Some Ways to Acknowledge Orange Shirt Day This Year

If you have never heard of 'Orange Shirt Day' you can read more about where it stems from here. After doing so you will have a far better idea of ways you may help in getting the word out, educating others, and honoring the lives and histories of First Nations People. Here are just a few ideas to get you started:

1) Wear an orange shirt and use as a springboard to talk to relatives, friends, classmates, and co-workers about the day and why it is important.

2) Make social media posts bringing awareness to industrial schools, and links to further information.

3) Make full videos and/or video shorts explaining about the day. Don't forget to hashtag!

4) Create a colorful infographic and text/DM it to all your contacts. Instruct all of them to send it to at least 5 of their own contacts. (This will also work with a flyer that you post in stores, libraries, or school bulletin board.)

5) For educators: Teach a lesson to your class about industrial schools, National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, and for extra credit have them write a paragraph or two about what they learned.

6) For students: Get permission from your teacher or professor to talk to your classmates about industrial schools, National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. Give everyone a piece of chocolate or something else small and tasty so each time they eat that same thing they will recall what you taught them.

7) For homeschoolers: Have your child/homeschool group watch a video about industrial schools or survivors of industrial schools. Afterwards, have them do a creative project explaining what they have learned or what they think about what they have learned. Also, if possible, have a knowledgeable Indigenous person visit and talk to your group about the impact of industrial schools.

For more information and to ask how you may help visit : orangeshirtday.org

M. Ansari

National Day for Truth and Reconciliation

Created to bring awareness to and speak out against the Canadian Industrial school system, National Day for Truth and Reconciliation (also Orange Shirt Day) is acknowledged annually on September 30. The system existed throughout North America (not only Canada), and was implemented to strip away from Indigenous (Native American, Indian) children any semblance of identity and culture. It was a strategic, massive, and horrible campaign of assimilation to, as the Civil War's Lieutenant Captain Richard Henry Pratt stated, "Kill the Indian in him, and save the man". (The link to his full speech on 'The Indian Policy: The Advantages of Mingling Indians with Whites' in the resource section below.)

Industrial schools were boarding schools

which took Indigenous children from their

homes, and through educational indoctrination forced them to shun their traditional and ancestral ways. The languages, names, dress, foods, dances, songs, prayers, religions/spiritualities, and memories of approximately one hundred tribal nations were snatched from them one punishment, one beating, one rape, one killing at a time.

The first *government school was started in Carlisle, Pennsylvania in 1879 during the Indian Wars. It was built on an old military base and run by the Bureau of Indian Affairs, a government organization which still exists today. The goal was to transform students from Godless savages to God-fearing citizens who would be accepted into the New World which was governed by white ways and standards. They were taught English, math, music, team sports, and hands-on skills that could ensure jobs in manufacturing.

Although these children were vastly tricked or outright stolen from their homes, many families willingly sent their young, believing the education would benefit their tribes, overall, with children who could understand the whites' language and customs. Also, so many Indigenous people were starving and without necessities. It made sense to some that the promise of "assimilation" into new ways would offer an advantage. In fact, even today there are non-Indigenous run Indian schools whose students are sent by their parents. Of course, they are not exactly like the Carlisle model which sparked the opening of hundreds more (church- and government-owned) throughout North America.

While the old Indian industrial school system may be looked upon as just another footnote of history, yet another atrocity done to people of color at the hands of whites, it is extremely important that we understand the tremendous impact it had and has on Indigenous people, those living on reservations as well as of the diaspora. Intergenerational trauma links us to our past in very real ways. Thousands of Indigenous children were lost; relatives and ancestors were lost; culture and legacy were lost- on reservations and throughout the diaspora. Reclaiming our true, untampered and unfiltered histories, cultures, and courage will take a lot of time and patience. However, it can be done. We can again be great if we work together, and learn to depend on ourselves. Too many of us are still hoping non-Indigenous promises and ways will lead to acceptance and prosperity for us and our people. If that was so we would not still be last in every arena.

This September 30 let us remember our loss while planning strategies to obtain gains. Let us learn from our past to cement a far better future.

M. Ansari

Resources:

Apache students at Carlisle (photo)

The Advantage of Minglling Indians with Whites by RH Pratt's

The Carlisle Indian School: Assimilation with Education After the Indian Wars

Carlisle Indian School Project

Carlisle Indian School Digital Resource Center

"Kill the Indian, save the man": Remembering the stories of Indian boarding schools

History of the Indian Wars (video)

Indigenous survivor describes her 'haunting experience' of boarding school abuse (video)

Survivors of Native American Boarding Schools Discuss Dark History in the US (video)

Unspoken: America's Native American Boarding Schools (video)

Powwows, Parades, and Hashtags

September is now here, which means a steady influx of pre-cold weather "Indian" festivities and acknowledgements is underway, from powwows to parades to virtual hashtags that are all meant to proclaim to the world, "Hey, you!! Our lands have been invaded for centuries... our ancestors were beaten, raped, stolen, and slayed in myriad ways including germ warfare... and to this day our people have been downtrodden due to depression, substance abuse, fear of further oppression, and so many other causes that would take too much time to name... but guess what... WE'RE STILL HERE!!!"

All of these expressions are nice. However, are they enough?

Is it enough to simply be seen, to shout out to the universe that we (merely, barely) survived the atrocities befallen our past while doing very little to make a tangible difference in the present? How will we ensure that we remain here??

Is it enough to sew ribbons on our clothes;

paint hands on our faces;

conjure fantastical ancestors who, if they are able to save us from this intergenerational nightmare, have chosen to not do so;

splurge thousands of dollars on regalia, jewelry, and accessories to "look" like those ancestors instead of "being" like them;

participate in rituals and ceremonies that honor nature while we consistently dishonor our tribespeople;

develop organizations and clubs that profess to offer assistance yet in truth feed individual egos far more than the weak?

Educationally, our children are behind their peers of every race and ethnicity nationwide. Our women face abuse, trafficking, and murder more than any other race and ethnicity nationwide. Our people (on a whole) face more police violence and overall oppression than any other race and ethnicity nationwide.

We deserve to dance and prance as much as any other group, but when will make real action to advance as a people??

The days of the 'passive Indian' who is content with being "seen", or who must receive permission to exist must end! No more hiding our cowardice behind sage smoke and prayers for the wrongdoers, convincing ourselves the The Great Soul prefers their peace and salvation above our own! We must do more to take our destiny into our own hands!

Our ancestors owe us nothing, and our oppressors (with their fluff organizations which "acknowledge" only some, and pit us against one another) will give us nothing. The only way is to form alliances with (our own) likeminded individuals, forge our skills and talents, and build what we need so that our children may succeed as competent world citizens long after we are gone- without needing to beg anyone for anything.

NO.

Powwows, parades, and hashtags are not enough.

We must become the heroes that we wear upon our tees.

M. Ansari