Today, Cycling NWT recognizes the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation and Orange Shirt Day. Across the Northwest Territories, cycling connects us with communities, with one another, and with the land beneath our wheels.
Today is an opportunity to slow down and reflect. Orange Shirt Day grew from the experience of residential school Survivor Phyllis Webstad, whose orange shirt was taken from her when she arrived at residential school as a child. Her story helped inspire a message now recognized across Canada: Every Child Matters.
We remember the children who never returned home from residential schools, Survivors, their families, and the generations who continue to experience the impacts of the residential school system. Here in the North, reconciliation is not an abstract conversation. The history of residential schools is connected directly to communities and families throughout the Northwest Territories.
As a sport organization, we have a role to play. Cycling can create freedom, independence, confidence, adventure, and connection. A bicycle can help a young person discover their community in a completely different way. But access and belonging are not automatic.
We need to consider who has opportunities to participate, what barriers exist, whether our programs reflect the communities we serve, and how we can build respectful relationships that allow more people to experience movement and sport.
Reconciliation is a journey that requires listening, learning, relationships, and continued action.
There is no finish line.
Today, we remember.
Tomorrow, we keep moving forward together.
🧡 Every Child Matters.