Every year on September 30, people across Canada and the United States wear orange shirts to honor Indigenous children affected by residential and boarding schools and to remember the survivors, families, and communities who continue to carry their impacts.
Orange Shirt Day began in Williams Lake, British Columbia, Canada, following the 2013 St. Joseph Mission Residential School Commemoration Project and Reunion. The movement grew from the story of Phyllis (Jack) Webstad, a former student who was six years old when she was taken to residential school. Her grandmother bought her a new, bright orange shirt, but the school took it away on her first day. For Phyllis, the shirt came to symbolize how the residential school system attempted to take away children’s identity, culture, family connections, and sense of belonging.
The phrase “Every Child Matters” became the movement’s central message. It recognizes survivors and their families, as well as the children who died at or because of the schools, and affirms that Indigenous children, past and present, deserve to be valued, protected, and connected to their families and cultures.
Although Orange Shirt Day began in Canada, its message resonates strongly in the United States because the U.S. also operated a vast system of American Indian boarding schools. For generations, Native children were separated from their families and communities, often forbidden from speaking their languages and practicing their cultures, and subjected to harsh discipline and abuse. The effects continue across generations through language loss, cultural disruption, family trauma, and unresolved grief.
For Native communities, participating in Orange Shirt Day is an opportunity to remember, educate, and continue the work of healing. For non-Native people, it is an opportunity to learn about a history that is often left out of classrooms and to listen to Indigenous survivors, relatives, and communities.
Learning the history, listening to Native voices, supporting Indigenous languages and cultures, and creating safer futures for Native children are all ways to put “Every Child Matters” into action.
Sources: PBS, Orange Shirt Society
