Description

About the Design:
“We gather in a circle because no one is above or below each other”.
In Indigenous cultures, feathers are sacred spiritual gifts symbolizing the connection between the Creator, the individual, and the animal spirit, representing honour, power, wisdom, strength, and guidance. Each feather in the circle is unique, just like every child, and every human.

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Design by Cynthia Walker, a Gwichyà Gwich’in designer living in Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta.
Shirts are available for purchase and we’re also taking orders! Proceeds will go to the Indigenous ReGeneration Association of Alberta – a Fort Saskatchewan-based community organization committed to the connection of Indigenous and non-Indigenous people together in the spirit of reconciliation to build understanding, and shared responsibility.

Orange Shirt Day originated from the personal experience of Phyllis Webstad, a Stswecem’c Xgat’tem First Nation woman who had her new orange shirt taken from her on her first day at a residential school in 1973. Her story, shared at a residential school commemoration event in Williams Lake, BC, in 2013, sparked a movement to recognize and honour the experiences of residential school survivors, leading to the creation of Orange Shirt Day, which is now part of Canada’s National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. https://orangeshirtday.org/

What YOU can do to support Truth and Reconciliation in Canada:

🧡 Educate Yourself 🧡
Read reports, take courses, learn about biases, colonization and decolonization, and systemic racism

🧡 Amplify Indigenous Voices 🧡
Share media, correct language

🧡 Support Organizations 🧡
Donate, volunteer, advocate

🧡 Support Culture & Business 🧡
Buy from Indigenous businesses, support the makers, attend cultural events

🧡 Institutional Action 🧡
Go beyond land acknowledgments

🧡 Personal Ally Commitments 🧡
Have accountability, listen actively, and act with respectful allyship