By Terra Indigena staff
Each September 30, people in Canada wear orange to honour residential school survivors, remember the children who never returned home and confront a history still affecting families and communities.
Orange Shirt Day grew from the experience of Phyllis Webstad, a member of the Stswecem’c Xget’tem First Nation. In 1973, when she was six, her grandmother bought her an orange shirt for her first day at St. Joseph Mission Residential School in British Columbia.
“They stripped me, and took away my clothes, including the orange shirt,” Webstad recalls. “I never wore it again.”
The loss of that shirt came to represent more than clothing. It symbolized how residential schools sought to strip Indigenous children of their identities, languages, cultures and family connections.
Webstad says orange reminded her that “my feelings didn’t matter” and that she felt “like I was worth nothing.”
The message “Every Child Matters” answers that childhood wound. Orange Shirt Day asks Canadians to listen to survivors, learn the truth about residential schools and support reconciliation. Wearing orange is an act of remembrance, but its meaning must continue through education, accountability and action throughout the year.