Every Child Matters: Orange Shirt Day

I was travelling home on a commuter bus last Friday and since I am a compulsive reader, I found myself reading the amber letters at the front of the bus naming the next stop, warning us not to chase moving buses and then came the words, “Orange Shirt Day – Every Child Matters.”  This rang a bell.  I knew it had something to do with remembering Indian Residentail School children.  So once I got home, I looked it up on-line and learned that it is always held on September 30^th.  It is at this time of year because that’s when the children were taken to go to these “schools.”

You can hear Phyllis Webstad tell her story of the orange shirt here:

The Orange Shirt Day started at the St. Joseph Mission Residential School commemoration event that was held in Williams Lake, BC in 2013.  It grew out of Phyllis’ story and it became an opportunity to keep the discussion of all the aspects of residential schools going once a year as well as a way to remember all the children who died while at these schools.

Many schools and other organizations across Canada commemorate Orange Shirt Day. It is an “opportunity for First Nations, local governments, schools and communities to come together in the spirit of reconciliation and hope for generations of children to come.” (Orange Shirt website)

Here are two video made in 2013 by Shaw TV Northern BC about this.

Students and faculty at UPEI Orange Shirt Day 2017

My partner and I happened to be going to a Storytelling Circle on Orange Shirt Day so we wore orange t-shirts and told the story of how Orange Shirt Day came about.  Another woman was wearing an orange shirt pin and other people nodded their heads when I told the story.  They had also heard it.

And that is the power of story.  You can’t argue with the story of a child having the new shirt her grandmother got her being taken away.  It is such a powerful symbol that we can all relate to.  And wearing an orange shirt is such a simple action to take.  But by wearing the shirt, the little girl’s story becomes embodied in us.  We wear the shirt that she wasn't allowed to.  We can all wear the shirt and their is power in that action.  We take on her story, we stand with her, we continue the dialogue, we show that we know the truth and that we are open to reconciliation.  Millions of Canadians can be a part of the solution as we tell this new story.