Sept 30th is Orange Shirt Day
and Canada’s National Day for Truth and Reconciliation

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September 30th is now recognized as the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation in Canada.  Part of honouring this day is to expand our own learnings about Indigenous experiences in Canada, which includes acknowledging the impact of colonization on the Indigenous People of Canada.  The hard reality is that for more than 150 years, children from Indigenous cultures were taken from their families, removed from their homes, and forced to live at mandatory boarding schools under inhumane conditions.  Many experienced physical and sexual abuse, and severe punishment if they spoke their own language.  This dark chapter has resulted in immeasurable generational trauma, which we must work to acknowledge and repair in order for healing and reconciliation to ever be achieved.


For those of us who are non-Indigenous, the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation is an opportunity to learn and recognize the ongoing work required to better understand Indigenous experiences in Canada and within our LGBTQ2S+ communities.  Toronto Pflag is taking this moment to acknowledge the grief and the collective harm enacted on Indigenous peoples; however, as non-Indigenous people we do not have authority to speak on Indigenous issues and identities.   With that said, as we include the 2S (Two-spirit) initialism within our LGBTQ2S+ materials, we hope to take this September 30th to broaden learning to better understand Indigenous experiences in Canada, including what it means to be Two-spirit, while recognizing that Two-Spirit identities vary between different Indigenous groups.

We encourage readers to take some time to visit some links and learning materials below to continue your own learning this September 30th.

Read and reflect on the 94 TRC Calls to Action

In 2015, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada (TRC) published its final report detailing the experiences and impacts of the residential school system, creating a historical record of its legacy and consequences. Check out the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada: Calls to Action document. [Please note that it may take a moment to show up - the site is getting lots of traffic today!]

What Does "Two-Spirit" Mean? | InQueery | them.
Geo Neptune, a Two Spirit Passamaquoddy Educator defines what Two Spirit means and the history and development of Two Spirit communities on Turtle Island.  What does it mean to be two genders? Can anyone use it to describe themselves? InQueery is the series that takes a deeper look at the meaning, context, and history of LGBTQ+ vocabulary and culture.

What it really means to identify as Two-Spirit in Indigenous culture | Matador
“Using English to describe the meaning of Two-Spirit is difficult “because it tends to be very black and white,” says Geo. Geo’s elemental description of the term is perhaps most fitting: “If the sun is male and the moon is female, then Two-Spirits are the dusk, Two-Spirits are the dawn, and Two-Spirits are the time in which the sun and moon occupy the sky at the same time.”: https://matadornetwork.com/read/two-spirit-indigenous-culture/

Support Orange Shirt Day, wear an orange shirt September 30th
Phyllis Jack Webstad was six when she attended St. Joseph’s Mission Residential school in 1973. Phyllis lived  with her grandmother on the Dog Creek Reserve, and their family did not have much money, but her grandmother always tried to make sure Phyllis looked her best. The two of them went to a store and picked out a beautiful orange shirt with laces on the front and eyelets. Phyllis felt pretty in that shirt and was excited to attend school. When she arrived at the school she was stripped, and her clothes taken, including the orange shirt. Phyllis was never able to wear it again. The colour orange stayed with her and reminded her of a deep sense of worthlessness that stayed with her for many years. Today, we wear orange shirts to symbolize the many losses experienced by those forced to attend residential schools across generations including the loss of family, language, autonomy, freedom, culture and so much more.

Learn more about Canadian Indigenous Organizations:

Read books by Indigenous Authors such as the ones on these Reading Lists: 

  • University of Toronto Two Spirit Reading List

  • 5 Incredible Two-Spirit and Queer Indigenous Writers to Read Right Now

  • Five Little Indians by Michelle Good - Winner of the Governor General’s Literary Award, this novel tells the story of five children at a residential school in British Columbia

  • 21 Things You May Not Have Known About the Indian Act by Bob Joseph

  • Residential Schools, With the Words and Images of Survivors, Larry Loyie, Wayne K. Spear and Constance Brissenden.

FREE University of Alberta  - Indigenous Canada Course
University of Alberta Native Studies Department offers a FREE online course titled Indigenous Canada. It is a 12-lesson Massive Open Online Course that explores Indigenous histories and contemporary issues in Canada. From an Indigenous perspective, this course explores key issues facing Indigenous peoples today from a historical and critical perspective highlighting national and local Indigenous-settler relations. To sign up for free: https://www.coursera.org/learn/indigenous-canada 

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