Orange Shirt Day
This September 30th marks the 10th Annual Orange Shirt Day and the 3rd National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. Phyllis (Jack) Webstad founded Orange Shirt Day and The Orange Shirt Society to support residential school reconciliation, to create awareness of the individual, family, and community inter-generational impacts of residential schools and to create awareness of the concept of “Every Child Matters.” We encourage Canadians to take time to learn about residential schools, and the lasting impacts they continue to have, and to honour those who never returned home and the survivors who did.
While not every Indigenous person is a survivor, child or grandchild of a survivor, all Indigenous peoples feel the impacts of the assimilation tools used to strip First Nations, Inuit, and Métis peoples of our languages, cultures, and identities. We encourage Canadians to learn about ways they can support reconciliation efforts happening across the country.
Friendship Centres across Canada support urban Indigenous peoples with an array of programs and services aimed at improving the well-being of Indigenous peoples living in urban environments. Friendship Centres provide supports to survivors of residential schools as well as language and culture programs that help people reconnect and relearn what may have been lost to them.
Today, wear your orange shirt to honour the thousands of survivors of residential schools and commit to ensure that every child matters.
Friendship Centres across the country are organizing special events in honour of this day. You can use our tool to find your local Friendship Centre: https://nafc.ca/friendship-centres/find-a-friendship-centre