Every Child Matters

Content Area: 🦅 Tribal History Shared History

Each year on September 30th, First Nations, Metis, Inuit and Native American communities honor the children who fell victim to the residential, boarding school, mission school, and day school systems in both Canada and the United States.

Established in 2013, by First Nations community in Williams Lake, British Columbia elder Phyllis Webstad shared her story of how her grandmother bought her an orange shirt to wear to her first day at residential school.

Like her grandmother and mother before her, Phyllis was sent to a residential school. Immediately upon arriving, she and the other kids were stripped and forced into different clothing. She never again saw the orange shirt. Webstad later stated, “I didn’t understand why they wouldn’t give it back to me, it was mine! The color orange has always reminded me of that and how my feelings didn’t matter, how no one cared and how I felt like I was worth nothing. All of us little children were crying, and no one cared.”

Over a decade later, Orange Shirt Day is a symbol of our losses as Native peoples, but also our resilience, a day to remember those who didn’t survive and those who are still with us today.

Since May 27th, 2021’s announcement from the Kamloops Residential school, thousands of grave sites have been identified – but the total number of children lost remains unknown. (NAYA Family Center)

At BSD this day is an opportunity to engage students in discussions about the importance of remembering and acknowledging the reliance of our students and their families. Our elementary and middle school students are exploring this topic each year through Tribal History Shared History lessons. While this may be an uncomfortable part of history for some to discuss, it is important for our students to be knowledgeable about it in order to be better prepared to be community members and leaders in the future.

Resources:

https://www.oregon.gov/odhs/tribal-affairs/pages/orange-shirt-day-background.aspx https://www.canada.ca/en/canadian-heritage/campaigns/national-day-truth-reconciliation.html 

https://www.pacificu.edu/magazine/tragic-collision-cultures 

https://heritage.lib.pacificu.edu/s/indian-school/page/welcome 

Contact:  Jen Anderson (Jen_Anderson@beaverton.k12.or.us)