September 30 marks Orange Shirt Day and the first National Day for Truth And Reconciliation.
SPLC encourages staff and community members to wear orange to remember the Indigenous children who were involuntarily sent to Residential Schools and never returned, and to honour the Survivors, their families, and their communities.
About Orange Shirt Day
Sept. 30 is already known as Orange Shirt Day, an Indigenous-led grassroots commemorative day that honours the children who survived Indian Residential Schools and remembers those who did not.
This day relates to the experience of Phyllis Webstad, a Northern Secwpemc (Shuswap) from the Stswecem'c Xgat'tem First Nation, on her first day of school, where she arrived dressed in a new orange shirt, which was taken from her. It is now a symbol of the stripping away of culture, freedom and self-esteem experienced by Indigenous children over generations.
While Orange Shirt Day started in 2013 as a grassroots effort, this is the first year that the Canadian government has marked Sept. 30 as a National Day for Truth And Reconciliation.
Every Child Matters
In 2021, more than 1,000 unmarked and mass graves of Indigenous children were identified on the grounds of several former residential schools in Canada.
This year for Orange Shirt Day/ National Day of Truth and Reconciliation, SPLC honours the victims and Survivors of residential schools by wearing orange and sharing information with our community about this important day.
If you would like more information, please visit:
- 16 resources to help settlers understand and advance Indigenous reconciliation | CharityVillage
- The origins of Orange Shirt Day (tworowtimes.com)
- Origin of Orange Shirt Day - Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation (mncfn.ca)
- Watch this Indigenous-led National Day of Remembrance broadcast live stream at 10 a.m. on Sept. 30: Remember Me: A National Day of Remembrance | Indigenous Arts Collective of Canada (passthefeather.org)
