O is for The Orange Shirt Story: Library Notes

🎗Orange is the colour that supports the First Nations children who were put into residential schools. Orange shirt day on Sept 30 is a means for people to respectfully stand by this community and show their sorrow over the past and commitment to make things better moving forward. It is meant to celebrate resilience and remind people that every child matters.

Although we may want to shield our children from the harsh realities of this world we live in, school curriculum wants our children to learn about these historical events. I am not confident about properly depicting this subject but after talking about the North and thinking about people in Northern Canada, when I came to O and didn't have a book, orange and then The Orange Shirt Story came to mind. There are several books on the topic but I selected the one with that very same title. Phyllis's Orange Shirt is a simpler, rhyming version of the book for younger children.

This book is based on a true story as it happened to a six year old girl named Phyllis Webstad, the author of the book. She was happy at home but looked forward to going to residential school with the other children once she was old enough. She had a very nice teacher but did not like the living situation with the nuns as the food was not good and there was no individualized concern. They took away the orange shirt that her grandma had bought for her and did not seem to care about her feelings or her well-being. When it was finally time to go home for the summer, Phyllis was so happy to return to her grandma, never to leave her again. While she lost the opportunity to attend school, she had what she needed most, a loving home where she mattered.

Phyllis wanted to tell her story to help people remember the impact of residential schools on the First Nations community. Her story has been shared with a very wide audience. I was in Alberta leading up to September 30 and passed by a church with a clothesline of painted orange shirts to commemorate the day. That was their way to support the community. Ontario schools gave out orange ribbon pins and children were encouraged to wear orange shirts. Reading the books or talking about the events are other ways to reflect and remember. 

Beyond the original story and its message, this story may lead us to take a broader approach and take up the opportunity to promote indigenous culture as a whole or to honour children as a whole or to highlight the concept of resilience. These are all worthwhile expansions from the original text.

In addition to orange shirt related activities, drum circles, dream catchers, northern wildlife, gardening, fishing for salmon and going to school are other related topics from a wide range of options. 

Consider the importance to being kind to one another and letting people be individuals, appreciated for who they are as people. Use this opportunity to remind the child(ren) in your life that they matter!  Do something for another child to show that they matter too. Children are our treasure and that message should be loud and clear through this book and through our actions in day to day life as well! Spending time with them doing activities connected to this book is one way to show that to them! Enjoy.