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Orange Shirt Day
9-19-2018
Sunday, September 30 marks Canada’s fifth Orange Shirt Day. Although gaining in prominence, for many people the day will pass without awareness just as the cause it represents has been overlooked my most Canadians for generations. Orange Shirt Day was created in recognition of the harm that residential schools inflicted upon Indigenous children, families and communities for over 100 years. The symbolic orange shirt comes from the poignant memory of Phyllis Webstad. In 1973, as a 6-year-old kindergarten child, she was removed from her home and forced to live at a residential school. Initially, she was excited to go to school and fondly recalls going shopping with her grandmother for back-to-school clothes and picking out a shiny orange shirt. Her dreams of a happy educational experience vanished on the first day. “When I got to the Mission, they stripped me, and took away my clothes, including the orange shirt! I never saw it again. I didn’t understand why they wouldn’t give it back to me, it was mine! The colour orange has always reminded me of that and how my feelings didn’t matter, how no one cared and how I felt like I was worth nothing. All of us little children were crying, and no one cared.” Ms. Webstad’s discarded shirt represents the deep and ongoing pain inflicted by our compulsory residential school system that forcibly removed only Aboriginal children from their homes while allowing all others to remain with their families. The emptiness created by the loss of family, culture, language, freedom, safety, dignity, love, self-esteem, and identity still impact the survivors and their families and communities today. Wearing orange is an affirmation of our shared commitment of not only redressing the atrocities of the past but to ensure that we all stand together for the sake of every child no matter his or her heritage or circumstances.
Starting in 1880, by order of then Prime Minister Sir John A. MacDonald, the goal of the 136 residential schools spread across the country was to “civilize” the indigenous people by removing children from the care of their parents and families and housing them in large boarding schools to be taught the “Canadian” way of doing things by strangers. By law, attending residential school was mandatory for all Aboriginal children and the school administrators became their legal guardians with complete control. Records are imprecise, but over 150,000 children lived away from home for at least one school year and some for their entire childhood, returning in their late teen years to parents who were now strangers. Some children never returned at all. Between 3000 – 6000 children died. Cramped dormitories were breeding grounds for disease. Children were physical, mentally and sexually abused. Some committed suicide and some died trying to escape. Eventually, architectural plans for residential schools matter-of-factly included cemeteries as it was inevitable that children would die while suffering under these conditions. While not all the memories are bad, and stories of small moments of happiness and caring teachers exist, the intent of the system itself is indefensible.
Generations of children grew up without the benefit of a nurturing family life and supportive community. The suffering of the children far from home was mirrored by the pain of the parents who fell asleep night after night worried and alone. Entire towns had no school-aged children or youth. No laughter in the park, no family meals going over the events of the day, no shepherding children to and from play dates and appointments, no teen-age babysitters or after-school jobs, no bedtime stories or kisses for bumps and bruises. No rhythm of a busy, but fulfilling, family and community life. Parents watched their babies grow into toddlers and their toddlers reach school age with dread. The fall after their sixth birthday marked the expiration date of being a parent. Stripped of the pride and purpose of parenthood, feelings of emptiness, worthlessness, and defeat spread.
Usually when someone leaves a school, they refer to themselves as “alumni” – a name that indicates pride and good memories. Former residential school students have mainly chosen the term “survivor” when describing their educational experience. Only recently have they stepped forward to share their stories and to help the nation face what former Prime Minister Stephen Harper called “a sad chapter in Canadian history” when issuing an official apology in 2008. We all know we can’t change the past and saying “sorry” doesn’t take away all the pain. But we can, each one of us, influence the future. When you see the colour orange, let it motivate you to make sure feelings do matter, people do care, and everyone is worthy.
More information can be found at http://www.orangeshirtday.org/ Zainab Dhanani can be reached at z_dhanani@yahoo.ca
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