Orange Shirt Day and Secwepemc and Syilx Flag Raising – Thursday, June 3

Our planned date to raise the Secwepemc and Syilx flags is Thursday, June 3. In light of the discovery of the grave of 215 children on the grounds of the Kamloops Indian Residential School, we ask that all members of our school community wear orange on Thursday in support of all Residential School survivors, and in remembrance of those who didn’t survive. We are choosing to have our orange shirt day on Thursday because it aligns with the very significant act of raising the two flags that represent the ancestral, traditional, and unceded territory upon which our school stands. 

We know that many of you will also wear orange tomorrow, May 31, in support of the national orange shirt movement for this day. I will be wearing orange both tomorrow and on Thursday, June 3. 

Beginning tomorrow, our Canadian flag will be lowered to half-mast to honour those who suffered trauma and harm at the former residential school in Kamloops, and their families and communities who are mourning. As said by B.C. Assembly of First Nations Regional Chief Terry Teegee, “These children had a home. These children were loved by someone.”  

SD83 will be working to provide local support to staff and students. You can also contact the National Indian Residential School Crisis Line which is available 24 hours a day at 1-866-925-4419.

Chelsea Prince