Hello and welcome to a new academic year! I and the team at IKBLC hope you’re excited for new classes and new experiences this fall. I’m Celia, the EDI Student Librarian at IKBLC, and I’ll be publishing short blog posts each month about a topic relevant to Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion. I hope you’ll read along and learn something new!
This month’s blog post will explore the history and significance of Orange Shirt Day. If you are new to Canada, like I was a year ago, you may be unfamiliar with this day of observance. This post will help you understand the meaning of the day, why it matters, and how to get involved at UBC this year.
Canada’s History of Residential Schools
Orange Shirt Day is a holiday observed on September 30 in Canada. It aims to remember and honour the experiences of First Nations, Inuit and Métis Nation people who attended residential schools, including survivors and those who did not return home.
Residential schools were a tool of colonialism designed to separate children from their homes and culture. They operated beginning in 1831, with the last schools closing in the 1990s. Children at residential schools were forced to assimilate into white Christian culture. They were often punished for speaking their native languages, prohibited from their traditional cultural practices, and physically separated from their families and land. Additionally, physical and sexual abuse was common at residential schools.
After the closing of residential schools in the 1990s, Canada has taken steps to address the harm the schools caused. One of those steps was the creation of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in 2015 to witness and document what happened at residential schools. The Commission concluded in their report, “Honouring the Truth, Reconciling the Future,” that residential schools “were created for the purpose of separating Aboriginal children from their families, in order to minimize and weaken family ties and cultural linkages, and to indoctrinate children into a new culture—the culture of the legally dominant Euro-Christian Canadian society” (V). You can read more about the history of residential schools from the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation. Canada is still working towards reconciliation with First Nations, Inuit and Métis Nation people in the wake of 150 years of cultural genocide.
Why Orange Shirts?
Thousands of children attended residential schools, but it is one woman’s story that inspired Orange Shirt Day. Phyllis Webstad, the founder of Orange Shirt Day, is a member of the Stswecem’c Xgat’tem First Nation. From 1973 to 1974, she attended St. Joseph Mission residential school, located near Williams Lake, BC. She describes her experience arriving at the school in this quotation:
“We never had very much money, but somehow my granny managed to buy me a new outfit to go to the Mission school. I remember going to Robinson’s store and picking out a shiny orange shirt. It had string laced up in front, and was so bright and exciting – just like I felt to be going to school!
When I got to the Mission, they stripped me, and took away my clothes, including the orange shirt! I never wore it again. I didn’t understand why they wouldn’t give it back to me, it was mine! The color orange has always reminded me of that and how my feelings didn’t matter, how no one cared and how I felt like I was worth nothing.”
You can read more of Phyllis Webstad’s story in her own words here on the Orange Shirt Society website.
When Phyllis founded the Orange Shirt Society, she used the image of the orange shirt to represent and remember residential school experiences. She now spends her time touring Canada to tell her story and raise awareness about the impact of residential schools. She also wrote two books telling her story, The Orange Shirt Story and Phyllis’s Orange Shirt for younger children.
Orange Shirt Day at UBC
UBC will observe Orange Shirt Day on September 30. There are a number of ways you can get involved, including events, speakers, t-shirt sales, and an intergenerational march.
The intergenerational march will be held from 11:45am to 3:00pm at the UBC Outdoor Amphitheatre at 1956 Main Mall. The march is open to all ages and will involve opportunities for learning and engagement. It will include opening words from Musqueam Elder Larry Grant, a speech from a residential school survivor, and a performance from the Spakwus Slolem (Eagle Song Dancers), a traditional Coast Salish song and dance group.
In addition to the intergenerational march, Orange Shirt Day will include food, educational resources, and orange shirts available for purchase outside the UBC Bookstore. T-shirt proceeds will be donated to the Indian Residential Schools Survivors Society.
For more information about these events, see this page with details on the intergenerational march, and this page with general information about Orange Shirt Day at UBC.
I hope you have learned something new from this blog post, and you will be inspired to continue recognizing and reflecting upon Canada’s colonial history. I wish you all a happy September and a meaningful Orange Shirt Day. Thanks, as always, for reading!
Web Resources:
About the Society. (n.d.). Orange Shirt Society. Retrieved September 12, 2024, from https://orangeshirtday.org/about-us/
Participate in Orange Shirt Day on Sept. 30. (2024, September 9). UBC Today. Retrieved September 12, 2024, from https://ubctoday.ubc.ca/news/september-09-2024/participate-orange-shirt-day-sept-30
Phyllis’ Story. (n.d.). Orange Shirt Society. Retrieved September 12, 2024, from https://orangeshirtday.org/phyllis-story/
Residential School History. (2020, December 21). National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation. https://nctr.ca/education/teaching-resources/residential-school-history/, https://nctr.ca/education/teaching-resources/residential-school-history/
Scholarly Resources:
Gora, L. S. (2022). ‘Sad ol’ mush’: The poetics and politics of porridge in residential schools in canada. Childhood in the Past, 15(2), 86-95. https://doi.org/10.1080/17585716.2022.2095173
Webstad, P., Sorley, J., & Orange Shirt Society. (2020). Orange shirt day, september 30th. Medicine Wheel Education. [Available at UBC Library].
Wilk, P., Maltby, A., & Cooke, M. (2017). Residential schools and the effects on indigenous health and well-being in canada: A scoping review. Public Health Reviews, 38(1), 8-8. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40985-017-0055-6
UBC Researchers:
Tricia Logan, Interim Academic Director of UBC’s Indian Residential School History and Dialogue Centre (IRSHDC)
Kristin Kozar, Executive Director and Oral Testimony Program Co-leader at the IRSHDC
David McAtackney, Research Manager at the IRSHDC