What Is Orange Shirt Day Canada?

The National Day for Truth and Reconciliation (French: Journée nationale de la vérité et de la réconciliation), colloquially known as Orange Shirt Day (French: Jour du chandail orange), is a Canadian statutory holiday to recognize the legacy of the Canadian Indian residential school system.

What does the orange shirt symbolize?

Orange Shirt Day was created as an opportunity to discuss the effects of residential schools and their legacy. It honours the experiences of Indigenous Peoples, celebrates resilience and affirms a commitment that every child matters.

Why do we wear orange shirts on Orange Shirt Day?

Wearing orange shirts are a symbol of defiance against those things that undermine children’s self-esteem, and of our commitment to anti-racism and anti-bullying in general.

What does orange mean for indigenous peoples?

The orange shirt is thus used as a symbol of the forced assimilation of Indigenous children that the residential school system enforced. The day was elevated to a statutory holiday by the Canadian government in 2021, in light of the revelations of over 1,000 unmarked graves near former residential school sites.

How many kids died in residential schools?

An estimated 6,000 children are believed to have died at the schools. The Prince’s visit – his 19th to the country – will be the first since more than 1,000 unmarked graves were found in unmarked graves at former church-run schools last year.

Who shut down residential schools?

The 2008 TRC was told that only 50 deaths had occurred at the institution. The school officially closed in 1978 after the federal government took over control in 1969.

Why is it named Orange Shirt Day?

Orange Shirt Day is so named because the grandmother of a little girl (Phyllis Webstad) bought her an orange shirt to wear for her first day of school. As soon as the girl got to the school, the teachers took her shirt and all her belongings and destroyed them.

How do you honor an Orange Shirt Day?

5 ways to honour Orange Shirt Day

1. Explore the Residential School Timeline.
2. Learn more about the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada Explore the findings from the final report and read the Summary of the Final Report.
3. Learn more about and share Phyllis’ story:

Why did the Indigenous choose orange?

The purpose of wearing orange is to show a unified step towards reconciliation and building stronger relationships between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples.

Do you wear orange on Indigenous Peoples day?

September 30^th is Orange Shirt Day. This date is an opportunity to educate people and promote awareness about the Indian Residential School system and the impact this system had on Indigenous communities for more than a century in Canada, and which still does today.

What is the meaning behind Every Child Matters?

September 24, 2021. “Every Child Matters” is the Orange Shirt Day slogan, meaning that all children are important – including the ones left behind and the adult survivors who are still healing from the trauma of Indian Residential Schools.

Is Orange Shirt Day good?

September 30 is the first National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, also known—in many elementary schools and communities—as Orange Shirt Day. It’s meant for people to reflect on the history of residential schools, and the survivors that live on today.

What happened to babies born in residential schools?

Thousands perished from disease, malnutrition, fire. Large numbers of children who were sent to residential schools never returned home.

What were parents told if their child died while at residential school?

Bodies of children were not returned to families, and parents rarely learned the circumstances of a child’s death. Often, the only death notification would be to send the child’s name to the Indian Agent at his or her home community.

Which prime minister ended residential schools?

Prime Minister Stephen Harper
When Did The Last School Close? The last Indian residential school, located in Saskatchewan, closed in 1996. On June 11, 2008, Prime Minister Stephen Harper on behalf of the Government of Canada issued a public apology to Aboriginal Peoples acknowledging Canada’s role in the Indian Residential Schools system.

Was there anything good about residential schools?

The students’ experiences of residential schools were not all bad. Different people had differing experiences. Many dedicated, good people worked in the system. The system itself however was designed “to educate & colonize a people against their will,” as the missionary Hugh McKay admitted in 1903.

How much money do residential school survivors get?

The day scholars settlement approved by the Federal Court last October includes individual compensation of $10,000 and a $50 million Day Scholars Revitalization Fund to support healing, linguistic and cultural reclamation. The claims process opened on Tuesday.

Why did Canada create residential schools?

Residential Schools were part of an extensive education system created to culturally assimilate Indigenous children and force them to adapt to Euro-Canadian society.

Who created Orange Shirt Day and why?

The “orange shirt” in Orange Shirt Day refers to the new shirt that Phyllis Webstad was given to her by her grandmother for her first day of school at St. Joseph’s Mission residential school in British Columbia. When Phyllis got to school, they took away her clothes, including her new shirt.

Should I wear orange Canada day?

Since 2013, Orange Shirt Day occurs annually in Canada on September 30 in honour and remembrance of the thousands of Indigenous children who were forced to leave their families and taken to residential schools in Canada.

Who created Orange Shirt Day?

It was first adopted by Cariboo-Chilcotin School District 27 in 2013 and later throughout British Columbia. By 2020, Orange Shirt Day ideas and resources were used by teachers across Canada and on 30 September, schools, colleges and universities were awash in orange.