On September 30th we commemorated the first National Day for Truth and Reconciliation (also known as Orange Shirt Day) in Canada. Orange Shirt Day was created in 2013, during the St. Joseph Mission Residential School Commemoration Program. Phyllis Webstab told her story - the story of being a six-year-old Indigenous child, on her first day of residential school and having her new, special orange shirt taken from her. This year was the first time this day was a federal, statutory holiday. On this day, we acknowledge the wrongdoings in Canada’s past, including how at the residential schools their culture was taken away from them and the pain that many suffered because of their experiences at these schools. Today many staff and students wore orange shirts as a symbol of respect and solidarity with Indigenous communities and to remember that Every Child Matters.
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