Honoring Every Child Matters | Day of Remembrance + Action
Hello community,
Today is Tuesday, September 30th, Every Child Matters - Orange Shirt Day - National Day of Mourning, Truth and Reconciliation.
Today is a day of remembrance and reflections. It’s about continued advocacy, visibility, and action for survivors of Boarding and Residential Schools, their families, descendants, and the advocates and organizations putting in the heart work to seek justice, accountability, healing, solutions, and action.
In May 2021, 215 Indigenous babies were unearthed from the Kamloops residential property. A truly heartbreaking thing to see, witness, and the ripple efforts of trauma, and pain resurfacing for so many. Many Indigenous Peoples are descendants of Boarding and Residential school attendees. Many not making it home. Many that did, felt the impacts of what they witnessed and experienced, that passed down the intergenerational trauma, so many Indigenous Peoples are experiencing and finding ways to heal and move forward. And from data that the Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition was able to collect, there are 526 Boarding schools in the U.S. and that’s not including the 140+ in Canada - so just imagine the impact, the trauma, the pain, the silence felt, by Indigenous survivors and families. The pain and trauma is still felt, even today.
Since May 2021, over 10,000 Indigenous bodies have been unearthed across Boarding and Residential Schools. The lands have embraced our Indigenous relatives and ancestors in a way where we / families couldn’t. The lands protected them, held them, and loved them. The efforts to repatriate Indigenous children and Peoples and bring them back to their homelands and to their families is still continuous. Efforts for policies and legislation to create resources and funds to provide for families, surviviors and descendants, is continuous. And right now, we, you, can call your representatives, and urge them to Pass the S.761 - Truth and Healing Commission on Indian Boarding School Policies Act of 2025.
This is an injustice that began with the arrival of colonialism that has had and does have, devastating impacts on Indigenous Peoples, past, present, and even, for the future. The trauma is still present. Blood memory of what’s happened is felt.
TAKE MEANINGFUL ACTION:
+ Get outside, connect with the lands
+ Follow, learn from Indigenous advocates and families
+ Repost, share, boost Every Child Matters stories and content
+ Watch films: Carlisle 200 and Sugarcane, Organize a local community screening of Remaining Native
+ Read books: See below
+ Listen to podcasts: Stolen: Surviving St. Michael’s
+ Wear orange - today on 9/30, and any day of the year - this is just the first step
+ Donate to Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition + Indian Residential School Survivor’s Society
+ Sign up and/or donate to our 5th Annual Every Child Matters Remembrance 5k run/walk
+ Commit to allyship and always be open to learning
+ Attend in person / local events so show your support
+ Call your Representatives to pass the S.761 - Truth and Healing Commission on Indian Boarding School Policies Act of 2025
Please continue to learn more about this past that is very much present, today. And below, are ways you can participate to support and learn more!
WHY THE COLOR ORANGE + WHY SEPTEMBER 30TH?
WHY ORANGE?
Phyllis Webstad (Orange Shirt Society) was 6 years old when she was about to start at the residential school she was attending - all excited for school, her grandmother bought her a brand new, pretty orange shirt to wear to school. Once Phyllis arrived at the residential school, her clothing was stripped from her and her hair was cut. The color orange reminds Phyllis of her experiences at the residential school and in her own words on what it reminded her of, "how my feelings didn’t matter, how no one cared and I felt like I was worth nothing. All of us little children were crying and no one cared.”
September 30th marks the day when Indigenous children were stolen from their families and forced into the schools at the start of the school year. This day and color, commemorates the heartbreaking legacy and trauma of the boarding and residential schools. And is National Day of Truth & Reconciliation Day.
About Orange Shirt Society:
In 2015, the Orange Shirt Society was formed to create awareness of the individual, family and community inter-generational impacts of Indian Residential Schools with the purpose of supporting Indian Residential School Reconciliation and promoting the truth that EVERY CHILD MATTERS.
Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition
(Information pulled from the Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition)
The National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition (NABS) is a leading national organization dedicated to advocating on behalf of Native peoples impacted by U.S. Indian boarding school policies. We seek truth through education and research, justice through advocacy and policy, and healing through Indigenous teaching and traditional gatherings.
Why a Truth and Healing Commission?
We have a right to know the truth of what happened in Indian boarding schools in the United States.
Over the course of a century, hundreds of thousands of our children were taken or coerced away from our families and Tribes and forced to attend government-sanctioned Indian boarding schools. These schools were tools of assimilation and cultural genocide, resulting in the loss of language and culture and the permanent separation of children from their families. To date, there has never been an accounting of:
the number of children forced to attend these schools;
the number of children who were abused, died, or went missing while at these schools; and
the long-term impacts on the children and the families of children forced to attend Indian boarding schools.
We have a limited amount of time to hear directly from survivors and record their stories. A Congressional Commission is needed to locate and analyze the records from the 523 known Indian boarding schools that operated in the U.S. A Commission would also bring together boarding school survivors with a broad cross-section of tribal representatives and experts in education, health, and children and families to fully express and understand the impacts of this federal policy of Indian child removal.
S.761 - Truth and Healing Commission on Indian Boarding School Policies Act of 2025
Introduced on 2/26/25 | 24 Co-sponsors
This bill establishes the Truth and Healing Commission on Indian Boarding School Policies in the United States within the legislative branch and sets forth its powers, duties, and membership.
Among other duties, the commission must investigate the impacts and ongoing effects of the Indian Boarding School Policies (federal policies under which American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian children were forcibly removed from their family homes and placed in boarding schools).
Further, the commission must develop recommendations on ways to (1) protect unmarked graves and accompanying land protections; (2) support repatriation and identify the tribal nations from which children were taken; and (3) discontinue the removal of American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian children from their families and tribal communities by state social service departments, foster care agencies, and adoption agencies.
REMAINING NATIVE
Award-winning documentary film, Remaining Native, is teaming up with Rising Hearts to honor and remember the thousands of Indigenous children stolen from their families and homelands and forced into boarding schools.
Join team Remaining Native for 5th Rising Hearts Every Child Matters 5K Virtual Walk/Run and bring the film to your community for a free screening offered by the Indigenous Impact Alliance from Sept. 30th-Nov 20th.
ABOUT THE FILM:
Remaining Native is an award-winning feature length documentary told through the perspective of Kutoven Stevens, a 17 year old Native American distance runner navigating his way to college athletics while the memory of his great-grandfather’s 50 mile escape from Indian Boarding School begins to connect past, present and future.
To learn more visit: www.remainingnativedocumentary.com
ABOUT THE INDIGENOUS IMPACT ALLIANCE:
The Indigenous Impact Alliance (IIA) brings together five powerful Indigenous-led documentaries: Bring Them Home, Remaining Native, Singing Back The Buffalo, Sugarcane, and Yintah! This initiative prioritizes community healing through authentic storytelling, and these films address issues you care about - from land connection and decolonization to environmental restoration and social healing - all told through Indigenous voices and perspectives that highlight innovative, community-based solutions
To learn more visit: www.indigenousimpactalliance.org
SPECIAL VIRTUAL SCREENING
Join Rising Hearts for a special screening of Carlisle 200!
Even though September 30th, National Day of Mourning, Truth & Reconciliation, will have passed, we are still holding this event, to continue awareness, highlight a special short film, made by one of our sisters / friend / and community voice, Guarina Paloma Lopez! We can continue to show up, beyond just a day of action and awareness, because there are still survivors of boarding and residential schools, families impacted, and advocacy that continues for justice, healing, accountability and action!
