Warning: This story deals with disturbing subject matter that may upset and trigger some readers. Discretion is advised.
It’s a customized, handmade garment that Phyllis Webstad is particularly proud of.
Standing on a stage by Niagara Falls surrounded by more than dozen relatives and friends on Friday, the residential school survivor explained the meaning behind her very first vest.
“This here is my favourite flower — the lily — and this here is my shirt with the three beads on it,” Webstad told the audience, pointing to beaded emblems on either side of it.
“One the side is a cross with blue orbs — that was Granny’s favourite colour — and to honour her, she was Catholic. I used to be ashamed of that.”
Webstad’s presence on the stage in a garment of cultural and personal significance is a powerful symbol. The freedom to choose one’s clothing has not always been afforded to First Nations, Inuit and Métis Peoples in Canada.
For more than a century, the state- and church-sponsored residential school system sought to erase Indigenous identities, languages, beliefs and practices. For Webstad and many other survivors of the institutions of assimilation, that process began with her clothing.
Webstad was six years old when she attended St. Joseph’s Mission Residential School in 1973. On her first day, she was stripped of the shiny, laced orange shirt her grandmother had just bought for her.
She never got it back.
Years later, the Stswecem’c Xgat’tem First Nation woman founded the Orange Shirt Society, a driving force behind the annual observance of Orange Shirt Day on Sept. 30.
Orange Shirt Day recognizes the harm of residential schools and a commitment to building a future where every child matters. Last year, Sept. 30 was also declared the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.
“I have a saying that life can be understood backward but must be lived forward,” Webstad told the crowd gathered to observe the day of reflection. “The future is bright. There is great hope for the future.”
Webstad said it’s long been her and her son’s dream to visit Niagara Falls, which will be illuminated in orange on Friday evening for 15 minutes, representing the estimated 150,000 children who were stolen from their families to attend residential school.
Four generations of her grandmother’s family attended, and all around her, she said she sees signs of healing and progress. While on a recent book tour, she added, she was looking at a family photo and something very special dawned on her.
“I realized that for the first time in five generations, children in my family, my grandchildren, are being raised by their mother and father,” Webstad said.
“Granny, mom, me and my son didn’t have that because of residential school.”
Across Canada on Friday, orange flags were hoisted at government buildings at every government level.
In British Columbia, several municipalities have raised First Nations flags permanently, including White Rock, Sooke, Cranbrook, Nanaimo, Pitt Meadows, Port Alberni, Prince George, and Williams Lake.
“It’s a massive deal for Indigenous people in this region and really, in this province when you start thinking about how this is happening across Indian country,” said Williams Lake First Nation Chief Willie Sellars at a flag-raising ceremony on Friday.
“Hearing the drums first thing in the morning and that becoming normal is a very powerful statement in this healing journey as a city and as communities for this territory.”
Williams Lake First Nation, friends and allies marked National Day for Truth and Reconciliation with shared ceremony and food. Sellars said it’s up to settler Canadians to take the movement to the next level.
“In our communities, it’s 365 days a year that we are living with the legacy of residential schools and the history and the trauma,” he explained.
“We have this day to signify the legacy and raise awareness but it’s really up to Canadians to participate in the reconciliation discussion every day of the year.”
Esk’etemc Kukpi7 (Chief) Fred Robbins agreed, “Reconciliation is not just one day.” Like Webstad, Robbins attended St. Joseph’s Mission Residential School in 1973. He was imprisoned there until 1981.
Several years ago, Robbins spearheaded a commemorative project on the legacy of the school. It included the sharing of survivor stories, public education, seminars, and two monuments dedicated to survivors and those who never made it home.
Webstad and her grandmother participated, as did many volunteers, First Nations leaders, elders, and government and community partners.
“To this day, there still needs to be reconciliation and it has to begin in our schools. It was schools that started this, it has to be the schools where it starts to end,” Robbins told Global News.
“We are not going to change the minds of people that are in their 80s and 90s, but if we can teach the youth about the history of First Nations people, utilizing Orange Shirt Day … we can start to build a new Canada.”
Robbins noted that many people in B.C.’s Cariboo region still don’t know about St. Joseph’s Mission Residential School or where local First Nations territory starts and ends. Wearing an orange shirt once a year isn’t enough — there must be restitution, he added.
“Everybody is asking, what can I do to support reconciliation? Live it 365 days a year,” he said, pointing to his hand and the colour of his skin.
“As First Nations people, we wear this colour 365 days a year, so we need to keep reconciliation going.”
The Indian Residential Schools Crisis Line 1-800-721-0066 is available 24 hours a day for anyone experiencing pain or distress as a result of their residential school experience.
The Hope for Wellness Help Line offers culturally competent counselling and crisis intervention to all Indigenous Peoples experiencing trauma, distress, strong emotions and painful memories. The line can be reached anytime toll-free at 1-855-242-3310.
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