“We wear orange to remember and honour the children who were taken by the residential school system.”
That’s a line eighth-grader Sidney Selamio added to an orange shirt she decorated, one of roughly 200 created by high schoolers from Inuvik’s East Three Secondary School for the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.
The quote comes from Phyllis Webstad, who founded Orange Shirt Day – named for a shirt taken from her on her first day of residential school.
Orange Shirt Day takes place on September 30, which is the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, honouring residential school survivors while recognizing the impact on their families and communities.
Selamio’s shirt featured an ulu and feathers, along with words that held personal meaning for her. Other designs students chose for their shirts included polar bears, inukshuks, handprints and Arctic symbols.
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“For one week we all just come together for Orange Shirt Day. We do crafts, we make shirts and we go for a walk,” she said.
Roberta Memogana, an artist from Ulukhaktok, worked with the students through Connected North to design stencil images and help paint them onto t-shirts.
On the front of her shirt, student Abigael Amos placed the words “Every Child Matters” in addition to a few belugas and an ulu. As an Inuvialuk, Amos said the day carries significance for her because some of her family members attended residential schools.
Amos plans to showcase her shirt at the school and around town.
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Michael Bodnar, a teacher at the school, said the Gwich’in Tribal Council helped fund orange t-shirts for the students.
“The student council gave blank t-shirts to each classroom and then it was up to the teachers’ discretion to how much they wanted to get into it,” he said.
“We had fabric markers but we also had acrylic paint so you could do a painting and make it a little more permanent.”
