Published on Sep 24, 2021
Orange Shirt Day is an important day to honour and listen to residential school survivors and remember those that were lost due to oppressive educational systems.
Date: Sep 27, 2021 - Sep 30, 2021
At NIC, we recognize that as an educational institution we have a responsibility to honour, respect and support Indigenous cultures and identities as we move towards a future of reconciliation and hope. Annually, September 30 has been recognized as Orange Shirt Day, and as a community, we are continuing to build upon this day to listen to the stories of survivors and understand the impact of residential schools across Canada throughout the week of September 27- 30, 2021.
This year, September 30 is also designated federally as the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. This day is being recognized nationally as an opportunity for all to acknowledge the impact of residential schools, and as such, NIC campuses are closed to give all NIC community members the opportunity to engage in their own personal way to honour truth and reconciliation.
“Today is a day to honour and remember residential school survivors and their families. We must also remember those children that never made it and are no long with us. Today is a day for survivors to tell their stories and for us to listen with open hearts.” - Phyllis Webstad, creator of Orange Shirt Day.
Join the conversation & share your support for truth and reconciliation, in person and digitally
In-Person
- Wear an Orange Shirt Day t-shirt
- Orange Shirt Day t-shirts are available for purchase at NIC Bookstores and they are
also available for free for students from NISU at Orange Shirt Day tables (while supplies last)
- NIC Bookstores have Orange Shirt Day t-shirts featuring a design by Tsm’syen artist, Morgan Asoyuf, purchased from an Indigenous-owned company, Native Northwest. Partial proceeds go to the Orange Shirt Society & BC Aboriginal Child Care Association. NISU has purchased Orange Shirt Day t-shirts featuring a design by Andy Everson, a K’ómoks/Kwakwaka’wakw/Tlingit/Salish artist. The shirts have been printed and purchased from the Waichay Group, a screen printing studio within the traditional lands of the K’ómoks First Nation.
- Visit an Orange Shirt Day Table at your campus to take part in the Hands and Hearts
activity, learn more about NIC and community resources and pick up an Orange Shirt
Day t-shirt (for students)
- A partnership activity hosted by NISU, in partnership with NIC Student Life and NIC
Indigenous Education
- Comox Valley: Tuesday, September 28 from 11:30 am- 2 pm at Tyee Hall
- Campbell River: Wednesday, September 29 from 11:30am – 1:30pm at the Student Commons
- Port Alberni: Wednesday, September 29 from 11:30 am- 12:30 pm at Tebo, main entrance and 1:00 pm -2:00 pm at Roger Street, main entrance
- A partnership activity hosted by NISU, in partnership with NIC Student Life and NIC
Indigenous Education
Digitally
- Take part in the Hearts & Hands activity online, developed by NIC Indigenous Education
- Learn more with NIC’s Libraries Orange Shirt Day resources
- Learn about NIC’s Indigenization Plan and commit to how you can work on reconciliation
- Share your voice about the importance of honouring residential school survivors and celebrating Indigenous voices, cultures and identities by sharing a post on your social media feed and with the NIC community by using the hashtag #NICOrangeShirtDay.
The NIC Orange Shirt Day profile frames are available on Facebook. Instagram frames are available here: story frame | post frame.
#NICOrangeShirtDay
Listen to Survivors' Stories
"A Survivor is not just someone who “made it through” the schools, or “got by” or
was “making do.” A Survivor is a person who persevered against and overcame adversity.
The word came to mean someone who emerged victorious, though not unscathed, whose
head was “bloody but unbowed.” It referred to someone who had taken all that could
be thrown at them and remained standing at the end. It came to mean someone who could
legitimately say “I am still here!” For that achievement, Survivors deserve our highest
respect. But, for that achievement, we also owe them the debt of doing the right thing.
Reconciliation is the right thing to do, coming out of this history."
Excerpt from The Survivors Speak: A Report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission
of Canada. Read “The Survivors Speak: A Report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada.”
Read about NIC Elder in Residence and Nursing Instructor Evelyn Voyageur's experience in the St. Michael's Residential School in Alert Bay.
Phyllis Webstad - Orange Shirt Day Presentation
Eddy Charlie shares. Eddy is a residential school survivor who started Victoria Orange Shirt Day. Watch his video.
Take Part in a Community Event
- Comox Valley: Spirit Walk
- Campbell River:
- 5th Annual Every Child Matters Orange Shirt Day Walk
- View the travelling exhibition of the Witness Blanket from the Canadian Museum for Human Rights and Artist Carey Newman
Currently at the Laichwiltach Family Life Society (Campbell River)
- Port Alberni: Orange Shirt Day Walk
- Port Hardy: Tri-Band Truth & Reconciliation Day Every Child Matters March
Join a virtual event from the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation
- Events for the general public from the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation
- Events for educators from the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation
Additional Resources
History of Orange Shirt Day
Orange Shirt Day: How Phyllis Webstad's 1st day at residential school inspired a movement
Resources for Survivors
- Counselling and support resources for NIC students
- Book a counselling appointment
- Note: if this is an emergency, or you need to speak to someone outside of regular office hours, please call 911, Here2Talk: 1-877-857-3397 (24/7 free student counselling service) or the Vancouver Crisis Line (24/7) 1-888-494-3888
Healing and wellness resources from the Indian Residential School History and Dialogue Centre
Indian Residential School Survivors Society (IRSSS)
- Includes grief and loss counselling, crisis counselling, trauma counselling, family and group counselling and other supports including Traditional Healing Methods & Medicines
- IRSSS Crisis Line at 1-866-925-4419 (Open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week)
NIC Initiatives & Stories
- NIC gifted Kwak'wala name Mixalakwila for Port Hardy campus
- Statement from NIC President Lisa Domae on remains found at former Kamloops residential school
Language Revitalization
- Introduction to Nuu-Chah-Nulth Language offered digitally
- NIC Kwak’wala students building online community
- NIC developing Indigenous Language Fluency certificate
- NIC in the News: Indigenous language learning a right central to reconciliation
Student experiences
- Aboriginal Scholars program
- From Struggle to Triumph for NIC grad
- Connecting culture through early years education
Nursing
- Raising Student Nurses with Remote First Nations communities
- Nursing the Nuu-chah-nulth Way
- Evaluation of a Field School
- Evelyn Voyageur receives prestigious Indspire Health Award
- Four NIC Bachelor of Science Nursing Students, One Nursing Graduate and Four NIC Nursing Faculty Featured in Witness: The Canadian Journal of Critical Nursing Discourse”
- Nurses Learning Our Way, From the Land, With the People, A Collaborative Experience
- Crafting Culturally Safe Learning Spaces: A Story of Collaboration Between an Educational Institution and Two First Nation Communities
Centre for Applied Research, Technology & Innovation (CARTI)
- Unearthing Indigenous Leadership Principles
- Indigenous Field School Evaluation
- Nursing the Nuu-Chah-Nulth Way
- Raising Student Nurses
- Kelp Research with Kwiakah First Nation
Metal Jewellery Design
Events