Orange Shirt Day recognizes the survivors and sufferers of residential schools in Canada.
The College of New Caledonia (CNC) is one of many schools and organizations acknowledging the annual event across the country, hosting several speakers and taking part in a moment of silence.
.@cnc_bc_ca holds moment of silence as instructed by elder Clifford, also a former teacher; dozens take part | #OrangeShirtDay #CityOfPG pic.twitter.com/mRL3f1AE9F
— My Prince George Now (@mypgnow) September 29, 2017
Survivor Clifford Quaw, also a former part-time CNC instructor of indigenous studies, describes his experience.
“I didn’t call it a school, I called it a mental prison. It was very strict like most of the residential schools, and for the slightest infraction, you got the straps. One of the first things I learned when I was five or six years old is that our people were treated like slaves.”
Quaw says he’s very comfortable with sharing his testimony, but explains what he believes needs to happen in terms of reconciliation.
“I think it’s simple, it begins with you and me. From there, you branch out, you keep on doing it, and you can’t let the past get into the present, otherwise, you go to the future and you’re just bouncing around.”
.@cnc_bc_ca displays images of what life was like in residential schools; Pres. Henry Reiser calls this appalling to Canadians | #CityOfPG pic.twitter.com/gQgnLra7dZ
— My Prince George Now (@mypgnow) September 29, 2017
Dozens of students took in the acknowledgment by wearing orange, including CNC President Henry Reiser.
“This awareness campaign that ‘every child matters’ on this day translates to the priorities in our strategic plan here at CNC to ensure student success.”
Orange Shirt Day originally began in Williams Lake, recounting one six-year-old’s story of being stripped of her orange shirt.
.@cnc_bc_ca wraps #OrangeShirtDay event; Clifford Quaw says “the solution/reconciliation starts with you in order to heal” | #CityOfPG pic.twitter.com/Y0jkda3sTO
— My Prince George Now (@mypgnow) September 29, 2017
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