It was a virtual sea of orange Wednesday as Niagara College staff and students joined in efforts to mark Orange Shirt Day online.
Nearly 1,500 students took part in the College’s edition of the national event, which happened on Facebook, and promoted the message that every child matters.
Orange Shirt Day is dedicated to educating Canadians about the disturbing history of the residential school system and its impact on Indigenous people. The event, which happens every Sept. 30, encourages Canadians to show support by wearing orange and tapping into resources about the intergenerational trauma caused by residential schools, which were established to force the assimilation of Indigenous people.
During the virtual event, participants heard from Indigenous students attending the College, a message from President Sean Kennedy, and a Q & A with Phyllis Webstad, the residential school survivor who inspired Orange Shirt Day.
“This is more than just a sea of orange shirts. It shows there’s a space for (Indigenous students) at Niagara College,” said Ashley Buck, Indigenous student success leader and member of the Onondaga Nation.
Orange Shirt Day officially started in 2013. Its origins are rooted in Webstad’s experiences as a child at a residential school near Williams Lake, B.C.
Webstad entered St. Joseph Mission Residential School when she was six. She wore a new orange shirt on her first day but it was confiscated and replaced with the school uniform.
The experience impacted Webstad in a way that made her feel worthless and insignificant — feelings with which she still contends.
Sept. 30 was chosen as Orange Shirt Day because that was the date when children would be taken from their communities to residential schools, which have a dark history of mental, sexual and physical abuse, and deprivation.
There are currently 300 self-identified Indigenous students attending Niagara College, Buck noted.
“This one day may have opened the door to many different dialogues. The student voice is what we need to hear,” Buck said. “They are our teachers as well.”
