Phyllis Webstad, a residential school survivor and community leader, started Orange Shirt Day in 2013 to encourage communities to support reconciliation events and activities, and to create awareness of the individual, family, and community intergenerational impacts of residential schools, promoting the concept of “Every Child Matters.”
Today, we pause for National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, and reflect on the profound injustices faced by Indigenous peoples in Canada. Particularly, we recognize the traumatic legacy of the residential school system and the 150,000 children who endured it, honouring the survivors and the memory of those who did not return home.
This day is not only about remembrance but also about action. It calls on each of us as individuals and organizations to acknowledge the painful truth of our shared history and its lasting impacts, to listen to Indigenous voices, and to do our part to achieve the Calls to Action of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada.
