Convocation
Reflections from SFU honorary degree recipient & Orange Shirt Day founder Phyllis Webstad
Orange Shirt Day founder Phyllis Webstad shared her experience as an intergenerational survivor of the Indian Residential School system, including her ongoing work towards healing and reconciliation during a special event at SFU’s Burnaby campus last week—two days before being recognized with an honorary degree, to a standing ovation, during fall convocation.
September 30 marked the 10th annual Orange Shirt Day, which became the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation in 2021. In March, 2023 the B.C. government passed legislation to also make the day a statutory holiday.
The 10th anniversary is an emotional and personal milestone for Webstad. “I am confident that we can all work together to reconcile with the past and contribute to a future that enables hope for a better life,” she told graduates and their families to resounding applause.
Jeannie Morgan, an SFU assistant professor of Indigenous Studies, who introduced Webstad at the event, noted that “through her writings, she has illuminated the dark recesses of our shared history. The significance of Orange Shirt Day cannot be understated. For Indigenous peoples, it is a day of remembrance, healing and unity.”
“Phyllis has brought much-needed awareness of Indian Residential Schools here in Canada and systems creating much-needed spaces for healing,” said Elder Marie Hooper from the Kwikwetlem First Nation. “It is very important that we keep our history alive to remember the children, ancestors that did not return.”
Webstad is from the Northern Secwpemc (Shuswap) from the Stswecem’c Xgat’tem First Nation (Canoe Creek Indian Band) and lives in Williams Lake. Four generations of her family attended residential school including her grandmother, mother, herself and her son.
Webstad attended St. Joseph’s Mission residential school just outside of Williams Lake from 1973 to 1974. As a six-year-old child, she was initially excited to start school and wear her new orange shirt on the first day. After she got off the bus, her shirt was taken from her.
“No matter how much I cried or protested, my special new shirt was never returned. That cruel action resulted in my feeling unimportant, as if I did not matter,” she said. “The colour orange has since become a symbol of the effects of residential schools and the [orange shirt has become a] physical symbol for Every Child Matters.”
The trauma of residential schools cast a shadow on her life for many years. “I knew something was wrong, I didn’t know what to call it or what to do about it. I was trying to do everything and anything to feel better.”
She actively sought out support to begin her healing journey in 1997 and had a vision. When the Truth and Reconciliation Commission came to Williams Lake in 2013, she was ready to tell her story of being a third-generation survivor and share her experience with the world.
In 2021, the news from Tk’emlups te Secwepemc First Nation of finding the remains of 215 children using ground-penetrating radar near the site of the Kamloops Indian Residential School prompted searches by other First Nations. There were 159 potential unmarked graves discovered at St. Joseph’s Mission.
“Since these findings have become public, it has forced many to truly realize the impact these so-called schools had on Indigenous families. The reality is that many did not return home and for those who did, they had to live with the trauma,” said Webstad.
She challenged all Canadians with a call to action in her address to SFU graduates, “to view the Indian Residential School system and the effects of colonialism as a Canadian issue.”
“It is the responsibility of our Canadian brothers and sisters to shoulder some of our pain and to help us create a safer environment for healing from the effects of colonialism.”
Webstad continues to build a movement of healing and the acknowledgement that Every Child Matters. She is not only the founder and ambassador of the Orange Shirt Society but the author of five books and frequently travels to schools sharing her experience with the next generation.
“I believe that elementary and high school children across Canada are the ones leading the way in reconciliation,” she says. “They are the ones that are learning in schools what happened to us. They’re going home and talking about it around the kitchen table.”
When sharing her experience with youth she looks forward to seeing the positive impact they will have in the future and tells them, “I look forward to meeting you [again someday] and seeing the change that you’ve made in this country.”
Webstad and her husband were blanketed in a ceremony to honour their amazing work and keep them safe going forward.
SFU respectfully acknowledges the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Úxwumixw (Squamish), səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh), q̓íc̓əy̓ (Katzie), kʷikʷəƛ̓əm (Kwikwetlem), Qayqayt, Kwantlen, Semiahmoo and Tsawwassen peoples on whose unceded traditional territories our three campuses reside.
Support for Indigenous survivors and their families is available at The Indian Residential School Survivors Society. Indigenous students can access supports through Indigenous Student Centre. For our Faculty community, we encourage you to reach out to EAP services (staff), SFU Health and Counselling (students), and/or your own mental health support network.