September 30, 2026
The National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, colloquially known as Orange Shirt Day is a Canadian day of memorial to recognize the atrocities and multi-generational effects of the Canadian Indian residential school system. It occurs every year on September 30.
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission was established to document the effects of the residential school system. The residential school system was created as a civilizing mission to isolate Indigenous children from the influence of their own culture and religion in order to assimilate them into the dominant Euro-Canadian culture.
Orange Shirt Day was first established as a day of observance in 2013. The use of an orange shirt as a symbol was inspired by the accounts of Phyllis Jack Webstad, whose personal clothing—including a new orange shirt—was taken from her during her first day of residential schooling, and never returned. The orange shirt is thus used as a symbol of the forced assimilation of Indigenous children that the residential school system enforced.
The day was elevated to a statutory holiday for federal workers and workers in federally-regulated workplaces by the Parliament of Canada in 2021, and named "National Day for Truth and Reconciliation", in light of the claims of over 1,000 unmarked graves near former residential school sites.
~Excerpts and Hyperlinks From Wikipedia
Comments
Post a Comment