Ways to get involved
- Join the intergenerational march at UBC Vancouver on September 30.
- Participate in events and activities, such as tours, film screenings, learning opportunities and more on the Vancouver or Okanagan campuses.
Orange Shirt Day hub
To purchase your orange shirt
UBC’s Orange Shirt Day t-shirt was designed by xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) artist Alec Guerin. These shirts are available for purchase at the UBC Bookstore, with proceeds going to the Orange Shirt Society and the Indian Residential School Survivor Society.
Healing and wellness resources
Engaging with Indian Residential School histories and legacies can sometimes lead to emotional reactions and difficult thoughts and feelings, which might surface hours, days or even weeks later. This experience is perfectly normal. If you find yourself feeling overwhelmed, it is important to respect your needs and to be kind to yourself. There are many wellness resources available—for survivors and family members; Indigenous Peoples and community members; and UBC students, staff and faculty.
Additional resources
More about Orange Shirt Day
UBC Beyond stories
- What are Indian day schools? 3 things you might not know
- 3 things you might not know about Orange Shirt Day
- 6 ways to deepen your understanding of Indian residential school history
- How the truth about Indian Residential Schools in Canada was suppressed
- Truth before reconciliation: 8 ways to identify and confront Residential School denialism
UBC courses
- Weaving Relations—offered jointly by the Faculty of Applied Science and Faculty of Land and Food Systems and available to anyone at UBC with a campus-wide login.
- Indigenous Learning Pathways: Land Acknowledgements at UBC—a refreshed version of UBC’s land acknowledgments course, and well worth taking, even if you took the previous iteration.
Plus, learn more about Indigenous Learning Pathways, an online training program for UBC staff and faculty, which is set to launch soon. Additionally, consider enrolling in Indigenous Canada, a free 12-lesson Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) offered by the University of Alberta..
UBC tours
- Visit the Indian Residential School History and Dialogue Centre. The centre’s gallery is open several days a week for drop-in visits.
- Register for a Decolonization Tour with UBC’s Belkin Art Gallery.
- Take a virtual tour of the Sty-Wet-Tan Great Hall at the First Nations Longhouse.
- Take a virtual tour of the Totem Park Commonsblock, which features several installations about xʷməθkʷəy̓əm language, history and culture.
- Visit tə šxʷhəleləm̓s tə k̓ʷaƛ̓kʷəʔaʔɬ student residence and explore the signage installation throughout the grounds, which features plants of cultural significance to the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm people.
Websites
- Native-Land.ca—an app to help map Indigenous territories, treaties, and languages.
- UBC’s Indigenous Portal
Books
Indigenous-owned businesses
- Massy Books
- Iron Dog Books
- Indigenous food and businesses in BC—a map of Indigenous restaurants, food businesses and more.
Consider donating
Besides deepening your knowledge and participating in activities on or off-campus, you might also consider making a donation. There are many Indigenous organizations to which you might donate, including the Indian Residential School Survivor’s Society or the Orange Shirt Society.
How you choose to donate, and how much you choose to give, is up to you; however, we recommend that you find organizations that directly support Indigenous people and communities and, where possible, are Indigenous-operated, to ensure your donation provides the most direct and effective support.
