Orange Shirt Day – September 30

We are just a little over a week away from Orange shirt day.  Here at Dundana, we hope many of our students will join us in recognizing this important day.

On Thursday, September 30, we wear orange to honour the story of Phyllis Webstad, who in the early 1970s had her orange shirt taken away on her first day at the St. Joseph Mission (SJM) Residential School in British Columbia.

The orange shirt is symbolic of how Indigenous children were forcibly removed from their homes, families and communities to attend state and church-led schools that stripped them of their culture, language and identity. This created irreversible harm from which many families still suffer.

We encourage you to wear orange on Thursday, September 30 to honour the children whose lives were lost and the survivors of Residential Schools. Beginning in May, 2021, 215 bodies were uncovered at the Kamloops Indian Residential School, and since then, over 6,100 bodies in unmarked graves have been unearthed.

For more information about HWDSB approach to Indigenous learning and recognition, please see:  https://www.hwdsb.on.ca/elementary/supports/indigenous-education/