The City of Niagara Falls encourages everyone to participate in Truth and Reconciliation Day by learning, reflecting, and taking action toward a more inclusive future.
![September 30, National Day for Truth and Reconciliation]()
Indigenous Land Acknowledgement
With the aim of educating our community and acknowledging the many land treaties that overlay the City of Niagara Falls and Niagara Region, we acknowledge and thank the Indigenous peoples who were stewards of this land for a millennia before us.
Honouring Truth and Reconciliation – September 30
September 30 is the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, a time to reflect, learn, and honour First Nations, Inuit, and Métis survivors of residential schools, their families, and communities. This day ensures the history and legacy of residential schools remain a vital part of Canada’s reconciliation journey.
This observance coincides with Orange Shirt Day, a grassroots movement inspired by residential school survivor Phyllis Webstad. At age 6, Phyllis went to the St. Joseph Mission Indian Residential School wearing the bright-orange shirt bought by her grandmother. She said she felt "bright and exciting", just like her shirt. But on the first day of school, her new shirt was forcibly taken from her, along with her dignity. This story is one of the many examples of harm that was inflicted upon the self-esteem and well-being of children who were forced to attend residential schools. Today, we acknowledge the denial of the rights and the wrongdoings of the past, and the present-day impacts across generations, including the trauma carried by survivors and their families.
Learning about the impacts that it has had on generations of Indigenous families, languages, and cultures lies at the heart of reconciliation between Indigenous peoples who attended these schools, their families and communities, and all Canadians.
City of Niagara Falls residents are encouraged to come together in a spirit of reconciliation and hope to honour the Indigenous children stolen from their families and forced to attend these residential schools, by wearing the colour orange on September 30.
Learn about this movement, the woman behind it, and her orange shirt story: Orange Shirt Society
Events and activities
Participate in local events, learn about Indigenous history, and reflect on ways to support reconciliation.
Flag raising and lowering ceremony
Orange Shirt Day & National Day for Truth & Reconciliation City of Niagara Falls Flag Raising & Lowering
The City of Niagara Falls will hold an "Every Child Matters" flag-raising and lowering ceremony on Tuesday, September 30, 2025, to commemorate National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.
- What: National Day for Truth & Reconciliation City of Niagara Falls Flag Raising & Lowering to half-staff
- Where: Rosberg flag poles at Niagara Falls City Hall (4310 Queen Street)
- When: Tuesday, September 30, 2025 at 10 am
- Who: Mayor Jim Diodati, members of City Council, and the community. Attendants are encouraged to wear their orange shirts
Learn about this movement, the woman behind it, and her orange shirt story: https://www.orangeshirtday.org/
Falls illumination
On the evening of September 30, Niagara Falls will glow orange at the top of every hour to recognize the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.
Indigenous cultural experiences in Niagara
National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation: Lunch and Learns - September 22-26, 2025
Lunch and Learns Program Overview & Registration
The National Centre for Truth & Reconciliation invites you to join daily Lunch and Learn webinars, an immersive experience that will help you UN-learn the myths of colonial history in Canada.
Lunch and Learn sessions are aimed at an adult audience, and open to the public, and will be hosted virtually over Zoom Webinar and streamed to YouTube.
Expert matter speakers will present for 40-50 minutes before a Q&A between the moderator and guest(s).
All sessions will have simultaneous English-French, and ASL interpretation.
‘All Good Things are Medicine’ Mini-gallery installation
The Niagara Falls History Museum presents a mini exhibit with Dawn Iehstoseranón:nha that speaks to healthy, reciprocal relationships with the Life Giver, Creation. Explore using medicines such as sweetgrass, cedar, tobacco and sage as an act of care and connection; to lift one’s mind and express gratitude for life. Reflect on the importance of walking gently with the Earth as our mother and loving her waters, animals and plant life as family. This exhibition invites you to embrace these living relationships and learn how they continue to illuminate and inspire Indigenous peoples. Join us to celebrate Indigenous ways of moving in harmony with the land and to show unity surrounding the meaning of National Day of Truth and Reconciliation.
