On Monday, Sept. 30, staff at the Division of Continuing Studies took part in the annual Orange Shirt Day along with other UVic faculty, staff and students. The event was created to show respect for residential school survivors and their families, and to commit to the principle that every child matters. 

The design for this year's orange shirt was contributed by artist Carey Newman (Coast Salish/Kwagiulth). Newman is the audain professor of contemporary art practice of the Pacific Northwest with the Department of Visual Arts.

History of event:

Orange Shirt is a national movement in Canada for Indigenous and non-Indigenous people to come together in the spirit of hope and reconciliation to honour former residential school students whose families and communities have been impacted by the policies and actions of the Government of Canada and the churches that operated the schools.

Orange Shirt Day began in Williams Lake, BC in 2013 at the St. Joseph Mission (SJM) residential school commemoration event and has since spread across the country. The name Orange Shirt Day honours survivor Phyllis Webstad's story of having her shiny new orange shirt taken away from her on her first day of school at the Mission.

The date of the annual event was chosen because it is the time of year that children were removed from their families and forced to attend residential schools. Orange Shirt Day inspires Canadians to initiate anti-racism and anti-bullying initiatives in schools and the workplace.

The residential school era began in the early 1870s, with the last school closing in 1996. More than 150,000 Indigenous, Métis and Inuit children attended these schools, with an estimated 80,000 survivors living today.

Learn more at: uvic.ca/event/orange-shirt-day

• Posted October 1, 2019