eptember 30 was Orange Shirt Day, which was started in Williams Lake in 2013 to bring awareness to the reality of residential schools. The day was inspired by the story of Phyllis Webstad, who attended residential school as a young girl. Her grandmother had purchased a new outfit for Phyllis’ first day of school, including an orange shirt. However, it was taken from her, along with the rest of her new outfit, replaced by a school uniform and never seen again. Similarly to Pink Shirt Day, which is a day dedicated to teaching kids about bullying, more and more schools are participating in Orange Shirt Day each year. For those of us who havent learned much about residential schools, they can feel like the Lauren Kelly Editor-in-Chief M editor@theotherpress.ca hirt Day something from a distant past. This is an easy way to distance ourselves from the struggles of Canada’s Aboriginal peoples. However, the last school closed in 1996, exactly 20 years ago. Residential schools began in the 1880s as a way to help young Aboriginal children integrate into a more European society. This also had the goal of teaching Aboriginal children skills to help make their communities economically self- sufficient. However, the schools were run by Christian missionaries, who had the secondary goal of converting the children to Christianity and westernizing them. The Aboriginal communities had agreed to schools in the 1876 Indian Act, but the residential schools did not match their vision. The children were removed from their communities, often not otherpress Chandler Walter "ei Assistant Editor Massistant@theotherpress.ca i Mercedes Deutscher News Editor Mi news@theotherpress.ca Adam Tatelman Arts Editor M arts@theotherpress.ca if ss _ Lauren Paulson |. Multi-media Editor ix tee TBA Angela Ho Elizabeth Jacob Business Manager Production Assistant Jacey Gibb Ed Appleby Distribution Manager iilustrator Cara Seccafien Jony Roy Layout Manager Joel McCarthy Graphics Manager Social Media Coordinator Aaron Guillen Staff Reporter being even sent home during the holidays, which isolated them. The food and clothing provided to them was poor in quality. The religious teachings were aggressive, and often tore down Aboriginal traditions simultaneously. To the faculty, a large part of westernizing the students was to take away their culture, and remove their right to speak their language. Sadly, many Aboriginal languages are dying or dead today due to aggressive campaigns such as this. Although some students had positive experiences, overall the system was unsuccessful. The schools did not operate in the way other Canadian schools did; instead, students learned for the first half of the day and worked for the second. This had the intention of preparing them for adulthood, but it often was just free labour Davie Wong Sports Editor Msports@theotherpress.ca Chitwan Khosla Features Editor M features@theotherpress.ca Brittney MacDonald Life & Style Editor Mlifeandstyle@theotherpress.ca Cazzy Lewchuk Opinions Editor M opinions@theotherpress.ca Rebecca Peterson Humour Editor Mhumour@theotherpress.ca Jamal Al-Bayaa Staff Writer David Manky Senior Columnists Anthony Labonte Carlos Bilan Contributors for the school, and the students were treated poorly while they worked. Although some teachers had their students’ best interests at heart, others took advantage of their position to physically and sexually abuse the young children. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission found that, of the 150,000 children who filtered through the residential school system, at least 3,200 died due to the poor conditions, lack of food, and the spread of disease. Additionally, research by Ian Mosby found that students in the 1940s and 50s were experimented on, being withheld certain nutrients and other care to discover the effect it would have on them compared to students who were given these nutrients. The horrific treatment of these children is something we Rm 1020 — 700 Royal Ave. Douglas College New Westminster, BC V3L 5B2 604.525.3542 Photo via www.nisgaanation.ca must remember. Some survivors of these schools are not much older than most of us at this college. I hope that Orange Shirt Day, and the conversation around residential schools in general, continues to grow. It is important for us to understand our country’s recent history in regards to our Aboriginal population, especially since us Canadians pride our country on being so progressive and not-racist. Instead of patting ourselves on our backs because we're not America, we should be learning to respect each other, and listening to the experiences of those who speak out. Until next issue, Lauren Kelly Editor-in-Chief @ theotherpress.ca M editor@theotherpress.ca ¥ ©/theotherpress f/DouglasOtherPress (¥ The Other Press has been Douglas College’s student newspaper since 1976. Since 1978 we have been an autonomous publication, independent of the student union. We are a registered society under the Society Act of British Columbia, governed by an eight-person board of directors appointed by our staff. Our head office is located in the New Westminster campus. (¥ The Other Press is published weekly during the fall and winter semesters, and monthly during the summer. We receive our funding from a student levy collected through tutition fees every semester at registration, and from local and national advertising revenue. The Other Press is a member of the Canadian University Press (CUP), a syndicate of student newspapers that includes papers from all across Canada. (¥ The Other Press reserves the right to choose what we will publish, and we will not publish material that is hateful, obscene, or condones or promotes illegal activities. Submissions may be edited for clarity and brevity if necessary. All images used are copyright to their respective owners.