Orange Shirt Day is a chance for us to engage in open conversation about residential schools

Tansi

Orange Shirt Day is a day to honour those who survived residential schools and their families, and to acknowledge that Every Child Matters.

It’s a chance for all of us to engage in open conversation about residential schools. It creates opportunities for survivors to share their stories, which is crucial to healing, and to learning. By making space for these discussions to happen, Orange Shirt Day encourages meaningful reconciliation within our community and across Canada. 

If you’d like to show your support for Orange Shirt Day, we’ve partnered with the city’s Diversity & Inclusion Network to host a free, online event on Wednesday, Sept 29.

I hope you’ll join us as we embark on this journey of reconciliation together. 

If you’d like to learn more about Orange Shirt Day and Canada’s residential schools, the resources below are a great place to start. You can also find a lot of information on our reconciliation page.

Orange Shirt Day

• The Orange Shirt Story by Phyllis Webstad. This true story inspired the movement of Orange Shirt Day.
• Orange Shirt Day explores the historical impact on Indigenous people in order to create champions who will walk a path of reconciliation through Orange Shirt Day, promoting the message that Every Child Matters.
• Orange Shirt Day study guide companion. Readers of Orange Shirt Day will embark on a sacred journey to deepen their understanding of Orange Shirt Day and residential school reconciliation. 
• Phyllis's Orange Shirt by Phyllis Webstad. An adaptation of The Orange Shirt Story for ages 4-6.

Non Fiction

• They Came for the Children Canada, Aboriginal Peoples, and Residential Schools
• A Knock on the Door the essential history of residential schools from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada by Phil Fontaine
• A National Crime the Canadian government and the residential school system, 1879 to 1986 by John S Milloy 
• Residential Schools: The devastating impact on Canada’s Indigenous Peoples and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s findings and calls to action by Melanie Florence
• Speaking our Truth A Journey of Reconciliation by Monique Gray Smith and  Speaking our Truth Teacher Guide by Tasha Henry

Memoir, Autobiography and True Stories

• Broken Circle: The Dark Legacy of Indian Residential Schools: A Memoir by Theodore Fontaine
• The Education of Augie Merasty by Joseph Auguste Merasty 
• They Called me Number One: Secrets and survival at an Indian residential school by Bev Sellars  
• Seven Fallen Feathers: Racism, Death, and Hard Truths in a Northern City by Tanya Talaga 
• Finding my Talk: How fourteen Native women reclaimed their lives after residential school
• Residential Schools: With the words and images of survivors by Larry Loyie 

Fiction

• Five Little Indians by Michelle Good
• Indian Horse by Richard Wagamese
• Porcupines and China Dolls by Robert Arthur Alexie 
• Tilly: a story of hope and resilience by Monique Gray Smith  
• When We Were Alone by David A. Robertson
• I Am Not a Number by Jenny Dupuis and Kathy Kacer

Graphic Novels

• UNeducation Volume 1, A Residential School Graphic Novel  by Jason Eagle Speaker 
• Sugar Falls a Residential School Story by David Robertson 

Films

• Muffins for Granny DVD, 88min documentary, 7 Elders tell their stories
• Beyond the Shadows  29min documentary, 1992 on Kanopy
• Our Spirits Don’t Speak English  1hr20min documentary, 2008 on Kanopy
• National Film Board has pull together a playlist of films for Orange Shirt Day 
• National Film Board Residential Schools

Website

• Shattering the Silence: The Hidden History of Indian Residential Schools in Saskatchewan eBook from the University of Regina

Wendy Sinclair, Indigenous Services Advisor