We Are All Treaty People

Orange Shirt Day pancake breakfast and round dance

  • Published - 30/09/2019
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  • Posted By - OTC
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Orange Shirts and pancakes were abundant at the CUMFI breakfast for Orange Shirt Day on Sept. 30 in Saskatoon.

“I think that if we can all learn to live together, work together and play together, we’re going to be able to have a much stronger community,” said Shirley Isbister, president of the Central Urban Métis Federation Inc (CUMFI), to The Star Phoenix.

Later in the day, more people wearing orange shirts joined in a Round Dance at White Buffalo Youth Lodge.

Orange Shirt Day is an event designed to educate people. It was designed to raise awareness about the impact of Indian Residential Schools.

Orange Shirt Day is a legacy of St. Joseph Mission Residential School Commemoration Project, which took place May 2013. Former student Phyllis Webstad told her story of her first day at Residential School with her new orange shirt bought by her grandmother was taken from her as a 6-year-old girl. The date was chose because this is the time of year that children were taken from their families and placed in Residential Schools and also because it is an opportunity to set the stage for anti-racism and anti-bullying policies for the coming year.

It is an opportunity to create meaningful discussion about Residential Schools and the legacy they have left behind. It is an opportunity for communities to come together in the spirit of Reconciliation and to show that Every Child Matters.