Orange Shirt Day: Learning, reflection, and recommended reading

26 August 2026 - by Christina Sanakidis, Manager of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging

Text: Orange Shirt Day. Image: A pair of small, embroidered moccasins on a patchwork quilt.

This blog post discusses Canada’s colonial systems of harm against Indigenous Peoples, specifically the Indian Residential School system. This content may be upsetting. The Indian Residential School Survivors Society operates a 24-hour crisis line for Survivors and their families and communities.

What is Orange Shirt Day?

Orange Shirt Day began in 2013 to recognize Survivors of St. Joseph Mission Residential School, which closed in 1981, on Secwépemc territory in what’s currently called British Columbia. The day honours the experiences of Residential School Survivors and invites communities to witness their healing journeys and those of their families. It also represents an ongoing commitment to truth and reconciliation.

Today, people across the country wear orange shirts to honour the Indigenous children who were taken from their homes and forced to attend Residential Schools, where many experienced physical, sexual, and emotional abuse, cultural assimilation, and deprivation.

In 2021, the federal government established September 30 as the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.

Who is Phyllis Webstad?

Orange Shirt Day was inspired by Phyllis Webstad, who was six years old when she wore a brand-new orange shirt on her first day at Residential School. When she arrived, her clothing, including her new orange shirt, was taken from her. "I never wore it again," Webstad said. "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," she said.

What were Indian Residential Schools?

Nearly 150,000 Indigenous children were removed from their families and communities and forced to attend Residential Schools between the 1800s and the late 1900s. Funded by the federal government and largely run by Christian churches, the Residential School system was designed to assimilate Indigenous children and force them to convert to Christianity.

Residential Schools provided little education, replacing much academic learning with religious indoctrination and manual labour. Children experienced widespread abuse and malnutrition, and some were subjected to unethical nutrition experiments without their knowledge or consent. These experiments may also have been connected to the development of Canada’s nutrition guidelines, which later became Canada’s Food Guide.

Residential Schools further harmed children by separating them from their families and cultures. Children were stripped of their traditional names and forbidden to speak or read their own languages, practise their traditions, or sing traditional songs. They were given English, French, or Christian names and forced to speak English or French. Siblings were also separated.

How can you honour Indian Residential Survivors on September 30?

The Orange Shirt Day message, "Every Child Matters," extends beyond the history of Residential Schools. It also invites us to learn about ongoing systems and policies that continue to harm Indigenous children and families, including the overrepresentation of Indigenous children in the child welfare system and the systemic underfunding of Indigenous education and housing.

On September 30, continue the conversation. Talk with friends and family about these ongoing issues and the intergenerational impacts of the Residential School system.

You can also consider purchasing your orange shirt from an Indigenous-owned business and adding books by Indigenous authors to your reading list.