Orange Shirt Day
The Government of Canada has designated September 30 as the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. This action is a response to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Call to Action # 80 and calls the nation to pause and observe the history and legacy of the Indian Residential School system in Canada. For many it will be a day of remembrance and mourning; for others it will be a time to spread awareness and understanding about the history of the Indian Residential School system in Canada.
Phyllis Webstad, a former student of St. Joseph’s Residential School in Williams Lake, founded Orange Shirt Day. Phyllis is a member of the Stswecem’c Xgat’tem First Nation and was sent to St. Joseph’s in 1973. Her grandmother sent Phyllis to school proudly wearing a new orange shirt. Upon arriving at school, the shirt was “stripped from her, never to be seen again.” Orange Shirt Day recognizes the harm that the residential school system did to the children and their communities.
To learn more about Phyliis Webstad and Orange Shirt Day, please visit the Orange Shirt Day Website.
Indigenous Language Apps
FirstVoices is a non-profit organization based in British Columbia helping to preserve Indigenous languages and oral traditions.
It provides a suite of web-based tools and services to support Indigenous people engaged in language archiving, language teaching and culture revitalization.
It offers two types of apps: a keyboard app and a dictionary app:
- The Keyboard App: The keyboard app allows you to type from your phone in one of more than 100 Indigenous languages, includes every First Nations language in Canada, Australia and New Zealand plus many USA languages.
- The Dictionary Apps The dictionary apps are interactive dictionary/phrase apps in First Nations languages and contain text, audio, image and video content.
The apps are available as free downloads from the Apple App store and Google Play stores for iOS and Android devices.
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