September 30 is Orange Shirt Day – an Indigenous-led grassroots commemorative day intended to raise awareness of the individual, family and community inter-generational impacts of residential schools. The day is inspired by Phyllis Webstad’s experience. On her first day at residential school in 1973, Phyllis was stripped of her new orange shirt, a shirt that had brought her a sense of affirmation and dignity. Now each year on September 30th we wear orange to remember that, as Phyllis says, “every child matters.” The orange shirt is a symbol of the stripping away of culture, freedom and self-esteem experienced by Indigenous children over generations. This is a day, or a week, to share the stories of all residential school students, and help change the legacy of those schools so that former students and their families not only survive but thrive.
Both the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation and Orange Shirt Day take place on September 30.
- Review the 94 Truth and Reconciliation Calls and commit to at least one. Here's a 4 minute video giving a short history and overview.
- Read Phyllis Webstad's book, "The Orange Shirt Story"
- Read books by Indigenous authors
- visit the website of the Squamish Nation Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Úxwumixw on whose traditional terrirory our church is built and learn more about who they are. There you will find a 4 minute feature video, the Future of Our Nation.