September 30th marks the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation and Orange Shirt Day. The Native American Student Association invites you to participate in the ongoing process of reconciliation by making an effort to... 

  • Learn the true history of Residential Schools in the U.S. and Canada. 

  • Participate in the global conversation on all aspects of Residential Schools and the legacy they have left behind. 

  • Listen to, and learn from, Indigenous voices as they express how the Residential School system has affected or continues to affect their lives and the lives of their loved ones. 

  • Honor and remember those that lost their lives by the hand of these institutions.  

  • Support Indigenous individuals, businesses, causes, and foundations.  

  • Wear an orange shirt (preferably purchased from an approved vendor with the approved “Every Child Matters” slogan printed on it from the list provided on orangeshirtday.org).  

Orange Shirt Day originated in Canada (Williams Lake, British Columbia) in the Spring of 2013. At the age of 6, Phyllis Webstad (Northern Secwpemc (Shuswap) from the Stswecem’c Xgat’tem First Nation) attended her first day at the St. Joseph Mission Residential School. Upon arrival, she was stripped of all her clothes, including her orange shirt that been gifted to her by her grandmother. Phyllis’s story reflects that of many Residential School survivors who report countless acts of physical, sexual, emotional, and spiritual abuse which they experienced while being forced to attend these Residential Schools. The St. Joseph Mission Residential School operated from 1891 until 1981. Phyllis’s mother and grandmother were also survivors of Residential Schools. The tradition of Orange Shirt Day was created in recognition of the untold experiences and traumas that children faced after being separated from their families. 

Orange Shirt Day is now an annual commemoration which happens on the 30th of September every year.  

In Phyllis’s words, Orange Shirt Day “is a day to honor and remember Residential School survivors and their families. Every Child Matters even if you’re an adult. We must also remember those children that never made it and are no longer with us. Today is a day for survivors to tell their stories and for us to listen with open hearts.”  

Residential Schools for Indigenous children, both in the U.S. and Canada, were both government and Church run institutions. Indigenous children would be stolen from their families and forcefully brought to the schools. Once at the Residential School, the purpose of these institutions was to strip the children of every piece of their culture, history, and identity as Indigenous people. The methods implemented to achieve this immoral purpose were often violent and always abusive. In many ways Residential Schools were designed as institutions of genocide. The legacy of these institutions is the generations of trauma that they are directly responsible for, as well as the murder of thousands of Indigenous children. 

LEARN MORE AND DONATE AT... ORANGESHIRTDAY.ORG  

 

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