams Lake. 7:30pm. 

🌳 Truth and Reconciliation Ceremony in Oak Bay: A community ceremony will take place in front of the Sno’uyutth ("Spreading Good Energy") Welcome Pole at Oak Bay High. 9:30am.

🚲‍ Truth and Reconciliation Day Ride: Capital Bike will again host a ride to honour survivors of residential schools. The family-safe route follows an accessible path from Songhees Park to Royal Athletic Park. [Begins 9:45am]

📙 ‍Sooke Library Truth and Reconciliation Day: Moments for reflection, opportunities for dialogue, and shared resources. 11am.

🎨 ‍Truth and Reconciliation Mural Project unveiling: 3-5pm at Oaklands Community Centre. Catch an artist talk by Coast Salish artist Andrea Fritz, plus food and music.

👀 In Case You Missed It

30 years of Bike Week: Push pedals & win prizes. Also in Sunday news: One man dead, another arrested in Ditidaht incident. Parents fear peninsula intersection. [Sept. 29]

Saturday news: Vic council debates minimum apartment sizes. Sooke water problems. UVic evac. [Sept. 28]

7 local meal services via Tasting Victoria.

Invasive but cute: American bullfrog photos.