“We may not achieve reconciliation within my lifetime, or within the lifetime of my children, but we will be able to achieve it if we all commit to working towards it properly. Part of that commitment is that every year [on September 30] we will stand up together and we will say ‘never again.”

– Chancellor Murray Sinclair

National Day for Truth and Reconciliation

We hold these words close. For survivors, “never again” cannot just be said. It must be lived.

Colonial violence is not history. It’s ongoing.

Residential schools were one weapon of colonialism. That violence continues today—through sexualized violence, the reality of MMIWG2S+, over incarceration, forced displacement from traditional territories, the erasure of culture, and the callousness of residential school denialism.

As a feminist, survivor-centered organization, Salal names sexualized violence as a tool of colonial control.

Truth cannot be reconciled while Indigenous women, girls and Two Spirit people are 3 times more likely than non-indigenous people to experience sexual violence*.

Reconciliation without decolonization is empty. We recognize that for many Indigenous folks, the concept of reconciliation is in and of itself flawed, as it prioritizes symbolic acts over urgent and radical changes to the status quo.

Decolonization means more than apologies. It means undoing the systems that created and sustain harm.

Decolonization means:

• Returning land and its stewardship to Indigenous Peoples.
• Reviving culture, language, and ceremony.
• Unearthing how colonial ways of valuing, being and thinking impact our relationships with all beings, our selves and each other

This work is not symbolic. It is the only way forward.

At Salal, we know sexualized violence cannot be addressed without addressing colonialism.

Our Commitment Includes:

• Indigenous survivors never wait on our list.
• Services are guided by Elders and Knowledge Keepers.
• Our work is accountable and relational with our community, not just colonial systems.

We root our services in relationships, culture, and justice.

Never Again Means Now

This September 30—and every day—we invite you to:

• Amplify Indigenous voices and leadership.
• Make space for mourning, truth, and accountability.
• Commit to dismantling colonial systems and embodying a reflexive practice to consider how you are in right relationship with Indigenous peoples on these lands.