Ways to Participate | Advancing Truth and Reconciliation | Wellness Resources

Truth and Reconciliation Week is dedicated to acknowledging and addressing the profound impact of the Indian residential school system on Indigenous communities and fostering a spirit of healing, understanding, and reconciliation.

In 2021, Orange Shirt Day, recognized as the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, attained the status of a statutory day of observance, a development catalyzed by the heart-wrenching discoveries of countless unmarked graves near former residential school sites across the nation. This day serves as a poignant reminder of the imperative need to learn, reflect, and heal together.

The inception of Orange Shirt Day finds its roots in the harrowing experience of residential school survivor, Phyllis Jack Webstad. In 2013, Phyllis courageously shared her narrative during a commemoration project and reunion event. Her story centers on her first day at a residential school, where as a six-year-old, her clothes were removed, including the new orange shirt lovingly gifted by her grandmother. Tragically, that shirt was never returned. Today, the symbol of the orange shirt poignantly encapsulates the erasure of Indigenous identities within the oppressive residential school system.

Let us unite with a shared commitment to reconciliation and optimism, underscoring the fundamental truth that every child matters.

Ways to Participate

  • UBC Faculty of Education Teacher Education Office | Make an “Every Child Matters” orange shirt button | Enter a draw to win a book written by an Indigenous-Canadian author | Contribute to the teacher candidate display on how teachers can incorporate the First Peoples Principles of Learning in their teaching | Neville Scarfe Foyer | September 26 11:00 am – 1:00 pm | September 27 12:00 pm – 2:00 pm | link
  • BC Aboriginal Child Care Society Annual Training Conference | We Are One: Lifting Each Other Up | Nurturing Childhoods Through Indigenous Themed Picture Books: How to Make Connections to Local Contexts | Virtual Workshop | Presenter: Jan Hare, Dean pro tem | September 29, 2023 | 10:45 am – 12:15 pm | link
  • First Nations House of Learning| Beading Circle Social | all Indigenous beaders welcome | September 28 | 3:00 – 5:00
  • Xwi7xwa Library | StoryWalk® for Orange Shirt Day | September 30 | link
  • UBC Vancouver | Decolonization Walking Tour| September 27 | 11:00 am, 12:00 pm, or 2:00 pm | RSVP
  • UBC Vancouver Intergenerational March to commemorate Orange Shirt Day | UBC Indian Residential School History and Dialogue Centre | September 30 | 11:45 am – 3 pm | link
  • UBC Okanagan | Legacy of Hope Foundation Exhibition | Bi-Giwen: Coming Home – Truth-Telling from the Sixties Scoop | Library Building | September 25 – October 6 | 7:00 am to 10:00 pm | link
  • UBC Okanagan | Indigenous Peoples Atlas of Canada: Mapping Residential Schools | University Centre (UNC) – Ballroom | September 26 | 10:00 am – 1:00 pm | link
  • UBC Okanagan | Orange Shirt Day Paper Craft | The Commons (COM) – Sawchuk Family Theatre (Engagement Theatre) | September 25 – 26 | 9:00 am – 4:00 pm | link
  • UBC Okanagan | Orange Shirt Day Hummingbird Flag Installation September 29 | 10 am – 12 pm| link
  • Okanagan Nation Alliance Walk for the Children | Penticton Peach | September 30 | 10 am – 12 pm | link
  • UBC Indian Residential School History and Dialogue Centre | The Catholic Church and the Indian Residential School Settlement Agreement | Virtual Exhibit | link
  • UBC Indian Residential School History and Dialogue Centre | Our Children, Our Future: The Indian Child Caravan 40 Years Later | Virtual Exhibit (upcoming) | link
  • National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation | Virtual Lunch and Learns | September 25 – 30 | link
  • National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation | Virtual Educational Program for Grades 1-12  | link

Advancing Truth and Reconciliation

UBC Faculty of Education

  • UBC Faculty of Education’s Reconciliation and Decolonization Alumni Award | link
  • UBC Faculty of Education Master of Educational Technology (MET) Award for Indigenous Students | link
  • UBC Faculty of Education’s Master of Education (MEd) in Indigenous Education | link
  • UBC Faculty of Edcuation’s Massive Open Online Course (MOOC): Reconciliation Through Indigenous Education | link
  • UBC Faculty of Edcuation’s Massive Open Online Course (MOOC): Professional Development for Early Learning and Early Learning and Child Care (ELCC) Workers Through an Indigenous-Early Childhood Education | link (upcoming)

Key Readings

  • Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada | What We Have Learned: Principals of Reconciliation | link
  • Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada | The Survivors Speak | link
  • Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada | Calls to Action | link
  • UBC Indigenous Strategic Plan | link
  • UBC Indian Residential School History and Dialogue Centre Collections | link

Key Resources

  • Orange Shirt Society | link
  • UBC Indigenous Portal | link
  • UBC Indian Residential School History and Dialogue Centre | link
  • National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation | link

Educational Tools

  • UBC Faculty of Education | Decolonizing Teaching, Indigenizing Learning | Curriculum Bundles developed by students in the NITEP Indigenous Teacher Education Program | link
  • UBC Faculty of Education Office of Indigenous Education | Indigenous Services Canada Grant: Curriculum Enhancement Projects | link
  • UBC Faculty of Education Office of Indigenous Education and Teacher Education Office | Indigenous Curriculum Enhancement Project Gallery | link
  • UBC Indian Residential School History and Dialogue Centre | Teaching and Learning Resources | link
  • National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation | Education Resources | link

Podcasts and Videos

  • UBC Indian Residential School History and Dialogue Centre | Podcast: Love, Land and Spirit| link
  • UBC Faculty of Education Teacher Education Office | Decolonizing Together Symposium | teacher candidate session link | teacher educator and staff session link
  • UBC Faculty of Education NITEP Indigenous Teacher Education Program | Podcast: The Grease Trail Digital Storytelling | link
  • TEDx | Video: Dr. Candace Galla on Indigenous Language Revitalization | He pūkoʻa kani ʻāina: Creating Pathways for Indigenous Language Vitality | link
  • Worldviews in Education | Video: Jan Hare, Dean pro tem on Futures of Indigenous Education: Living in Right Relations | link
  • Wellness Resources

    Engaging with Indian Residential School histories and legacies can lead to emotional reactions and difficult thoughts and feelings. Sometimes these can surface hours, days, or weeks later. Please call the crisis line if you or someone you know is triggered while reading the content of this website, or experiencing pain or distress as a result of their residential school experience.

    • The National Indian Residential School Crisis Line is available 24-hours a day for former residential school students | 1.866.925.4419
    • Indian Residential School Survivors Society | 1.800.721.0066 | link
    • KUU-US Crisis Line | 1.800.588.8717 | link
    • Tsow-Tun-Le Lum | 1.866.925.4419 | link
    • Vancouver Coastal Health – Indigenous Wellness Program | 604.675.2551 or 1.866.884.0888 | link
    • Canadian Mental Health Association | 1.800.555.8222 | link
    • HeretoHelp | 1.800.661.2121 | link
    • First Nations Health Authority – Mental Health Benefit | link
    • Métis Nation BC – Mental Health and Harm Reduction | link
    • Kids Help Phone | 1.800.668.6868 | link
    • Talk Suicide Canada | 1.833.456.4566 or text 45645 | link
    • Hope for Wellness Help Line | 1.855.242.3310 | link
    • UBC Indian Residential School History and Dialogue Centre’s Healing and wellness resourcesfor survivors and family members, Indigenous Peoples and community members, students, and UBC faculty and staff | link