September 30, 2022: Orange Shirt Day

WHEREAS, the movement known as “Orange Shirt Day,” also known as the National Day of Remembrance, was started by Phyllis Webstad of the Stswecem’c Xgat’tem First Nation; and,

WHEREAS, Phyllis, like Indigenous children throughout the United States, attended an Indian residential school whose purpose it was to strip her of her language and culture; and,

WHEREAS, children in these boarding schools were subjected to a range of sexual, physical, spiritual, and emotional abuse, and many lost their lives; and,

WHEREAS, Native children were not allowed to speak their Native language, wear their traditional clothing, or practice their cultural tradition, and were forced to have their hair cut by school officials; and,

WHEREAS, Michigan was home to several Indian boarding schools whose purpose it was to forcibly assimilate Native children; and,

WHEREAS, it is incumbent upon us all to acknowledge the legacy of legalized injustice and brutality toward Native children and their families; and,

WHEREAS, we must do more than just remember the children whose lives were taken, the countless families torn apart, and the communities ravaged by these cruel, government-sanctioned practices – we must acknowledge the generational trauma that exists and continues to impact Native people and their communities; and,

WHEREAS, after years of avoiding the color orange, which the Indian boarding school forbade her to wear, Phyllis created Orange Shirt Day to remember the children who lost their lives at the hands of the boarding school system and to honor the survivors;

NOW, THEREFORE, I, Gretchen Whitmer, governor of Michigan, do hereby proclaim September 30, 2022, as Orange Shirt Day in Michigan.