Orange Shirt Day

September 30 is the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation in Canada, but it was originally known as Orange Shirt Day, and started as a grass-roots effort by Indigenous people to commemorate the children who died in residential schools, and those who survived but were harmed by the violence and abuse in the schools.

The orange shirt was inspired by the vibrant orange shirt given to Phyllis Webstad by her grandma for her first day at school in 1973. It was taken off her as soon as she arrived at residential school, and she never saw it again. Phyllis Webstad is the founder of Orange Shirt Day, which started in 2014.

“I didn’t understand why they wouldn’t give it back to me, it was mine! The colour orange has always reminded me of that and how my feelings didn’t matter, how no one cared and how I felt like I was worth nothing. All of us little children were crying, and no one cared.”

In 2021, the Canadian government declared September 30 the National Day of Truth and Reconciliation, as the Truth and Reconciliation Commission recommended.

It is important for settlers to educate ourselves about the ongoing impacts of residential schools, colonialism, theft of Indigenous lands, and numerous attempts to eradicate Indigenous cultures and languages.