Golden Apple: Students Walk on ‘Orange Shirt Day’ to Honor Children Lost in Residential Schools

September 30 of each year marks the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, also known as Orange Shirt Day, where Indigenous communities work to raise awareness about the inter-generational impacts of residential schools on Indigenous children, families, and communities.

On Tuesday, the Aurora Waasakone Community of Learners (AWCL), a Bemidji charter school, decided to honor the children who were lost to the residential and boarding school systems by wearing orange shirts and holding a commemorative walk.

“It’s a visual representation of thinking about the past and remembering that every child matters, and that we know in our past in the U.S. and in Canada, we treated Native Americans very poorly,” says Anna Wallin, AWCL Executive Director. “Boarding schools happened, a lot of abuse happened. So we wear orange to signify that.”