Orange Shirt Day

On September 30, the St. Thomas University community commemorated Orange Shirt Day—a national movement in Canada for Indigenous and non-Indigenous people to come together in the spirit of hope and reconciliation to honour former residential school students whose families and communities have been impacted by the policies and actions of the Government of Canada and churches that operated the schools.

Orange Shirt Day began in Williams Lake, BC in 2013 at the St. Joseph Mission residential school commemoration event and has spread across the country. The name Orange Shirt Day honours survivor Phyllis Webstad's story of having her shiny new orange shirt taken away from her on her first day of school at the Mission. The date of the annual event was chosen because it is the time of year that children were removed from their families and forced to attend residential schools. Orange Shirt Day seeks to inspire Canadians to initiate anti-racism and anti-bullying initiatives in schools and the workplace.

The residential school era began in the early 1870’s, with the last school closing in 1996. More than 150,000 Indigenous, Métis, and Inuit children attended these schools, with an estimated 80,000 survivors living today.

Schedule of Events

Opening Ceremony
11:30 AM | Courtyard / Sir James Dunn Hall Cafeteria

Luncheon
Bannock and Corn Chowder
12 PM | Sir James Dunn Hall Cafeteria

Film Showing
“We Carry Each Other’s Memories: Residential School Survivors”
12:30 PM | Ted Daigle Auditorium, Edmund Casey Hall

Closing Ceremony
Tobacco Offerings, Closing Prayers, and Snakedance
1:30 PM | Ted Daigle Auditorium, Edmund Casey Ha