Wednesday, September 30th is the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. Observed annually, this day acknowledges the intergenerational trauma, devastation, and displacement caused by the Indian Residential School System to Indigenous communities across Canada. In addition, this day seeks to honour the Survivors, families, communities, and those who could not return home as a result of this system.

Orange Shirt Day is also observed on September 30th. The day is inspired by the story of Phyllis Webstad, a residential school Survivor who was not allowed to wear the orange shirt purchased by her grandmother – stripped of her clothing and belongings – upon her arrival to The St. Joseph Mission Indian Residential School. As a symbol of the denial of freedom and personhood, and of the deliberate erasure of Indigenous identity, the orange shirt honours Webstad’s resistance and commemorates the thousands of Indigenous children whose lives were lost, as well as the countless communities that were irreversibly harmed as a consequence of the Residential School system.

In light of the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation and Orange Shirt Day, the OISE Library has curated a book display with materials from across our Research, Curriculum Resources, and Children’s Literature collections. The display, most importantly, seeks to highlight the voices of the many Indigenous authors and scholars whose work we carry in our collections. Not only for the development of student-directed instruction by educators, but also for the learning and practice of the many people living on this Land, the resources in this display help frame how everyone, including and especially settlers, can become impactful participants in the wider process of reconciliation.

The display can be found on the ground floor of the OISE Library, near the service desk, above the New Arrivals shelf.

Cover for the book "With Our Orange Hearts" by Phyllis Webstad and Emily Kewageshig, featuring a large heart, two hands curved into a heart shape and an orange shirt.

With Our Orange Hearts (JUV FIC W376W) by Phyllis Webstad is a piece of children’s literature that emphasizes the importance of lending a listening ear in the wider process of reconciliation. Building on the commemoration of the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, Phyllis Webstad, residential school Survivor and founder of Orange Shirt Day, further explains to her young readers the phrase, “Every Child Matters.” Through her thoughtful prose, as well as beautiful, symbolic supporting art and imagery by Ojibwe Woodland artist Emily Kewageshig, the book speaks to the extraordinary impact that both sharing one's feelings and opening one’s heart can hold in processing lived experiences, rooted in the context of Orange Shirt Day. In the words of author Phyllis Webstad, “Listening is a first step towards reconciliation. It's never too early to start.”

Book cover for "Disinherited Generations" by Nellie Carlson and Kathleen Steinhauer, featuring photos of children overlaid on top of feathers on top of an orange background.

Disinherited Generations : Our Struggle to Reclaim Treaty Rights for First Nations Women and their Descendants (323.119707100922 C284D) is an oral autobiography of two Cree Elders, Nellie Carlson and Kathleen Steinhauer. In this autobiography, the two weave the stories of their lives amidst complex contexts of residential schooling in youth, government discrimination, their advocacy and activism for Indigenous women and First Nations communities, as well as their pursuit of equal rights against systematic and systemic oppression in Canada. Through these stories, the two delve into nuanced gendered, political, and historical discourses on issues such as inheritance, lineage, the loss of treaty rights, and the subsequent state of deeply contested identity for First Nations women. In doing so, Disinherited Generations creates distance from one-dimensional, simplistic depictions of Indigenous peoples as passive victims of Canadian institutionalized violence, and powerfully establishes the strength, resilience, and steadfastness of not only Carlson and Steinhauer, but numerous Indigenous communities in this fight over time.

Cover for the book "The Witness Blanket" by Carey Newman and Kirstie Hudson. Featuring sections of an Indigenous art installation.

The Witness Blanket: Truth, Art, and Reconciliation (CR 371.8299707 N551W) describes the creation of an art installation by the same title, by Indigenous artist and author Carey Newman. The Witness Blanket, as described by Newman, is a collection of hundreds of objects from residential schools, provided by their Survivors. The collection of these objects not only tells the personal stories of the countless Indigenous peoples who were subject to the brutality of these schools, but also becomes a symbol of the widespread, deeply disturbing scope of Indigenous genocide across Turtle Island. As a curriculum resource and literary description of the project for middle-grade youth, The Witness Blanket takes a rather delicate, yet honest approach in sharing the experiences of those whose stories are embedded into the art installation. Ultimately, it documents the thoughts and decisions of Newman as the collection of objects came together, categorizes the type of objects included and their relevance, and delves into the process of its actual installation.

Book cover for "Truth and Reconciliation in Canadian Schools" by Pamela Rose Toulouse, picturing a painting of two Indigenous individuals standing in an orange field.

Truth and Reconciliation in Canadian Schools (CR 371.82997071 T653T) by Pamela Rose Toulouse is a curriculum resource dedicated towards the practical, intentional teaching of Indigenous histories and contributions in the classroom. With sensitivity, the text touches on the facilitation of instruction as it pertains to Treaty education, residential school history, various components of Indigenous knowledge and cultural practice, and much more. This is further exhibited through the description of many First Nations concepts and methods, reflective exercises that can be practiced by students and staff alike, as well as curriculum-based discussion prompts surrounding topics such as Land rights and colonialism. The resource, hence, respectfully and holistically takes to various activities and ways by which Indigenous worldviews can be embedded into K-12 education, especially as an action-based mode of reconciliation and decolonial learning.

2026 National Day for Truth and Reconciliation | Orange Shirt Day Book Display

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