Together on the Journey:
A Weekly Blog
This Sunday, we will be marking Orange Shirt Day, which is officially held on September 30 every year. In 2013, September 30th was started as the Orange Shirt Day in order to promote truthful education and awareness around residential schools in Canada. Residential schools in Canada were established in 1867, and the last school closed in 1996. The name of Orange Shirt Day was inspired by Phyllis Jack Webstad (Stswecem’c Xgat’tem First Nation), who shared her story at a St. Joseph Mission Residential School Commemoration Project. She recounted her first day at a residential school where they stripped her of her clothing, which included a brand new orange shirt from her grandmother. The shirt was never returned, and this comes to represent all that was taken from Indigenous children. This shirt and colour reminds us all that “Every Child Matters.” The colour orange in many Indigenous cultures also signifies sunshine, truth-telling, strength and power, and regeneration.
Marking Orange Shirt day is especially important in the Anglican church, because we were one of the church parties that ran residential schools. The Mohawk Institute in Brantford is the closest Anglican-run residential school to our diocese. It was closed in 1970.
This week’s poem is by Rita Joe, a residential school survivor. While attending residential school she was forbidden from practicing her culture or speaking her own language. When she left the school at 16, she tried to get back all that she had lost of her culture. Her short poem, I Lost My Talk, demonstrates how important language and culture can be to one’s sense of self.
I Lost My Talk
by Rita Joe
I lost my talk
The talk you took away.
When I was a little girl
At Shubenacadie school.
You snatched it away:
I speak like you
I think like you
I create like you
The scrambled ballad, about my word.
Two ways I talk
Both ways I say,
Your way is more powerful.
So gently I offer my hand and ask,
Let me find my talk
So I can teach you about me.
References:
https://www.thepoetrylab.com/resources/kris-kaila/5-poems-to-read-on-truth-and-reconciliation-day