Orange Shirt Day
September 30, Orange Shirt Day, is a day of remembrance to honour students of the Residential School system, and to recognize the profound impact that this system has left on the estimated 150,000 students and their families. In recognition of this, the Town of Peace River encourages community members to wear an orange shirt on September 30.
This day was inspired by Phyllis Wedstad, a Residential School survivor who, on her first day at the Mission, was stripped of an orange shirt that her grandmother so lovingly gave her to start her first day at a new school.
Orange Shirt Day creates an opportunity for meaningful discussion and education surrounding the legacy of Residential Schools and opens a door for genuine reconciliation.
The St. Augustine Residential School, once located on Shaftesbury Trail, ‘closed’ as a formal Residential School site in 1907. However, the last Residential School in Canada only closed in 1996.
For more information on Orange Shirt Day please visit: orangeshirtday.org
In 2015, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada created 94 Calls to Action to “redress the legacy of residential schools and advance the process of Canadian reconciliation.”
The Calls to Action can be found here: trc.ca/assets/pdf/Calls_to_Action_English2.pdf
Emotional Safety
The document below was graciously provided by the Peace River Aboriginal Interagency Committee.
