Orange Shirt Day falls on September 30th. It is not exactly a holiday, but a day meant to honour the children who were sent to residential schools and to learn more about its history. Let’s begin.

The first church-run Indian Residential School was opened in 1831. By the 1880s, the federal government had adopted an official policy of funding residential schools across Canada. The explicit intent was to separate these children from their families and cultures which became one of the major stains in Canadian history. This awful concept of Residential schools continued until 1996 when the last school, located in Saskatchewan, closed.

Orange Shirt Day is meant to represent the resilience of the children sent to these schools and their courage. Now, the reason why it’s called Orange Shirt Day is because of a young girl called Phyllis Webstad who wore an orange shirt on her first day at school but had it taken away. This left a deep impression on her which stayed with her for the rest of her life.

What we can do here at R.H. King to help honor survivors like Webstad is to wear an Orange shirt on September 30th.