I am a settler in these lands. I am privileged enough to live and work and study on terrain that has been stewarded—safeguarded—for untold millennia by the Indigenous peoples that have existed here long before my lineage arrived uninvited, and continue to protect and live in harmony with it to this day.
An important first step to being an ally and helping to move towards Truth and Reconciliation is to seek education on what has been perpetrated against the rightful owners of this place by people who look like me, and the lasting damage done. An important hallmark of these efforts is Orange Shirt Day, held every year on September 30.
It began with a memory, not happy but painful.
Six-year-old Phyllis Webstad, from Stswecem’c Xgat’tem First Nation, was excited for her first day of school, back in 1973, and particularly excited to wear her new bright orange shirt that her grandmother had bought for her. When she had arrived at St. Joseph Mission Residential School, she was stripped, and her belongings were taken from her, including the new shirt that she so prized. She would never see it, or any of her other belongings, again. This would be the beginning of her ordeal at the residential school, and a moment she could never forget.
She survived the horrors of that place, and went on to tell her story at a reunion and commemoration held by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada in Williams Lake in 2013. She described for the assembled crowd how that moment had made her feel, and in doing so, she ignited a bonfire that would become Orange Shirt Day, codified in Canadian law as the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. A day to remember what was done to the survivors; a day to acknowledge the ongoing effects of intergenerational trauma, and the damage that colonialism can leave on a culture; a day to accept accountability, and make sure that past atrocities like those inflicted on Indigenous communities will never again be swept under the rug, and that they will not be given the space to be repeated.
I am a settler in these lands, and being an ally means speaking the truth of the past, and striving for reconciliation in the future. I wear my orange shirt with pride.
As the student editor here at Nexus newspaper, I believe that the key to growing together is to listen when others speak, and I agree that it is not ideal that I, as a settler, wrote this. Believe me when I tell you that I would have much rather showcased an Indigenous voice (or Indigenous voices) in this space. In the interest of moving forwards with a spirit of allyship, I would like to invite students that identify as Indigenous and have a passion for writing to join our ranks here at Nexus, and have your voice heard. You’re encouraged to email editor@nexusnewspaper.com to set up a time for a brief chat where we can tell you about what we do here and how we do it, or you can simply stop by and say hello at our office, located at Richmond House 201 at Camosun’s Lansdowne campus.
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Camosun College has been holding Orange Shirt Day events since 2015; here’s a look back through the years at some of the gatherings (all photos by Camosun College).
