The hot and sunny days of summer have passed and have made way for cool mornings and beautiful coloured leaves. September has been a busy month with students returning to school and beginning their studies. The month of September is a time to reflect on the Every Child Matters movement. Students have been very respectful in honouring the children who attended residential schools across Turtle Island. There have been many honest discussions about how residential schools have affected Aboriginal people. The students at Erickson School have been working hard on several Orange Shirt activities as you can see by the pictures. There has been a lot of heart put into their projects.
Today there are more than 1.4 million people in Canada who identify as an Indigenous person. In Erickson School this year 53 out of 184 students identify as Aboriginal. Nowadays they can attend the same school as everyone else, but that wasn’t always the case as students learned this September. This history is now being taught in schools and days like Orange Shirt Day are ways for us to show honour and respect to all the 150,000 Indigenous children that attended residential schools so far away from their parents, families, and communities. At residential schools, their hair was chopped off and they received punishment for speaking their language. They also could not use their own traditional names that were given to them for special reasons. Rather, they were assigned an English name that meant nothing to them. Some were even given a number to be called by instead of a name. Brothers and sisters were separated and sent to different schools or separate parts of the same school, one part for boys and one for girls. Most children were away at residential school for 10 months, from September until June. Unfortunately, there were many who were not able to go back to their homes or see their families for many years. By wearing an orange shirt and taking part in the remembrance of Orange Shirt Day, students showed their support to residential school survivors, their families, and those who did not make it home.
It is a wonderful thing to see happy, smiling students arriving each morning at our beautiful Erickson School. Whether it’s being dropped off by families or arriving by bus and running off to play together with friends before classes start, knowing they will be returning to their families at the end of the day. Many Indigenous children did not have that at one time in Canada’s history. I encourage you to take some time to look around your school and appreciate all the wonderful things we have and to be thankful for, like the teachers and staff members who care about students and their education.

Submitted by Angeleen Williams, Aboriginal Youth Worker & Family Liaison, Erickson Elementary