Why We Wear Orange on Canada Day
“As a member of the Women’s Nautsa’mawt Team, we are using July 1st as a day to critically analyze the ongoing impacts colonization has on Indigenous People. It makes me feel proud and supported to step into the locker room and on the field knowing my teammates have my back.
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VANCOUVER, BC – Hope and Health and their League 1 BC team Nautsa’mawt FC will wear orange on Canada Day.
Nautsa’mawt FC will be wearing their orange jerseys for warm up along with an orange #bethechange armband during the League 1 BC match versus Vancouver Whitecaps FC - who have also accepted the invitation to wear the armbands to come together in solidarity in dedicating this match to Indigenous people on Canada Day.
Off the pitch, Hope and Health and Nautsa’mawt will be leading some fun skills, drills and challenges at the Canada Together gathering sport court at Canada Place/Vancouver Convention Center. This special gathering was planned in collaboration with the Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh nations and themed "Weaving together the fabric of a nation".
As an organization devoted to working towards reconciliation, Hope and Health would like to recognize that Canada Day, while it may be a day of celebration for many Canadians across the country, is a day that means something very different for First Nations, Métis, and Inuit people. For many Indigenous people, Canada Day is a day of mourning which commemorates genocide, the loss of their ancestors, the horrors inflicted upon their family members, and the continued injustices they face to this day. In solidarity with Indigenous peoples, Hope and Health will be wearing orange on Canada Day, and we will continue to advocate for Indigenous voices to be uplifted, we will continue to raise awareness regarding Canada’s ongoing genocide of Indigenous peoples, and continue to stand by our Indigenous friends and family in their fight for justice and sovereignty.
For Canadians, July 1st represents the creation of Canada as a country, but for Indigenous Peoples it represents the signing of assimilative legislation, including Confederation and the Indian Act, which forced them onto reservations and into poverty; it represents the kidnapping of their children and the trauma they were forced to endure in residential schools which would go on to have disastrous intergenerational consequences that are still felt to this day. It’s important to acknowledge that many Indigenous peoples do not view themselves as Canadian but rather as members of a sovereign nation existing within so-called Canada since time immemorial, and this has only been reaffirmed by the fact that Canada did not regard Indigenous people as human beings but as animals and wards of the state.
These injustices are not just part of Canada’s history but are ongoing to this day as Indigenous people continue to fight for clean drinking water, for their Treaty Rights to be respected, for missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls, for the forced sterilization of Indigenous women to this day, for climate justice, and more. Today, we urge Canadians to extend their perception of what it means to be Canadian- outside of themselves and see the world through Indigenous eyes. As long as the bodies of children continue to be found on residential school properties, as long as pipelines are being built across reserve lands, as long as Canada fails to take action to implement the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s 94 Calls to Action, we will stand in solidarity for and with our Indigenous relations.
To access a full list of educational resources curated by the Hope and Health team, please click HERE
About Hope and Health
The Hope and Health movement utilizes the beautiful game of soccer and mentorship to inspire hope, as well as improve the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual health and life conditions for Indigenous children and youth. Our team is committed to come together as one heart, one mind to maximize sport as a tool for reconciliACTION and social impact in relation to the Canadian Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Calls To Action, specific to Sports and Reconciliation (87-91) and beyond given the holistic benefits. Our vision is for Indigenous children and youth to carry themselves with pride and confidence, achieve their highest potential and dream big. Learn more here: https://www.hopeandhealth.org
For partnership interest and media enquiries please contact:
Deana Gill
Co-founder and CEO of Hope and Health
604-388-4673