Phyllis Webstad grew up on the Dog Creek Reserve, spending her childhood in the company of her grandmother. Before she left for St. Joseph’s Mission residential school in 1973, her grandmother took her shopping. Phyllis proudly picked out a bright orange shirt, a tangible reminder of home.Â
When she arrived at The Mission, they took away more than just her orange shirt. They took away her connection to her loved ones, leaving behind trauma that endured for decades.
In her adult life, Phyllis became a voice for those who suffered with her, and those who experienced the lingering, intergenerational effects of residential schools. While planning her speech for the 2013 St. Joseph’s Mission Residential School Commemoration Project, memories flooded back of her orange shirt being stripped from her, and the demoralizing feelings that accompanied it. Phyllis’ story touched people so deeply that it inspired Orange Shirt Day; a day to reflect on the traumatic impact of residential schools and to remember survivors, victims, and their families.
On Sept. 30, we honoured National Day for Truth and Reconciliation and Orange Shirt Day by wearing orange and attending community events. I went to the IMAX Victoria screening of The Good Canadian on Sept. 29. The film by Leena Minifie and David Paperny presented a documentary overview of colonially imposed issues facing Indigenous peoples in Canada, such as the residual effects of residential schools, high incarceration rates, birth alerts, and police violence. If you missed Tuesday’s free screening, the documentary is also available for streaming on CBC Gem.
Like most of my peers, I learned a basic overview of residential schools in middle school. Difficult subjects are often sterilized and made digestible by the education system so they can be fed to the public in bite-size amounts. As I reflected on The Good Canadian, I was reminded of this, and it led me to think about my privilege. Indigenous people were never afforded the opportunity to slowly digest the horrors of residential schools, or to read about the Starlight Tours in the newspaper and forget minutes later, or to raise their children without fear that they would be taken and abused. My privilege as a white woman allows me to walk through life completely apathetic to systemic injustice if I choose.
Educator and activist Sheelah McLean asserted in the film, “I know what it means to be a ‘Good Canadian’, which is to pretend that this is a country that embodies benevolence”. If we delve into Canadian history, it’s clear that the country’s very inception was built on the dispossession of land and people, and the erasure of Indigenous culture. Yet, we champion stereotypes of politeness and goodwill, and catalogue these generalizations as proof of moral superiority. All the while, systemic racism brews close to the surface, bubbling over in the forms of environmental racism, medical discrimination, and police brutality.Â
Let’s stop feeding into the notion that being a “Good Canadian” means being passive. Challenging entrenched systems requires us to be open to learning and changing our opinions, and advocating for those who don’t have a voice. Practically, this could mean voting for candidates who support the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s 94 Calls to Action in upcoming elections, or simply talking to your friends about the meaning of Truth and Reconciliation Day. September 30 may have already passed, but reflecting on the past and present injustices experienced by Indigenous peoples should never leave our collective conscience.