When Phyllis Webstad (nee Jack) turned six, she went to the residential school for the first time. On her first day at school, she wore a shiny orange shirt that her Granny had bought for her, but when she got to the school, it was taken away from her and never returned. This is the true story of Phyllis and her orange shirt. It is also the story of Orange Shirt Day, an important day of remembrance for First Nations and non First Nations Canadians.
A simple orange shirt has become a conversation starter for all aspects of residential school across Canada and beyond. Phyllis has inspired thousands and thousands of people to honour residential school survivors and their families and share the call on September 30th of each year that "EVERY CHILD MATTERS."
Orange Shirt Day is an opportunity for First Nations, local governments, schools and communities to come together in the spirit of reconciliation and hope for generations of children to come. We honour the Indigenous survivors of the residential school system, as well as those who went missing or were murdered.
- 43 pages
- 28cm x 21.5cm
- English
- Medicine Wheel Publishing (2018)
- ISBN 978-0993869495