Orange Shirt Day & Truth and Reconciliation
September 30 is the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. It is also Orange Shirt Day.
Why an orange shirt
In 1973, a six-year-old girl named Phyllis Webstad arrived for her first day at St. Joseph Mission Residential School near Williams Lake, British Columbia. She was wearing a new orange shirt her grandmother had bought her. It was taken away, and she never got it back.
Orange Shirt Day began in 2013 to keep that story, and the stories of every child who went to a residential school, from being forgotten. In 2021 the Government of Canada made September 30 a federal statutory day of commemoration. Wearing orange is a small, visible way of saying that every child mattered, and still matters.
Where we stand
Shirtvana is a non-Indigenous-owned small business in Ontario. We think that is worth saying plainly on a page like this one.
If you would rather buy your orange shirt directly from an Indigenous-owned business or from the Orange Shirt Society itself, we genuinely encourage it, and we have linked both below. If you buy from us, here is exactly what happens with the money.
Our donation commitment
We donate CAD $3.00 from every shirt in this collection to the Orange Shirt Society, with a minimum donation of $250 regardless of how many shirts we sell.
We publish the total donated, and the receipt, on this page after September 30.
Buy from an Indigenous-owned business instead
- Official Orange Shirt Society merchandise — proceeds go directly to the Society
- National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation — education, records and survivor support
Learn more, and get support
The Indian Residential Schools Crisis Line offers 24-hour support to former students and their families at 1-866-925-4419.
To read the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s findings and its 94 Calls to Action, visit the NCTR.
Our Truth and Reconciliation collection
Printed on demand in Ontario. Free shipping across Canada. Order by September 14 to receive it before September 30.