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Commemorating Orange Shirt Day

In the fall, schools around the TDSB commemorate Orange Shirt Day. Typically, we engage in a campaign of education and awareness, along with an individual engagement about how we can make a personal connection.

Since we’re not all together in the same place at the same time this year, the campaign is going virtual, with a video. The script follows the video, along with some links for further exploration.

Some of our home learning will require access to these websites. For any support accessing these sites, please contact your year team through the relevant home learning page. The possibilities of using VR as immersive learning technology in various aspects are endless. Learning with Virtual Reality will be ultimate since, as we discussed above. If you are interested in utilizing our solutions for immersive learning through VR, then make sure to contact us at CHRP-INDIA. If you would like to know more about Virtual. We are working on learning targets 5 and 6 this week! LT 5: I can evaluate algebraic equations. The kids all THINK they can do this already. And really, they can. But we are focusing on the writing format because in our next learning target (LT 6) they will have to use that format to solve single-step algebra equations. Head of PE dept. Trained, qualified and taught in Merseyside. Now teaching internationally in Houston, Texas.

Orange Shirt Day

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While the video above is MY words, there are

Links for Further Exploration

VIDEOS:

Articles:

Script

Introduction
Have you ever wondered why we read the Territorial Acknowledgement each morning?

We read it to recognize that aboriginal people were the First Nation in Canada, and WE settled on THEIR land.

We read it to acknowledge the harm that the Residential School System inflicted on First Nations, Métis and Inuit children.

Did you know…

The Canadian Residential School system operated in Canada from 1870 to 1996.

Children as young as six were taken away from their families.

Approximately 150,000 aboriginal children were sent to church run schools, and it is estimated that up to 30,000 of those died due to malnourishment, tuberculosis and other diseases caused by poor living conditions.

Worse, physical, emotional, and sexual abuse were rampant in the system.

Why Orange…and Why September 30?
Orange shirt day is commemorated every year at the end of September, because this is the time the government would enter native communities and collect Indigenous children.

Some families willingly sent their children to the schools under the promise of protection and education.

Some families didn’t have a choice.

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Either way, it was a hard time for families because they knew they might not see their children for many years.

But there’s more.

We wear orange because of Phyllis Webstad, an indigenous woman. When she was six years old, she was sent to a residential school from her home on the Dog Creek Reserve, in Manitoba. For her first day of school, her grandmother bought her a new shirt to wear.

It was orange and shiny, and had a string laced up in the front.

When she got to school, officials took away her shirt, but that’s not all they took away. They stripped:

  • her culture…
  • her traditions…
  • her language…

In the early 20th century, American President Theodore Roosevelt said “The only good Indian is a dead Indian”

He wasn’t Canadian, but the sentiment wasn’t much different here, and the officially sanctioned aim of the Canadian government in creating the Residential School System was to “kill the Indian in the child…”

And they did. They killed the Indian inside Phyllis Webstad like they did to so many Indigenous children.

So, we wear orange on September 30 not just for Phyllis, and others who suffered in the residential school system, but for those who continue to suffer today.

Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission
In 2008, the Canadian government launched the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, independent of government influence, to guide Canadians through the difficult discovery of the facts behind the residential school system. The report made 94 Calls to Action in an attempt to lay the foundation for lasting reconciliation with First Nations people across Canada.

Some of the calls to action include:

  • a cash settlement for the 80,000 First Nations people still living in Canada, who are victims of the Residential School System;
  • recommendations about child welfare, language, and education for indigenous communities;
  • justice for aboriginals in the legal system;
  • social programs and funding; and
  • a long overdue national inquiry into the thousands of missing and murdered Indigenous women and children.

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A Haunting Legacy
The Residential School System is a legacy that haunts our country.

And that’s why every day of the school year, we hear the Territorial Acknowledgement to show our respect for each other and the land on which we live, which is not only in keeping with Indigenous Protocol–to acknowledge the Traditional Territories and Ancestral Lands–but also to help build respectful relationships between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal peoples in Canada.

Hearing the Territorial Acknowledgement every day acknowledge that Canada’s First Nations people cared for the land we now call Canada for thousands of years before us, and reminds us all that we are part of something bigger than our Confederation in 1867.

Moving Forward…
However, Orange Shirt Day isn’t simply an isolated event reserved for one day of commemoration. The lessons we learn from Phyllis Webstad, and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission can transfer to other aspects of our life.

Because of the actions that started 150 years ago, we not only learn that we need to accept everybody for their differences and unique personalities, but to celebrate and foster differences–within our school and the broader community.

How can we do that?

  • We can be accepting of everyone’s culture, religion, language, and traditions. whether or not we agree or understand.
  • We can learn more about each other’s culture, religion, language, and traditions.
  • We can be careful of the words, actions we use, and be especially mindful of our thoughts.
  • We can think about our part in environmental stewardship, and about conserving a healthy planet for future generations.
  • We can commemorate and reconcile the harm of the Residential School System, while also celebrating differences, and move forward in the spirit of positivity and reconciliation.

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Orange Shirt Day may commemorate a horrible legacy, but it’s also a chance to reflect and grow.

And so…

“I’d like to acknowledge we are hosted on the lands of the Mississaugas of the Anishinaabe, the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, and the Wendat.

I also recognize the enduring presence of all First Nations, Métis and Inuit peoples.”

Phyllis Webstad