Orange Shirt Day recognized in Battlefords

Many Battlefords area students gathered at the former site of the Battleford Industrial School Wednesday to honour Orange Shirt Day. They were to also visit the cemetery where many children who once attended the residential school were buried in what is a mass grave. The cemetery has been declared a municipal heritage site.

Event organizers Benedict Feist, Sherron Burns and Eleanore Sunchild, as well as Sweetgrass First Nation elder Walter Swindler also spoke to students about the history of Orange Shirt Day at the gathering.

While Orange Shirt Day is actually later this month, the Battlefords community held their events on Wednesday simply because it made it easier for everyone to attend. 

angela.brown@jpbg.ca