Orange Shirt Day: How it began and how we recognize it today

Orange Shirt Day was inspired by residential school survivor Phyllis Jack Webstad, who shared her story at a St. Joseph Mission Residential School Commemoration Project and Reunion event held in Williams Lake, B.C., in the spring of 2013. Phyllis recounted her first day of residential schooling at the age of six, when her new orange shirt—given to her by her grandmother—was taken away from her.