A reflection on Orange Shirt Day 2026
On September 29, I went in for my weekly shift at St. Joe’s Café, a welcoming space that offers two meals daily operated by the Sisters of St. Joseph. At the Café we were remembering Orange Shirt Day on both the 29th and the 30th. Volunteers wore orange shirts. Our staff created a web with orange ribbons for people to write the name of someone they wished to remember. Just before opening, I was speaking to a volunteer at the front door. He was a former student of mine in high school some 40 years ago. In those days a few of the teachers and students, with the help of contacts in Moosonee, began to run a summer camp for the “Indian” children in the bush about 20 kilometers outside the town. Some relationships have lasted over these many years. He asked one question before we opened our doors. “Did you know anything about residential schools when we were there some 40 years ago?” we both shook our heads in some kind of disbelief that we knew nothing. Not a thing.
Some 13 years ago, First Nations people with the inspiration of Phyliss Webstad began commemorating Orange Shirt Day to remember the history of residential schools, to commit to changing the relationship between aboriginal and non-aboriginal peoples and recognize the harm created by the attempt to erase a culture.
On September 30 I was going for a noon time walk in a parklet that serves as a playground for a local school. It was around noon. Suddenly, across the parklet about 50 students between the ages of 6-8 began to race toward the swings and slides. Every one of them wore an orange shirt. The principal must have directed the teachers who reminded the students. The parents rummaged through drawers and found orange shirts. Some of them were specifically created for the day. Some were Halloween shirts or other team shirts. The point is they were all orange and people were intentional. I wondered what these children were learning about the history of other children. The counterpoint of carefree children reminded of other children who were not carefree was obvious. The hope that those running and jumping children and their teachers and parents inspired brought hope of an enlightened history moving toward real change.
And I was reminded that when something changes…something changes.
-Sister Margo Ritchie, csj
Image: chris robert @chris_robert/Unsplash