OCAD U Library Services' National Day For Truth and Reconciliation subject guide was last updated on September 19th, 2025.
OCAD University is situated on the treaty lands of the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation. These are the ancestral territories of many nations, including the Anishinaabeg, the Haudenosaunee and the Huron-Wendat who are the original owners and custodians of the land. Tkaronto (Toronto) is also home to many urban First Nations, Inuit and Métis (OCAD University, n.d.).
Content disclaimer: The content and resources included in this subject guide are about Canada's historic and ongoing anti-Indigenous racism, including but not limited to first-hand accounts of trauma endured by residential school survivors. Links to specific supports for First Nation, Métis, Inuit and other Indigenous community members can be found at the bottom of the subject guide Home page tab, listed below the Crisis Lines, Warm Lines and Community Resources for Indigenous People section.
September 30th marks National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. It is a time to reflect on the Canadian government's so-called Indian residential school system and honor its survivors, their families, and communities.
Also known as Orange Shirt Day, the day of mourning was inspired by author and activist Phyllis Webstad. On September 30, 1974, when she was six years old, all of her belongings were forcibly taken from her when she was sent to St. Joseph's Mission Residential School in Williams Lake, British Columbia. Her orange shirt represent a growing need to acknowledge the realities of the violence that occurred at institutions like St. Joseph's Catholic missionary boarding schools.
Phyllis Webstad pictured holding an eagle feather and wearing an orange shirt with an Every Child Matters graphic. Image from the University of Victoria Photo Services (n.d.).
"When I got to the Mission, they stripped me, and took away my clothes, including the orange shirt! I never wore it again. I didn’t understand why they wouldn’t give it back to me, it was mine! The colour orange has always reminded me of that and how my feelings didn’t matter, how no one cared and how I felt like I was worth nothing. All of us little children were crying and no one cared" (Webstad, n.d.).
The day's namesake symbolizes the loss of identity and culture faced by residential school survivors, their communities as well as their fellow First Nation, Métis and Inuit populations continue to face due to anti Indigenous systemic racism. Orange Shirt Day was first observed in May of 2013 (Boyko, 2021). In 2017, Medicine Wheel Publishing released Webstad's book titled The Orange Shirt Story.
In June of 2021, the Canadian federal government passed Bill C-5, designating National Day of Truth and Reconciliation as a statutory holiday on September 30th in response to the Truth and Reconciliation Commissions Call to Action Recommendation #80 (Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, 2015).
People attend the second annual Orange Shirt Day Survivors Walk and Pow Wow on National Day for Truth and Reconciliation in Winnipeg, Manitoba on Friday, Sept. 30, 2022. Image by John Woods for the Canadian Press.
The Dorothy H. Hoover Library has created a featured titles display with materials featured in this subject guide. Further information can be found under Resources for Indigenous Students, Faculty and Staff as well as Additional Resources section on the Home landing page of this subject guide.
OCAD U Resources for Indigenous Students, Faculty and Staff
External Links
More on Orange Shirt Day:
About Phyllis Webstad:
Decolonization Resources and Toolkits:
From the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada:
About the Treaties:
About Indigenous Community in Tkaronto (Toronto) and Ontario:
Crisis Lines, Warm Lines and Community Resources for Indigenous People:
Works Cited
Assembly of First Nations. (n.d.). It’s Our Time Toolkit. Retrieved from https://www.afn.ca
Boyko, J. (2013). Orange Shirt Day first observed. In Historical context of Orange Shirt Day.
Canadian Press. (n.d.). Second annual Orange Shirt Survivors Walk and Pow Wow, Winnipeg, Manitoba [Photograph]. Photo by John Woods.
Government of Canada. (n.d.). Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada: Calls to Action. Retrieved from https://www.canada.ca/en
Medicine Wheel Publishing. (n.d.). Phyllis Webstad resources and decolonization toolkits. Retrieved from https://medicinewheelpublishing.ca
Native Land Digital. (n.d.). Native Land map and information about Tkaronto (Toronto). Retrieved from https://native-land.ca
OCAD University. (n.d.). National Day for Truth and Reconciliation (Orange Shirt Day - September 30th) [LibGuide]. OCAD U Library. Retrieved from https://ocadu.libguides.com/orangeshirtday
Ontario Federation of Indigenous Friendship Centres. (n.d.). Community resources and crisis lines. Retrieved from https://www.ofifc.org
University of Victoria Photo Services. (n.d.). Phyllis Webstad holding an eagle feather and wearing an orange shirt with Every Child Matters graphic [Photograph].*
Webstad, P. (n.d.). Phyllis' Story in Her Own Words. Retrieved from https://www.orangeshirtday.org/phyllis-story
* Attribution for this photo was sourced from Walker, J. (2019, September 11). The hue of hope. Canada's History. https://www.canadashistory.ca/explore/first-nations-inuit-metis/the-hue-of-hope. At this time, the link from UVic's Photo Services is not available.