WHEN: October 8, 2025 | 8pm EST
WHERE: Virtual
RSVP: www.risinghearts.org/carlisle200
RSVP BY: October 8, 2025, 4pm EST
CARLISLE 200
About the Film:
Carlisle 200 follows Native bikers Guarina Lopez (Pascua Yaqui) and Tsinnijinnie Russell (Diné) on a 200-mile prayer ride from Washington, D.C. to the cemetery at Carlisle Indian Boarding School in Carlisle, PA. Through rain and shine on the long gravel trail, Guarina, Tsinnijinnie, and fellow activist-bikers honor the 190+ children buried at Carlisle and raise awareness of the history and ongoing impact of the residential boarding school system on Indigenous communities.
Watch:
https://vimeo.com/ondemand/carlisle200
You can fill out a screening request form for larger audiences likes schools and received a free code to watch | Visit here: https://www.bravespaceproject.org/carlisle200
Support:
https://www.paypal.com/donate?hosted_button_id=8G3JG9WSWDJU8
Follow: @bravespace_media | @native_women_ride | @guarinapalomalopez | @erinjoynash | @sanj___ | @tsinbean | @komahcheeto
BOOKS TO READ | ADD TO YOUR LIST:
As Long as the River Flows by Larry Loyle
When I was Eight by Christy Jordan-Fenton and Margaret Pokiak-Fenton
Daughter of Suqua by Diane Johnston Hamm
My Name is Not Easy by Debbie Dalh Edwardson
Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee by Dee Brown
My name is Seepeetza by Shirley Sterling
No Parole Today by Laura Tohe
Pipestone: My Life in an Indian Boarding School by Adam Fortunate Eagle
Sweetgrass Basket by Marlene Carvell
Broken Circle by Theodore Fontaine
Indian Horse by Richard Wagamese
Orange Shirt Day by Phyllis Webstad
Seven Fallen Feathers by Tanya Talaga
I am not a number by Jenny Kay Dupuis
The Land is our Storybook by Julie-Anne Andre & Mindy Willett
By The Fire We Carry by Rebecca Nagle
Sugarcane, an academy award nominated documentary in 2025!
A stunning tribute to the resilience of Native people and their way of life, SUGARCANE, the debut feature documentary from Julian Brave NoiseCat and Emily Kassie, is an epic cinematic portrait of a community during a moment of international reckoning. In 2021, evidence of unmarked graves was discovered on the grounds of an Indian residential school run by the Catholic Church in Canada. After years of silence, the forced separation, assimilation and abuse many children experienced at these segregated boarding schools was brought to light, sparking a national outcry against a system designed to destroy Indigenous communities. Set amidst a groundbreaking investigation, SUGARCANE illuminates the beauty of a community breaking cycles of intergenerational trauma and finding the strength to persevere.
AVAILABLE: Disney+ and Hulu, Nat Geo
Credits:
Directed By Julian Brave NoiseCat, Emily Kassie
Produced by Emily Kassie, Kellen Quinn
Director of Photography Christopher LaMarca
Cinematography By Emily Kassie
Edited by Nathan Punwar, Maya Daisy Hawke
Music By Mali Obomsawin
Executive Producers Carolyn Bernstein, Bill Way, Elliott Whitton, Jenny Raskin, Geralyn White Dreyfous, Tegan Acton, Emma Pompetti, Geralyn White Dreyfous, Grace Lay, Sumalee Montano, Sabrina Merage Naim, Douglas Choi, Adam & Melony Lewis, Meadow Fund, JanaLee Cherneski & Ian Desai, David & Linda Cornfield, Maida Lynn, Robina Riccitiello, Nina & David Fialkow
Impact and Resources:
Indian residential school history and its impact are not in the past. For more information on the film’s impact campaign, please visit here.
If you need support, the following resources are available:
CANADA
The National Indian Residential School Crisis Line provides 24-hour crisis support
to former Indian Residential School students and their families toll-free at 1-866-925-4419.
First Nations, Inuit and Métis seeking immediate emotional support
can contact the Hope for Wellness Help Line toll-free at 1-855-242-3310, or by online chat at hopeforwellness.ca.
