September 30th is National Truth and Reconciliation Day, also known as Orange Shirt Day, which honours the survivors and provides an opportunity to reflect on the profound impacts of Canada’s Residential School System on Indigenous communities. Innovation Hub Blog Editor & Content & Digital Content Writer Ajeetha, and Research Coordinator Amelia reflect on the importance of this day and their learnings from the Innovation Hub’s Orange Shirt Day event.
Written by Ajeetha Vithiyananthan, Blog Editor & Digital Content Writer, Bachelor of Science, Psychology and Sociology, and Amelia Di Meo, Research Coordinator, Master of Health Science, Translational Research
September 30th is the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation: A federal statutory holiday designated to honour the survivors, families, and communities that have been, and continue to be impacted by Canada’s residential schools.
The residential school system, which began in the late 19th century, was a central element of a broader colonial strategy to assimilate Indigenous peoples into Euro-Canadian Christian society. Designed to strip Indigenous children of their culture, language, identity, and heritage, the last of these schools did not close until 1996—a sobering reminder of the recentness of this dark chapter in Canadian history.
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) was one of the several entities calling upon Canada to establish a National Day for Truth and Reconciliation to acknowledge the ongoing injustices faced by Indigenous peoples. In December 2015, TRC released its 94 Calls to Action aimed at addressing the legacy of these schools and fostering reconciliation between Indigenous peoples and Turtle Island’s settlers. In recent years, the discovery of hundreds of unmarked graves at former residential school sites has underscored the great need to recognize and redress the enduring harm and current systemic injustices Indigenous communities face today.
Every year our team plans a community event at the Innovation Hub to commemorate the National Day for Truth & Reconciliation.
Honouring Truth & Reconciliation at the Innovation Hub
In September, the Innovation Hub’s Community Engagement Team invited team members to commemorate the National Day for Truth & Reconciliation in our space. Our team organized an arts showcase of visual art and stories created by Indigenous artists.
The artwork introduced in our showcase depicted a heavy history of colonization, dispossession, and structural injustice that has occurred and is still continuously perpetuated against the Indigenous peoples of Turtle Island. The artwork also reflected something deeply personal, highlighting the diversity and multitude of Indigenous perspectives. The “truth” in truth and reconciliation requires us to uplift and learn about the many lived experiences of Indigenous peoples.
During the event, members of the iHub team rotated between three stations, each differing by art form, writing out their thoughts and reflections. Indigenous artists are first and foremost storytellers. Embedded in each artwork is an invitation—sometimes even an urgent plea—to look straight through the eyes of the Indigenous artist and see what they see, feel what they feel.
One station consisted of poetry, and the poems chosen for this activity are On the Boundary of Treaty No. 6 by Matthew James Weigel and Harmony with All of You by Joseph Dandurand.
Another station had two short stories selected from the book A Mind Spread Out on the Ground by Alicia Elliot.
The third station had two pieces of art; one called Don’t Want Indians by Edgar Heap of Birds, and the other called Trade (Gifts for Trading Land with White People) by Jaune Quick-to-See Smith.
After three rotations, our group debriefed about how the art pieces made us feel and our connections to the art pieces, if any, as well as what we, as individuals, Innovation Hub, and the university could do to move towards truth and reconciliation.
Reflections From Our Writers
Ajeetha, Blog Editor & Content Writer at the Innovation Hub, shared how attending Orange Shirt Day events while growing up helped her to think about her connection to this land. Ajeetha said,
“As a child, hearing the stories of residential school survivors, remembering those who did not survive, and seeing the sea of orange shirts in my school every September 30 was a powerful reminder that I—simultaneously, a child of immigrants from a war-torn country with a long and varied history of colonization and a settler-colonial who has benefited from Canada’s existence as a safe refuge at the expense of Indigenous communities—and others are some of the lucky ones.”
Similarly, Amelia, Research Coordinator at the Innovation Hub, shared her reflections upon attending the Orange Shirt Day event at the Innovation Hub. Amelia discusses how she learned the story behind “Orange Shirt Day.” Amelia says,
“Watching a video of Phyllis Webstad, the founder of the Orange Shirt Society, share her story of how Orange Shirt Day was created was a powerful moment. Hearing Phyllis’ story of having her orange shirt taken away by a nun at the residential school taught me about the origin of this day and opened my eyes to the depth of the trauma experienced by Indigenous children who attended these schools. I remember learning about the residential school system in high school, but only as a short paragraph in a history textbook – treating this story as an afterthought, and the pain of survivors as non-existent.”
Learning Beyond Orange Shirt Day
Reconciliation is an ongoing process that requires commitment beyond Orange Shirt Day. We encourage members of our community to continue educating themselves about Indigenous histories, cultures, and the broader movement for truth and reconciliation. As a start, we’ve included educational resources below.
Learning in Canada
- Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada: Calls to Action
- Orange Shirt Society
- WATCH: Orange Shirt Society: Canadian Residential School History
- Indigenous Canada (21-hour online free asynchronous course from the University of Alberta)
- READ: My Name is Seepetza by Shirley Sterling, a novel about a young girl’s experience in the residential school system in British Columbia in the 1950s
- LISTEN: to Indigenous traditional stories and creation stories (available in Indigenous languages or English) to gain a deeper understanding of Indigenous worldviews
- WATCH: A FREE Indigenous-made film on any topic of your choice
Learning at U of T
General
- U of T’s Response to the Truth & Reconciliation Committee’s 94 Calls to Action
- U of T courses about Indigenous histories and cultures (The Varsity, 2022)
- U of T’s Progress on Truth & Reconciliation (The Varsity, 2021)
First Nations House
- First Nations House Newsletter
- Academic Programs with Indigenous Inquiry (First Nations House – Indigenous Student Services)
- Indigenous Education Week
Centre for Indigenous Studies
Learning in Toronto
- Land acknowledgements: uncovering an oral history of Tkaronto (United Way Greater Toronto, 2019)
- More about land acknowledgement in this city: The Indigenous History of Tkaronto (University of Toronto Libraries)
Members of the Innovation Hub wish to acknowledge this land on which the University of Toronto operates. For thousands of years, it has been the traditional land of the Huron-Wendat, the Seneca, and the Mississaugas of the Credit. Today, this meeting place is still the home to many Indigenous people from across Turtle Island and we are grateful to have the opportunity to work on this land.
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