Ragged Ass Barbers in Yellowknife is offering free haircuts to residential school survivors on the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.
William Chicksi, who proposed the idea, started cutting hair when he was 13 years old and has been a barber in Yellowknife for four years.
He said a team of four or five people at Ragged Ass Barbers will be ready to offer haircuts on Tuesday afternoon following an Every Child Matters march set to start from the Yellowknife Community Arena at 1pm.
“We all believe that this is a great thing to give back to the community of all the survivors,” Chicksi said.
Every year, September 30 honours residential school survivors and children who never returned home along with their families and communities.
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In the NWT, the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation is a statutory holiday. People are encouraged to wear orange, reflect on the history of the residential school system and attend events that remember, honour and respect residential school survivors.
Events to commemorate the ongoing impacts of the residential school system have been planned across the territory.
Chicksi said the day is important to him as his mother, aunts and uncles attended residential school.
“Any little part that we can do to make the day better and put some sunlight and sunshine on somebody, that’s why we’re here,” he said.
“I appreciate the opportunity to give back and support the community of Yellowknife with the Ragged Ass Barbers team supporting fully, and this means a lot to us.”
