What is Orange Shirt Day?
Orange Shirt is a national movement in Canada for Indigenous and non-Indigenous people to come together in the spirit of hope and reconciliation to honour former residential school students whose families and communities have been impacted by the policies and actions of the Government of Canada and the churches that operated the schools.
Orange Shirt Day began in Williams Lake, BC in 2013 at the St. Joseph Mission (SJM) residential school commemoration event and has since spread across the country. The name Orange Shirt Day honours survivor Phyllis Webstad’s story of having her shiny new orange shirt taken away from her on her first day of school at the Mission.
The date of the annual event was chosen because it is the time of year that children were removed from their families and forced to attend residential schools. Orange Shirt Day inspires Canadians to initiate anti-racism and anti-bullying initiatives in schools and the workplace.
The residential school era began in the early 1870’s, with the last school closing in 1996. More than 150,000 Indigenous, Métis and Inuit children attended these schools, with an estimated 80,000 survivors living today.
Orange Shirt Day at UVic: Monday, September 30, 2019
The university of Victoria is committed to fostering respect, reconciliation and mutual understanding with all Indigenous peoples and communities. You’re invited to be a partner in the work of reconciliation by listening, learning and sharing in events and discussions on Orange Shirt Day 2019.
UVic’s Orange Shirt Day events will include:
- A Welcome to the Territory and Indigenous cultural presentation.
- A group photo in the Quad. Please consider wearing an orange shirt—it is a visual symbol of our awareness of the need for ongoing reconciliation among Indigenous and non-Indigenous Canadians.
- A film screening of Carey Newman’s film Picking Up the Pieces: The Making of the Witness Blanket, followed by a discussion with Carey Newman (Audain Professor of Contemporary Art Practice of the
- Pacific Northwest, Department of Visual Arts) and Elder and residential school survivor Victor Newman.
- All events are free. Please check back closer to the date for confirmed times.
2019 Orange Shirt Day
The design for the UVic 2019 orange shirt was contributed by artist Carey Newman (Coast Salish/Kwagiulth). Newman is the Audain Professor of Contemporary Art Practice of the Pacific Northwest with the Department of Visual Arts. Learn more here: http://www.orangeshirtday.org/
