The orange shirt has come to symbolize The National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, with the phrase ‘Every Child Matters’ honouring those impacted by the Residential School System. This day serves as a milestone in Canada’s ongoing journey to acknowledge the painful legacy of its colonial past and its lasting consequences for Indigenous peoples. On September 30 of every year before 1996, the Canadian government would forcefully relocate Indigenous children across the nation into residential schools, often never to see their families again. Over recent decades, countless testimonies have surfaced of the reality behind these schools, including one of a young Phyllis Webstad from the Stswecem’c Xgat’tem First Nation. Author, founder of the ‘Orange Shirt Society,’ and third-generation Indian Residential School survivor, Webstad advocates for residential school awareness and shares her story of being stripped of an orange shirt at six years old when she was taken to the St. Joseph Indian Residential School, symbolising her being stripped of her identity and culture.
After sharing her story and hearing from many others, Phyllis was inspired to initiate a grassroots movement to reclaim the day her life, along with many others, changed forever: Orange Shirt Day. This movement grew nationally and even internationally with people around the world pressuring the government to make the day an official statutory holiday. Nearly a decade later, countless stories have resurfaced and over a thousand unmarked graves were found in residential schools across the country. The government once again faced international outrage calling for a national day of commemoration in honour of the deceased children and survivors (Bill C-5.) This officially passed legislation on June 3, 2021, making Orange Shirt Day The National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.
The horrifying testimonies that surfaced through the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada (TRC) included reports of serious mental and physical abuse. In 2014, after an Ontario Superior Court judge ordered the federal government to disclose documents from an investigation, more stories surfaced from Fort Albany Residential School. One survivor, Cree writer, activist, and former Chief of Fort Albany First Nation Edmund Metatawabin, received the Order of Canada in 2018 in part for his memoir Up Ghost River: A Chief’s Journey through the Turbulent Waters of Native History. The novel is just one of many Indigenous voices highlighting their own history. To learn more about Metatawabin’s history and advocacy visit www.edmundmetatawabin.com.
These survivors are healing from deep psychological, emotional, and cultural wounds that are passed down from each generation. Residential school students were forbidden from speaking their own language or practising any of their cultural traditions, leading to a major disconnection with their heritage, culture and overall identity. Indigenous culture being largely passed down orally allowed Canada’s cultural suppression to spread to future Indigenous generations through survivors. Intergenerational trauma can occur within any culture or people, and when Indigenous students are removed from their cultural heritage, instead exposed to severe abuse and maltreatment during their formative years, deep emotional wounds can remain to be passed down through generations.
Since 2013, the Canadian Government has made many empty promises to Indigenous communities. The government pledged to implement all 94 Calls to Action from the 2015 TRC reports, but after nine consecutive years in office, many of the 94 Calls to Action have yet to be completed or even started. Fortunately, the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) has been implemented, which includes recognizing land rights and the need for consent before any resource development projects on Indigenous land.
While this day is a step in the right direction, it remains a small gesture in comparison to the ongoing suffering Indigenous communities have endured for decades. Many advocates continue to fight for land sovereignty, in the face of gas pipeline development, and justice for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (MMIWG). The National Day for Truth and Reconciliation urges all non-Indigenous people to confront their history and commit to tangible actions that support healing and justice for Indigenous communities.
