Orange Shirt Day

On September 30th we honor residential school survivors and the painful experiences they had to endure.

Why an orange shirt?

Phyllis Webstad wore an orange shirt on her first day of school when she was 6 years old. It was a shirt her grandma had purchased for her with what little money they had. She was proud of that orange shirt. But when she got to the mission school that shirt was taken from her and she was given other clothes to wear. She never saw that orange shirt again.

The orange shirt represents more than just a shirt though… it represents the many things that were taken from these residential school survivors (their families, their language, their heritage, their freedom, etc.)

Tomorrow , Friday, September 28th the school I am subbing at is participating in orange shirt day… I’ll be wearing orange. Will you?

If you are looking for resources to help you plan something for this year (it’s never too late). I found some here.

If you want to share Phyllis Webstad’s story with your class here is a short video on YouTube about her.