Orange Shirt Day 2023, Designed by Charliss Santos

Apparel : CLOTHING : Shirts : Orange Shirt Day 2023, Designed by Charliss Santos

Orange Shirt Day 2023

$24.95

Colour: Orange

Item#: 40073006981

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All net profits arising from the UBC Bookstore’s T-shirt sales will be donated to both the Indian Residential School Survivors Society (IRSSS) and the Orange Shirt Society.

About The Artist:
Charliss Santos is a grade 10 student at St. Augustine School in Ponoka, Alberta, Canada, and her design showcases an Indigenous child encompassed in two hands and surrounded by people, a heart, and an eagle.  The child’s silhouette represents all the Indigenous children who suffered or were impacted by the Indian Residential schools.  The people surrounding the child represent the strong communities of the Indigenous people and the way they support each other.  The heart represents healing and forgiveness, and the eagle symbolizes acceptance, honesty, and freedom.

"Orange Shirt Day is a day of reminiscence, where we look back on our dark past and reflect on the actions we have given to the First Nations people. This day acknowledges and brings to life their struggles and hardships, especially during the Indian Residential School period. I wear my orange shirt to show my support for the Indigenous community and to tell them that they are not alone in their healing process.

 My design showcases an Indigenous child encompassed in two hands and surrounded by people, a heart, and an eagle. The child’s silhouette represents all the Indigenous children who suffered or were impacted by the Indian Residential schools. The people surrounding the child represent the strong communities of the Indigenous people and the way they support each other. The heart represents healing and forgiveness, and the eagle symbolizes acceptance, honesty, and freedom."
- Charliss Santos

 

About National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, and Orange Shirt Day:

Each year, September 30 marks the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.

The day honours the children who never returned home and Survivors of residential schools, as well as their families and communities. Public commemoration of the tragic and painful history and ongoing impacts of residential schools is a vital component of the reconciliation process.

This federal statutory holiday was created through legislative amendments made by Parliament.

Both the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation and Orange Shirt Day take place on September 30.

Orange Shirt Day is an Indigenous-led grassroots commemorative day intended to raise awareness of the individual, family and community inter-generational impacts of residential schools, and to promote the concept of “Every Child Matters”.  The orange shirt is a symbol of the stripping away of culture, freedom and self-esteem experienced by Indigenous children over generations.

On September 30, we encourage all Canadians to wear orange to honour the thousands of Survivors of residential schools.