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<\/a>Glass says that holding the event while the college community is together creates an opportunity for collective reflection and for people to consider their role in reconciliation.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re all coming together as one in this sort of real space to better ourselves, the culture of the institution, and the surrounding community,\u201d says Glass.<\/p>\n
Camosun\u2019s connection to Orange Shirt Day dates back to 2015, when Indigenous Studies students Eddy Charlie and Kristin Spray organized the college\u2019s first Orange Shirt Day event at Lansdowne with support from the Centre for Indigenous Studies and Community Connections.<\/p>\n
Charlie, a residential school survivor, and Spray later continued their work beyond Camosun, helping establish Victoria Orange Shirt Day after graduating from the college.<\/p>\n
For Glass, the role educational institutions play in reconciliation is particularly significant because of the history of residential schools. He points to an observation made by the late Skip Dick, an Elder who worked at Camosun, contrasting a time when Indigenous children ran away from schools with the opportunities Indigenous students can find in educational institutions today.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur kids, our children, would run away from schools. And now we see, in our lifetime, them running to schools,\u201d says Glass. \u201cEducational institutes are now places in which revitalization of Indigenous culture is reflected and instilled, and in which Indigenous students are given the tools and a sense of belonging, a sense of spirit, a home in which they can thrive and reconnect to the culture that was taken away from them.\u201d<\/p>\n
Glass says post-secondary institutions can also provide opportunities for non-Indigenous students to reflect on the history of residential schools and the intergenerational impacts they have had.<\/p>\n
For students who may know little about Orange Shirt Day or residential schools, Glass hopes the events provide an understanding of what the day represents.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe first thing is just an awareness of what Orange Shirt Day means, the history of residential schools, the violence, and the impact that has had on generations of peoples,\u201d says Glass.<\/p>\n
But Glass says the goal goes beyond learning history. Students, faculty, and members of the wider community can also consider their own place within educational institutions and how sharing knowledge and stories can contribute to reconciliation.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re teaching and sharing stories with each other, and how we might come together to contribute towards a culture of resurgence and restoration, and appreciation of different cultures and relationships with the land,\u201d says Glass.<\/p>\n
Camosun has continued recognizing Orange Shirt Day in the years since its first event. The college\u2019s reconciliation efforts also extend into classrooms and other parts of campus life, with Glass noting that Indigenous perspectives have increasingly been incorporated into course content.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo many courses now have elements of that process of Indigenization across the institute,\u201d says Glass. \u201cThey don\u2019t really have to search it out as much as they perhaps had to.\u201d<\/p>\n
Glass says students can continue engaging with Indigenous learning throughout the year by learning about the local territory, paying attention to Indigenous artwork around campus, and considering the stories the works tell about the land and people\u2019s relationships to it. Students can also attend Indigenous events that are open to the broader college community.<\/p>\n
Throughout September, Camosun\u2019s libraries are also highlighting resources related to Orange Shirt Day. The college has introduced an Authentic Indigenous Voices designation to help students identify materials authored or created by Indigenous people in library collections.<\/p>\n
For Glass, Orange Shirt Day provides a starting point for students to understand residential schools while also considering what reconciliation can mean within the educational community they\u2019re already part of.<\/p>\n
By gathering as a college community, says Glass, students and Camosun employees can learn from the past while considering how they contribute to the institution and its relationships moving forward into the future.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Camosun College will once again recognize Orange Shirt Day this September, continuing a campus tradition that began more than a decade ago and encouraging students and employees to reflect on the history and ongoing impacts of Canada\u2019s residential-school system. This year\u2019s events will centre on the theme of healing through the land, reflecting ongoing Indigenous […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":28455,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[360],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-28454","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-september-23-2026"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t