09/30/2026
September 30
Some stories are too painful to forget.
There were children who were taken from their families.
Children who missed their parents.
Children who missed home.
Children whose languages, names, traditions and sense of belonging were taken from them.
Some of these children never made it home - Families begging to know what happened, never got answers. For the survivors, the ones who made it home, the story did not end when the schools closed.
Here in the Lakes District, this is not a story that happened somewhere far away. Lejac Residential School was part of the history of this place. Indigenous children from our region were sent there, and many families continue to live with the effects of what happened.
Behind the history books are real people.
Mothers. Fathers. Grandparents. Children.
People who loved, lost, survived, remembered—and carried those memories forward.
September 30 asks us to stop for a moment.
To remember the children.
To honour the survivors.
To listen to the stories.
And to face the truth, even when that truth is painful.
Because remembering is not about staying in the past.
It is about making sure we never look away from it.
May we listen with open hearts.
May we honour those who survived.
May we remember those who did not come home.
And may we do our part to build a community where every child is safe, valued, and knows they belong.
We remember.
We honour.
We listen.
We move forward together.
🧡
Read the story behind the day
https://orangeshirtday.org/about/phyllis-story/