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Camosun shows support for residential school survivors

Camosun College students and employees will be wearing orange on Wednesday

Camosun College students and employees will be wearing orange on Wednesday to show their commitment to the principle that every child matters and to show support for residential school survivors and their families.

“We ask every student to help us honour the 150,000 survivors of the residential school system so their voices can be heard through our participation,” said spokespersons Kristen Spray and Eddy Charlie, who are taking Indigenous Studies at Camosun.

“As Indigenous students, we wish to create awareness about the issues of residential schools. We feel a responsibility to stand together so that the spirits of our ancestors can witness our spiritual blanket embracing every path as we rebuild everything that was taken from our ancestors.”

Camosun’s Orange T-shirt event takes place at 2 p.m. Wednesday at Na’tsa’maht (the Gathering Place) at Camosun’s Lansdowne campus.

Orange Shirt Day made its debut in Williams Lake and in just three years has spread across Canada, the U.S. and Europe. Sept. 30 represents the time of year children were taken from their homes, and it sets the stage for anti-racism and anti-bullying policies for the coming school year. It is the opportunity for communities to come together in the spirit of reconciliation and hope for generations of children to come.