09/30/2026
Truth & Reconciliation Day is a day for us, our staff, and our customers, to take the time to reflect and educate ourselves on Indigenous issues and peoples here in Canada.
We recognize that the journey toward reconciliation is a shared responsibility. We all have so much to learn, unlearn, and reflect on in order to truly honour the experiences of Indigenous peoples.
Reconciliation requires commitment from each of us.
As an organization, we are located on the unceded territories of Musqueam, Squamish, and the Tsleil-Waututh Nations. We acknowledge the deep cultural significance of these lands and thank them for their continued stewardship.
As paddlers, we use a craft that was invented over 4000 years ago by several Indigenous peoples, including the Inuit, Aleut, and Yupik and that was used for travel, hunting, and other life-sustaining practices. The waters we paddle on have been paddled on since time immemorial by the Coast Salish Peoples. Whenever we go paddling, we have the privilege of engaging and actively remembering this living history.
We are committed to our own learning journey, and education of our community of the cultural and historical significance of these lands.
Reconciliation is more than wearing orange. It means reflecting, truth-telling, and taking meaningful action.
While recognition and acknowledgement are important and a good first step we encourage everybody to reflect on what actions each of us can take to contribute to reconciliation.
One first step can be to learn more about the history.
There a number of resources available, below are some suggestions:
Musqueam through time part 1 (also watch part 2)
https://youtu.be/U3sO4PKkJlo?si=wWrTXxEplkyFSCU-
National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation Reports
https://nctr.ca/publications-and-reports/reports/
Orange Shirt Day Resources
https://orangeshirtday.org/resources/
Together, we can all play a part in healing and building a more just and respectful future.
