Orange Shirt Day is not your regular holiday. And the Every Child Matters March was not your typical parade.
On September 30, a large and diverse group marched in the rain from Port Hardy Secondary to Carrot Park. The Kwakiutl, Gwa-sala-‘Nakwax’daxw, and Quatsino First Nations organized the march to honour survivors of residential schools and the children who never came home.
Brian Texmo, a photographer in Port Hardy, captured some of the march.
According to a Facebook post, the three bands held a traditional ceremony that was not to be filmed or photographed. So Texmo put down his camera out of respect.
But, during the ceremony, “a roar of thunder from the missing women and children echoed across the sky.”
His video shows just how fantastic the turnout was.
Texmo called the experience “amazing.” “I am proud to say I live in a town where we support each other,” he said in his Facebook post. “I’m proud to call Port Hardy my home.”
