Orange Shirt Day

Orange Shirt Day is observed on September 30 as a day of remembrance, reflection, and education about the painful legacy of residential schools and their lasting impact on Indigenous children, families, and communities in Canada. The orange shirt symbolizes the dignity, identity, and belonging that were taken from Indigenous children, while honoring Survivors and those who never returned home.

This observance invites people of all ages to learn about Indigenous histories and cultures, listen to Survivors’ experiences, and consider how they can support truth, healing, and reconciliation. Wearing orange is one meaningful way to show that every child matters and to stand in solidarity with Indigenous communities.

Orange Shirt Day is observed annually on **September 30** to honour Indigenous children who were sent to residential schools and to recognize the survivors, families, and communities affected by that system. Its origins are closely associated with Phyllis Webstad, a Northern Secwépemc (Shuswap) woman from the Stswecem’c Xget’tem First Nation. In 1973, when she was six years old, Webstad wore a new orange shirt for her first day at the Mission school near Williams Lake, British Columbia. The shirt was taken from her, an experience she later described as symbolizing the loss of family, culture, language, and identity imposed on Indigenous children.

Webstad shared her story publicly at a 2013 residential-school commemoration in Williams Lake, helping inspire the first Orange Shirt Day. The orange shirt became a widely recognized symbol of the principle that **“Every Child Matters.”** The observance encourages people to learn about the history and lasting effects of residential schools, listen to survivors, and acknowledge the responsibility of governments, institutions, and individuals to support reconciliation.

Over time, September 30 became an important day for educational programs, memorial gatherings, public ceremonies, and community-led activities across Canada. Its development was influenced by the work of residential-school survivors and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, which documented the schools’ history and issued Calls to Action. In 2021, the federal government also established September 30 as the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, a related public observance that expanded national attention to the legacy of residential schools while Orange Shirt Day continued as a distinct survivor-centered movement.

Culturally, Orange Shirt Day is more than an invitation to wear orange. It is a day of remembrance, truth-telling, and solidarity with Indigenous peoples. Events may include survivor testimonies, teachings from Elders, classroom discussions, walks, art, music, and ceremonies, though practices differ among communities. The day also emphasizes that reconciliation requires continued action—not only reflection on September 30—including protecting Indigenous languages and cultures, confronting racism, supporting survivors, and learning from the history that the observance brings into public view.