Including Gaza in Orange Shirt Day march in Yellowknife draws mixed reaction

An Orange Shirt Day march and vigil in solidarity for children's safety in Gaza is scheduled to take place on the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation in Yellowknife. It's being billed as an act of advocacy for every child everywhere but some say the two causes should stand apart.

The march is scheduled to take place on Sept. 30, starting at the Yellowknife community arena and end with a vigil at Somba K'e park.

In a Facebook post, organizer Kaitlyn Whitekeyes wrote "everyone is welcome to come together in grief, anger and remembrance to march in protest of the slaughter and starvation of children in Gaza."

In an emailed statement to CBC News, Whitekeyes said the march and vigil is for the "remembrance of our cultural genocide" in Canada and to recognize oppression of Indigenous people everywhere.

"Every child matters, everywhere," she said.

Whitekeyes' father is from the Ermineskin Band in Maskwacis, Alta. She said the march is out of respect for her family and all families who have lost children and connections to their Indigenous culture.

"I do not hold the authority to choose which Indigenous children are worth advocacy."

YK Citizens for Ceasefire, a grassroots organization that advocates for Gaza, is not involved in organizing the march but shared the event on their Facebook page.

But not everyone wants the day's focus expanded.

Yellowknife City Councillor Stacie Arden-Smith has voiced her opposition.

"There are 364 days of the year that they can choose from to do a march specifically for the children of Gaza. But this day is very heartfelt by Indigenous peoples. It's about our histories, it's about our children, it's about our struggles," Arden-Smith said.

"This takes that away from the whole meaning of September 30th."

Brenda Gauthier, president of the Native Women's Association of the N.W.T. and a residential school survivor, said that while intentions may be good, an event that pulls focus from Indigenous history in Canada, a holiday which was created only recently, is ultimately "hurtful and disrespectful."

"To take a day that Indigenous people have worked so hard to get, a day of truth and reconciliation dedicated to recognizing all the trauma and everything that occurred with residential schools … to take the intent away from a day that they finally got to recognize what occurred to past generations is very sad," Gauthier said.

The National Day for Truth and Reconciliation was first recognized as an official federal holiday in 2021.

Yellowknife City Councillor Garett Cochrane has also shared information about the march on his Facebook, but said he wasn't initially aware it was in solidarity with Gaza. He said he kept the post on his page because it provides a reminder that Orange Shirt Day is coming.

He said that how residents choose to mark the day is entirely up to the individual. He said he doesn't think it's wrong for residents to recognize Gazans on Orange Shirt Day but also understands why someone might not want to participate.

"The crimes against Indigenous people throughout our history get little to no focus," he said. "But at the same time, I can see how people can connect the two movements together and social justice is social justice."