09/08/2026
This Orange Shirt Day - National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, we wanted to become more educated, and our friend Julia, who is Upper Mohawk, had a story that is local and personal. I really thank her for sharing it with us.
Julia works as an Indigenous social worker, supporting her community every day. Her great-grandmother was a survivor of the residential school system โ one of the many children taken from their families under that policy. Like many survivors, she rarely spoke about her time there.
Julia remembers asking her once, simply, โGram, how did you make it?โ Her great-grandmother answered calmly: she followed the rules, did what she had to do, and watched too many friends leave and never come back. It was the only time they ever spoke about it.
Julia also shared a story passed down from Elders at Six Nations Polytechnic, where she completed her degree โ about children hiding in the corn fields during the 60s Scoop, waiting for the government vehicles that came to take kids from the reserve to leave before it was safe to go home. Itโs a story that stays with her, especially now as a mother herself, knowing that in a different time, her own children could have been taken too.
Today, Julia works to support her community and educate others on this history โ work she says sheโll never stop being willing to talk about, because remembering is part of how healing continues.
In her honour, and in support of survivors and their families: our Orange Shirt Day shirts are $25 each (officially licensed), with 100% of profits going to Indspire
We chose Indspire because it directly invests in the next generation. Itโs a national Indigenous-led registered charity that provides scholarships, bursaries, and programs to help First Nations, Inuit, and Mรฉtis students across Canada complete their education. For us, it felt like a meaningful way to turn remembrance into action โ supporting the futures of Indigenous youth today, as part of honouring the history and resilience of survivors like Juliaโs great-grandmother.
https://indspire.ca/
๐งก Every Child Matters
Sizes s-2x & youth available
Beaded earrings and sage set from
Iroqrafts - Oshweken
Portion of their proceeds go to the Woodland Cultural Centre
Please go to:
https://woodlandculturalcentre.ca/about/
To learn more
