2 First Nations civil servants in Sask. ‘shamed,’ sent home for wearing orange on Sept. 30: chiefs [Video]

Two First Nations women who work at the Meadow Lake provincial court house were “shamed” and sent home for wearing orange shirts for National Day for Truth and Reconciliation on Monday, First Nations leaders say.

“One of the ladies is a second-generation [residential school] survivor and she left home that morning proud of that shirt she wore that day,” said Richard Derocher, vice-chief of the Meadow Lake Tribal Council (MLTC), which represents nine Cree and Dene First Nations.

“The way I see it is they silenced her spirit. She fought to stay to work, but they eventually made her go home.”

The MLTC and Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations (FSIN) urged the next provincial government to make the day, observed on Sept. 30, a statutory holiday in a press conference in Meadow Lake on Friday.

The National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, officially observed on Sept. 30 since 2021, is meant to honour the children who died while attending residential schools and the …