Orange Shirt Day Resources

Orange Shirt Day is a day to honour the survivors of the Canadian residential school system and remember those who never returned. In the weeks leading up to Orange Shirt Day both of our schools participated in a variety of activities to help support student and educator understanding of the residential school system and why we wear orange on September 30.

Our team created a list of resources to share with teachers in our buildings. We curated websites, found photos/videos to use as provocations, and found virtual and hard copies of picture books. Click here to access the PDF with links and information we shared with our teachers for Orange Shirt Day 2018. 

Picture Books

These are some of the books that were read to students throughout our schools. Chantima and Jen teach primary grades and used these books to help their student's understand the impact residential schools had on indigenous children and their families. 

When I Was Eight by Christy Jordan-Fenton and Margaret Pokiak-Fenton 

Not My Girl by Christy Jordan-Fenton and Margaret Pokiak-Fenton

Stolen Words by Melanie Florence

Shi-Shi-Etko by Nicola Campbell

Shin-Chi's Canoe by Nicola Campbell

One of the challenges of reading picture books in a large school is having enough copies for everyone! We included some YouTube links to picture books in our resources list, but some of them were not quite what we were looking for. We would love to have some of these books read by local indigenous community members. Stay tuned! 

We did find some of the books on TumbleBooks and the app epic! If you use app epic! in your classroom, there is a small selection of books you can share with your students and you should check them out! We created a collection for Orange Shirt Day and shared it with our staffs. 

Orange Shirt Day Video

Our school board shares an announcement about Orange Shirt Day that can be shared in schools. Since our school has video announcements, we created a video using images from OrangeShirtDay.org. This video was an effective way to share Phyllis Webstad's story and the origins of Orange Shirt Day with everyone in our school community. 

Making Connections - First Steps

Chantima's Reflection

Throughout the beginning of this journey, my nerves never got the best of me.... until today. My home is directly across a small river from Bkejwanong (Walpole Island First Nation). Our local Sarnia-Lambton Native Centre is approximately three blocks away from my home school. Even though the geographical proximity of my life is convenient to two local First Nations (Bkejwanong & Aamjiwnaang), I was full of doubt as Jen and I pulled into the Native Friendship Centre. Through Gretchen, we were directed to Nancy Peters, the cultural resource coordinator.

Although I was aware of my call to action through the Truth and Reconciliation Commission as an educator, I do not yet feel knowledgeable enough nor comfortable enough to implement learning resources to the students in my class. The starting point, I knew, was to first develop these resources. Taking that first step to making a cultural connection in the community honestly felt uncomfortable. However, it was a step that needed to take place to begin my journey of enlightenment regarding indigenous culture, that I grew up surrounded by, and our true Canadian history which has not been readily available to me in my own education.

Meeting and talking to Nancy as well as the centre's youth coordinators left me with a completely different feeling; one of motivation, hope, and support. When Jen and I shared our goals with them, it was clear through a simple initial conversation that this team was in full support of building bridges throughout our local communities to learn in unison. Taking that leap of faith to build relationships shows your willingness to learn and grow. In order to make progress, you have to be vulnerable and find comfort in discomfort.

Where To Start?

If you are an educator looking for a place to start, we found the resources below very helpful.

Truth and Reconciliation Commission Canada: Calls to Action 

We all live on indigenous lands which means reconciliation affects all of us. As educators, we have the opportunity to shape children's views on the past, present, and future. With the TRC, we have been charged with the responsibility to teach the truth about our national history and foster a respectful understanding of indigenous culture in order to live reconciliation in the present. Below is a section of the TRC Calls to Action that are specific to education. 

21 Things You May Not Know About the Indian Act, Bob Joseph and Indigenous Writes, Chelsea Vowels 

Gretchen suggested to our team that we read these books before starting to dig into the TRC Calls to Action. She was correct! Reading these books gave us a deeper understanding and appreciation for the challenges indigenous communities have faced and continue to face today. These books put so many things into perspective and framed the conversation of why it is imperative that we need to make actions toward reconciliation.  We have added some of our reflections while reading these books in the Reflections section of the blog. 

We encourage you to find these books at your local library or book store and read about how decisions made hundreds of years ago continue to affect indigenous communities today. 

Ojibwe Word of the Week

One of the ways we wanted to start introducing our students to local indigenous culture and language was through Ojibwe Word of the Week. We worked with Gretchen to decide which words and phrases we could start with in September. We landed on simple phrases like "Hello/Boozhoo" and "Thank You/Miigwech". At P.E. McGibbon we have video announcements, so we created short videos to share the Word of the Week (We used Apple Clips to create our videos). Each week we have an Ojibwe language speaker introduce a word on Monday. The rest of the week we have staff or students saying the word on the announcements. It has been an effective way to share Ojibwe with our entire school community.

Some of the teachers in our building were creating word wall cards to put the Ojibwe Word of the Week on their word walls. We wanted to support that process so we created cards to accompany the the videos. Each word card has a QR code on it that links to the Ojibwe language speaker's video. 

Each month we will post our Ojibwe Word of the Week resources to share with other educators looking to introduce Ojibwe into their teaching and learning. 

We recognize that there are different dialects and we have worked with Gretchen and other Ojibwe language speakers to create videos that will support the Ojibwe language spoken in our local area.

Below is an example of a video that is created for a Monday

Below are examples of what is created for the remainder of the week. We use staff and students to create the videos and try to include a pronunciation guide. 

Ojibwe Word of the Week: September

This month we decided to focus on common phrases that students and teachers can use every day. Our words of the month were:

Boozhoo - Hello
Miigwech - Thank You
Enh - Yes
Gaawiin - No

Click here to access the Ojibwe Word of the Week: September PDF