I’m a bit ham-fisted with these things but something important is happening in Canada today, September 30th. It is our first ever National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, also known as Orange Shirt Day.
Orange Shirt Day is an Indigenous-led grassroots commemorative day that honours the children who survived residential schools and remembers those who did not. This day relates to the experience of Phyllis Webstad, a Northern Secwepemc (Shuswap) from the Stswecem’c Xgat’tem First Nation, on her first day of school, where she arrived dressed in a new orange shirt, which was taken from her. It is now a symbol of the stripping away of culture, freedom and self-esteem experienced by Indigenous children over generations.
The right word is hard to find - it’s not a happy day, we don’t celebrate it and we should sure as hell do more than “observe” it.
Are you marking the day somehow? I’ve finally started to read the 94 Calls to Action document.
Prepared and sent from the unceded lands of the Squamish, Tsleil-Waututh and Musqueam Nations.
ETA: If you buy an “Every Child Matters” t-shirt, please buy it from a place that supports the movement and not one of the rip-offs that’s sprouted up. Also:
Which links to this: https://www.onedayspay.ca/
