Orange Shirt Day is an Indigenous-led grassroots commemorative day that honours the children who survived residential schools and remembers those who did not. This day relates to the experience of Phyllis Webstad, a Northern Secwepemc (Shuswap) woman, in which she arrived at residential school dressed in a new orange shirt bought by her grandmother, and her special shirt was cruelly taken from her.

On September 30, we encourage all settlers to wear orange to raise awareness of the very harrowing legacy of residential schools, and to honour the thousands of survivors. The orange shirt is now a symbol of the stripping away of culture, freedom and self-esteem experienced by Indigenous children by assimilationist Canadian policies. The date was chosen because it is the time of year in which children were taken from their homes to residential schools, and because it is an opportunity to set the stage for anti-racism and anti-bullying policies for the coming school year. It is an opportunity for First Nations, local governments, schools and communities to come together in the spirit of reconciliation and hope for generations of children to come.

The Tk'emlúps te Secwépemc nation is inviting people to mark the day by learning the Secwépemc Honour Song, traditionally sung at Secwépemc gatherings, and to drum and sing along at 2:15 p.m. PT on Sept. 30. You can learn the Secwépemc Honour Song from the video below.