- Mini exhibit runs September 30, 2025 to October 30, 2025
- Niagara Falls History Museum, Lobby, 5810 Ferry Street
- Free admission to mini exhibit
Artist Bio
Dawn Iehstoseranon:nha’ is Kanienkéha’ka (Mohawk), Wakhskaré:wake (Bear Clan) and Akwesasronon (Akwesasne, The Land Where the Partridge Drums).
Dawn is owner and artist at Pass The Feather. She is a Feather Keeper and artist; practicing and sharing traditional bird medicines. When she’s not sharing her feathers, Dawn is a writer and designer for her ‘little book’ series, she creates annual Indigenous calendars and is a known content creator. Dawn is a graphic and web designer for Indigenous women’s groups, organizations and businesses, excelling in logos, posters, corporate branding and marketing.
In 2012, Dawn founded the Indigenous Arts Collective, a Registered Charity with designation by the Department of Canadian Heritage as a National Arts Service Organization. Dawn is a full time volunteer dedicated to the reclamation, revitalization and protection of endangered Indigenous art forms and works to inspire and empower the next generations of Indigenous artists. Dawn donates her time, skills and resources to advocate, develop programming, facilitate events, inspire and create meaningful shifts in the collective wellbeing of Indigenous women.
Dawn is a survivor of the 80’s Scoop; she was apprehended at birth by Children’s Aid and placed into foster care to be raised by non-Indigenous families. This government and church run initiative ran parallel to the Indian residential school system and succeeded in the assimilation of tens of thousands of Indigenous children. The devastating results are displacement, abandonment and irreversible identity loss. The deplorable program carries a lasting legacy of distress for survivors, and a version still exists today disguised as the ‘birth alert’ program.
Dawn found her birth family in 1989 (18 years of age) and has spent her lifetime locating family, reclaiming her culture, speaking and advocating for all displaced, wounded and disconnected Indigenous women.
Learn and reflect
Empathic Traditions: Niagara's Indigenous Legacy
The Niagara Region was a place of awe and wonder for the Indigenous peoples who first walked this land. Their ancestors' footsteps arrived approximately 13,000 years ago as the melting glaciers retreated northward, revealing the Great Lakes of Erie and Ontario and the mighty Niagara River while giving genesis to an environment rich with life.
In this exhibition, Empathic Traditions: Niagara's Indigenous Legacy, objects selected from the Indigenous collections of the Niagara Falls History Museum reveal the presence of Indigenous peoples, their art and history in the region, extending back hundreds of generations up to the present day. Vivid imagery of the artifacts combined with interpretive information helps us understand what life was like for those who first arrived.
By examining projectile points, stone tools, pottery shards, jewelry, and other ancient creations, as well as historic and contemporary items, we learn about the cultural connections Indigenous peoples developed with nature and their relationships with Europeans. We learn how the necessity of survival required the design of useful tools, how function influenced form, and how form created objects of great beauty. If nature is aesthetically pleasing and inspirational, then Niagara Falls must be considered a muse of epic proportions. From the first human encounter with the mighty cataracts, artful interpretation ensued.
Residential schools awareness and support
Truth and Reconciliation resources
Indigenous organizations in Niagara
Learn about the different Indigenous organizations in Niagara and check out their programs and services. You can also sign up for their newsletters and attend local events.
Opportunities to donate
- The Legacy of Hope Foundation – This foundation is an Indigenous-led charity that works to educate and raise awareness about the history and ongoing impacts of the residential school system. Their goal is to provide needed resources for schools and to prevent the spread of misinformation.
- Gord Downie and Chanie Wenjack Fund – This fund continues Gord Downie's commitment to improving the lives of First Peoples in Canada. It works to build awareness and education on the true history of Indigenous people in Canada, the history of Residential Schools and encourages reconciliation through events and programming.
- The Indian Residential School Survivor Society (IRSSS) – An organization out of British Columbia that provides essential services to residential school survivors, their families, and those dealing with intergenerational traumas.
