Orange Shirt Day is a movement that officially began in 2013, but in reality it began in 1973 when six-year old Phyllis Webstad entered the St. Joseph Mission Residential School, outside of Williams Lake, BC. Young Phyllis was wearing a brand new orange shirt for her first day of school - new clothes being a rare and wonderful thing for an Indigenous girl growing up in her grandmother's care - but the Mission Oblates quickly stripped her of her new shirt and replaced it with the school's institutional uniform.
Ms. Webstad's story is the nucleus for what has become a national movement to recognize the experience of survivors of Indian residential schools, honour them, and show a collective commitment to ensure that every child matters. The initiative calls for every Canadian to wear an orange shirt on September 30 in the spirit of healing and reconciliation.
