The streets of downtown Wallaceburg were filled on Monday with people wearing orange to mark the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.
Over 200 people took part in a Healing Walk before stopping at the Civic Square Park to hear from residential school survivors.
This included Bill Sands, who spent four years at the Mohawk Institute in Brantford. He explained he spent most of his life avoiding talking about his experience.
"I couldn't talk about this even a few years ago, not at all. It's getting easier," said Sands.
He noted speaking with fellow survivors has played a big part in him starting to open up, while events like this have shown him that there are people who feel for what he went through.
One of the many in attendance was Rob Pollock, who was there with his fiancé and three daughters. While he's not Indigenous, his partner and kids are.
"We're trying to teach them through this process. A little learning on my end but also showing our girls why it's important," Pollock added.
Around half of those who took part in the walk were children. That's what stood out for co-organizer Hannah Cruickshank.
"I think it's important that we teach this day more to our youth and explain what the orange shirt represents. Seeing all this orange (also) means this message is growing, we're reaching more people," she said.
Cruickshank added it was nice to see many non-Indigenous people wearing orange and wanting to learn more.
The Healing Walk and speeches at the Civic Square Park were organized by the Walpole Island First Nation and Municipality of Chatham-Kent.