Orange Shirt Day Celebrations at Trafalgar Middle School

Video caption: Drumming was led by our honoured guest and Metis Elder, Donna Wright.

Orange Shirt Day is about the story of Phyllis Webstad and her perseverance through surviving Residential School in Mission, BC: http://www.orangeshirtday.org/phyllis-story.html. When we wear orange shirts, we think of when she had hers taken from her, and we remember how hurtful it is to be told your identity doesn’t matter.

This year at Trafalgar, we had two special ceremonies to honour the Every Child Matters movement, inspired by Phyllis. Here at school, we sang, drummed, watched a student dance in her traditional style, and learned from a drama performance by 6-3. Thank you to our new Indigenous Coordinator Hannah Lunn and our drama teacher Amy McKay for their hard work in bringing ceremony to our students.

At Cottonwood Lake, our Grade 8s and B.E.A.R.S. program kids (Bringing Ecological Awareness and Resiliency to Students) held a ceremony with Piikani Indigenous Coordinator Jesse Halton. Jesse talked about the gift of our relationship to the land, and then shared a song. We are lucky and grateful to work closely with Indigenous Coordinators who advance Indigenous voice and perspective in SD8.