Orange shirt day helps with healing

Garment is a tribute to generations traumatized by residential schools

By wearing brightly coloured clothing, Saskatoon students are learning and raising awareness about one of Canada’s darkest chapters.

Both of Saskatoon’s major school divisions are set to mark the importance of reconciliation and recognizing the impacts of Canada’s Residential School System as students and staff are being encouraged to participate in Orange Shirt Day, with celebrations set for Friday.

The meaning of the orange shirt, according to orangeshirtday.org, is rooted in a story from St. Joseph’s Mission Residential School in Williams Lake, B.C., when a student, Phyllis Webstad, had her new orange shirt, which was brought by her grandmother, removed on the first day of residential school.

Now, the event — which serves as a legacy project of the St. Joseph Mission Residential School Commemoration Project and Reunion — is recognized in of schools across Canada, including in classrooms and staff lounges here in Saskatoon.

Chief Bobby Cameron of the Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations said Tuesday the celebration is an important one for students in Saskatoon and across Canada.

“It creates awareness,” said Cameron when asked about the effects of Orange Shirt Day.

“The trend is, today, right across this country, that First Nations organizations and non-First Nations organizations, mayors and their councils, are starting to get involved,” he said. “It opens the eyes. Orange shirt day is a day to be recognized, it’s a day to honour those that went through that serious time, that traumatizing time.”

Delvin Kanewiyakiho, acting co-ordinator of the First Nation, Metis, Inuit education unit in Saskatoon’s Catholic division, said the effects of the residential school system are felt by all Canadians, saying it’s part of “Our Canadian consciousness.”

“This opportunity to address what happened is a big thing for all people,” he said. “We need to understand what really happened and what can do to support each other — all of us — as we heal.”

Open and “brave discussions” on Canada’s residential schools provide students and members of the community a chance to share their thoughts on what can be done to prevent this type of suppression from happening again, said Kanewiyakiho. He said students are better informed on Canada’s residential school system than people have been in the past, noting they’re more willing to open themselves up to talk about reconciliation, with many already examining how they can help Canada become a better place.

“I’ve had students talk to me about how they feel about what happened and how it affected all of us — not just First Nations,” he said.

Throughout both of Saskatoon’s major school divisions, students will be learning about the role Canada’s residential school system played when it comes to the suppression of Indigenous peoples.

He said students will be taught about the importance of preserving First Nations language and culture, touching on how students at Oskayak High School will be taking part in a powwow, with others hearing from First Nation elders and knowledge keepers.

Darryl Isbister, co-ordinator of the public division’s First Nation, Inuit and Metis education unit, said although some Canadians feel the residential school system is a distant part of Canada’s history, the effects are still being felt, touching on how the last residential school in Saskatchewan closed in 1996.

“There’s a belief that it’s in the past, but we know for a fact, that it’s still impacting many of our families today that are part of our school system,” said Isbister. He said during his own education, he was never taught about the history of Canada’s residential schools and their intergenerational impact.

“When you encounter someone who has experienced residential schools, it’s important you know their story so you can interact with them and have an understanding of what their life experience was as they grew up as part of that system,” he said.

Orange shirt day is a day to be recognized .. to honour those that went through that serious time...