Orange Shirt Day is observed annually on September 30 to honour Indigenous residential school survivors and their families and to remember the children who did not come home.
Residential school survivors can call 1-866-925-4419 for emotional crisis referral services. Indigenous Peoples across Canada can also call the toll-free Hope for Wellness Help Line at 1-855-242-3310 or connect to the online chat at www.hopeforwellness.ca.
The Secret Pocket by Peggy Janicki
The true story of how Indigenous girls at a residential school sewed secret pockets into their dresses to hide food and survive. Based on the author's mother's experience at a residential school, The Secret Pocket is a story of survival and resilience in the face of genocide and cruelty. It's also a celebration of quiet resistance to the injustice of residential schools. Ages 6-8.
Every Child Matters by Phyllis Webstad and Karlene Harvey
Learn the meaning behind the phrase "Every Child Matters." Orange Shirt Day founder Phyllis Webstad offers insights into this heartfelt movement. Ages 6-10.
L'histoire du chandail orange by Phyllis Webstad et Brock Nicol
Voici la vraie histoire de Phyllis et de son chandail orange. C'est aussi l'histoire de la Journée du chandail orange, un jour de commémoration important pour tous les Canadiens. 7-10 ans. Read it in English.
Muinji'j Asks Why: The Story of the Mi'kmaq and the Shubenacadie Residential School by Muinji'j MacEachern, Shanika MacEachern and Zeta Paul
When seven-year-old Muinji'j comes home from school one day, her Nana and Papa can tell right away that she's upset. Her teacher has been speaking about the residential schools. Unlike most of her fellow students, Muinji'j has always known about the residential schools. But she doesn't understand why the schools existed and why children would have died there. Ages 7-10.
Orange Shirt Day: September 30th by Phyllis Webstad
This book explores the historical impact of Residential Schools on Indigenous Peoples to create champions who will walk a path of reconciliation through Orange Shirt Day, promoting the message that Every Child Matters. Ages 12-15.
The Fire Still Burns by Sam George
The crimes at St. Paul's Indian Residential School in North Vancouver scarred untold numbers of Indigenous children and families across generations. Sam George was one of these children. This candid account follows Sam from his idyllic childhood on the Eslhá7an (Mission) reserve to St. Paul's, where he weathered physical, emotional and sexual abuse.
Bones of Crows directed by Marie Clements
Bones of Crows is told through the eyes of Cree Matriarch Aline Spears as she survives a childhood in Canada's residential school system to continue her family's generational fight in the face of systemic starvation, racism and sexual abuse.
E Nâtamukw Miyeyimuwin Volume One: Residential School Recovery Stories of the James Bay Cree by Ruth DyckFehderau
Ruth DyckFehderau and twenty-one James Bay Cree storytellers put a face to Canada's Indian Residential School cultural genocide. Through intimate personal stories of trauma, loss, recovery and joy, they tell of experiences in the residential schools themselves, in the homes when the children were taken, and on the territory after survivors returned and worked to recover from their experiences and to live with dignity.
Indian Act: Residential School Plays by Donna-Michelle St. Bernard
Seven plays by contemporary First Nations and Metis playwrights cover the broad scope of residential school experiences, all kinds of characters, with no stereotypes, giving voice to those who could not be heard.