UNITED STATES
Call or text 988 or visit www.988lifeline.org to reach the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline.
GET INVOLVED, LEARN, AND TAKE ACTION:
Rent Carlisle 200 for $5.99 | https://vimeo.com/ondemand/carlisle200
Watch Carlisle 200 FREE: www.waterbear.com/watch/carlisle-200
Webinars to Watch via @nabshc:
Healing Through Indigenous Mindfulness and Neurodecolonization.
Indian Boarding School Cemeteries and Missing Children: watch here.
Beyond Historical Trauma: Indigenous Traditions Lead the Pathway to Resilience and Healing.
#TruthAndHealing: The Movement and the Commission.
Canada: The Truth and Reconciliation Commission Report.
Call to Action: Support Truth, Healing, and Reconciliation in the U.S.
@nabshc has ways for you to support:
Join the Coalition, Sign petitions, Make a donation, Sign up for e-news.
Take Specific Action: For Churches, For Survivors and Descendants, For Teachers and For Community Allies.
Last Days to Participate + Support
Every Child Matters Remembrance Run
🧡 Orange Shirt Day 🧡
Rising Hearts will be hosting the 2025 5TH Annual #EveryChildMatters 5k Remembrance Run on #OrangeShirtDay
SEPTEMBER 27TH - OCTOBER 1ST
Remembering and honoring the thousands of Indigenous children stolen from their families and homelands, forced into Boarding and Residential Schools, and the survivors, and descendants.
Since May 2021, over 12k Indigenous children and bodies have been unearthed from these schools. This is a heartbreaking reality across Indigenous communities as families fight for their return home, for justice for families, and for opportunities to support survivors and build a future that is bright and thriving for our next generations. We will have our Rising Hearts #RunningForJustice virtual team when you sign up.
“Kill the Indian, save the man” was the federal policy to steal our relatives and forcibly commit cultural genocide on our relatives by assimilating us. To date, over 10,000 Indigenous children have been unearthed across the US and Canada. It’s time to call for meaningful healing, truth and reconciliation. It’s time we call on the government for justice and accountability. It’s time we provide and expand mental health services and support for survivors and those experiencing trauma. It’s time that this country acknowledges the injustice they created and harm they have done to the first peoples of these stolen lands. This is history that should be in our school curriculums - not our history erased.
On our registration page, we have webinars for you to watch, books to read, podcasts to listen to, resources to visit, ways to take action as an individual, as community, by the Church, for teachers, for survivors and descendants and more!
We appreciate the Rising Hearts community for your support, for sharing our awareness campaigns, for participating, for donating, and so much more. YOU ARE PART OF THAT! Wopila tanka, many thanks!
We will be donating to Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition and Indian Residential School Survivors Society!
SPECIAL REMINDER
CARE FOR YOURSELF
As we observe Suicide Prevention Awareness Month and the upcoming Orange Shirt Day, "Every Child Matters," it's important to bring attention to our community's collective efforts toward healing and wellness. This time of year can present deep emotions and memories, reminding many of us of the trauma our ancestors faced and the impact it still has on us today. These emotional and mental responses may manifest in our own bodies, carrying the weight of trauma and grief passed down through generations. The dialogue we create is rooted deeply in our blood memory, often evoking difficult thoughts and emotions not only for survivors and their descendants but for all Indigenous people and allies.
In navigating this time, we must be mindful of our own healing. It begins by acknowledging and allowing these heavy emotions to surface and creating safety. We are encouraged to seek external resources such as therapy, ceremony, sweat lodge, and powwow, while also cultivating our internal resources such as coping, grounding, and positive affirmations. By recognizing the spirit, mind, and body as interconnected, we can take steps toward healing and truth, both individually and collectively. Let us move forward with compassion and awareness, honoring our journey and the strength of our ancestors.
- Son Sanchez (Rising Hearts, Running With Purpose Athlete Advocate)
