Thousands of Winnipeggers march for Truth and Reconciliation Day

Truth and Reconciliation Day honours residential school survivors and the children who never made it home.

This year, for the first time ever, it was declared a statutory holiday in Manitoba.

on Monday, a sea of orange flooded Winnipeg streets as people of all ages walked for the kids who couldn't.

"Both my children, they're five, third generation residential family school survivors,” said Daniel Hidalgo at Monday’s march.

Sherry Starr went to a day school in southern Ontario.

"I was lucky enough I was able to go home. I was not with my parents but I was still able to go home,” she said.

“So this day means an awful lot to me because it's basically an acknowledgment of some of the pain that I’ve gone through."

That pain is also felt by survivor and Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs Acting Grand Chief Betsy Kennedy.

"This is really impacting us and it's easy for us now to really talk about it,” Kennedy said.

Indigenous culture was on full display during a march in Winnipeg on Monday, featuring Canada’s first-ever First Nations premier.

Wab Kinew called the occasion an act of defiance in the face of those who tried to erase it.

"You will make the survivors proud, because you will show that what they stood up for, what they fought for, and what they persevered for, for generations succeeded and lived on right to today,” the premier said.

Many people tell us they're marching, not just for those who went to residential schools, but for future generations to make sure the past isn't forgotten and no child or family member gets left behind.

People from all across the province took part in Orange Shirt Day, with festivities taking place as far north as Thompson, out west in Brandon and Dauphin, all the way to Souris.