09/30/2025
🧡 Orange Shirt Day | Every Child Matters 🧡
Today, we honor Orange Shirt Day, a time to remember the Native children who were forcibly taken to boarding schools and never made it home, and to support survivors and their families.
Orange Shirt Day was inspired by the story of Phyllis Webstad. Her story represents the experiences of thousands of Indigenous children whose identities, languages, and cultures were stripped away in these institutions.
Boarding schools operated in the United States and Canada for over 100 years, from the 1800s to the 20th century. Boarding schools were created with the goal of assimilating Native children by separating them from their families and communities. In California, schools in areas like Riverside, Hoopa Valley, and Stewart, Nevada, affected countless Tribal children.
The trauma of these schools did not end when children left. Survivors often carried emotional, cultural, and spiritual wounds that ripple through generations, impacting families, communities, and Tribal nations even today.
By recognizing Orange Shirt Day, we honor the children who never came home, uplift survivors, and recommit to protecting our languages, cultures, and traditions for generations to come. Every Child Matters.
