Grand Forks Herald: Indigenous students recognize Orange Shirt Day on the UND campus
Orange Shirt Day is a national remembrance of the Indigenous children who died and suffered at residential boarding schools during the 19th and 20th centuries.
GRAND FORKS — Countless Indigenous children died after being forcibly sent to residential boarding schools in the United States and Canada in the 19th and 20th centuries, but even the ones who survived endured lasting trauma.
“I’ve seen the impact on other people’s families.” said Mishaye Belgarde, secretary of the UND Native American Law Student Association. “The scars are still fresh, even though it feels like eons ago.”
Orange Shirt Day is a national remembrance of the Indigenous children who suffered at those boarding schools. In Canada, they are still discovering mass graves of Native children at the sites of those residential schools, Belgarde said.
UND’s Orange Shirt Day event this year, held Friday, featured two boards displaying paragraphs about the history of residential schools and survivor testimony. In front of the boards were supplies to make an orange ribbon pin, blow pops and a teddy bear wearing an orange bow around its neck.
“The bear represents the children,” Belgrade said.
Belgarde said the primary importance of hosting Orange Shirt Day events on campus is to raise awareness and educate members of the UND community about the reality of residential schools.
“This is still history. It may not be in the books, but it’s there. As horrific as it sounds, it’s part of an era,” Belgrade said. “It’s important that people know this is still relevant history. It’s not going away.”
Devon Headdress, president of the UND Indian Association, said that while the event and honoring Orange Shirt Day is about raising awareness for those outside of the Native community, says that for Native American students, it is time to honor and think about their ancestors and their struggles to survive.
“The significance behind it is very deep-rooted in Native American communities. And so, as students, it’s our job to make sure that that message doesn’t die. It’s our job to help spread it,” Headdress said. “In Native American culture, our strength is our ability to endure pain, not to inflict it. We’ve been through all of this, but that means we’re twice as strong because of it.”
