Orange Shirt Day!! Every Child Matters!!

There are 3 First Nation Mi’kmaq communities close to Miramichi and 3 close to Rexton that you may know. In the Miramichi area there is Natoaganeg(Eel Ground), Metepenagiag (Redbank) and Esgenoopetitj (Burnt Church). In the Rexton area there is Elsipogtog, Indian Island, and Bouctouche. Some students and staff at this school may live in one of those communities.

Orange Shirts??? Why are we asking people to wear orange shirts? I am here to talk to you about Orange Shirt Day and share why it is important. In the middle of this orange shirt there is a a special message. It says, Every Child Matters! It’s a special message because we believe that every child is a wonderful person and has so many special things in their heart to share with their family, their friends and their school. Every Child Matters!!

Special Message! First Nation people have always been friendly and just like you they love their families, love to laugh and tell stories and they work hard.

They also love to share. They love to share their drums, and their songs. They love to share their sacred medicines, their stories and culture.

Just like your families tell you how special you are and how your families share special times together, so do the First Nation Families.

But a long, long time ago, some people said they could not tell their stories, or share their culture or speak their language. They had to go to special schools and could not go home to see their families and share in all the wonderful things families do. This made the First Nation children think that they were not very wonderful and that they didn’t have special hearts. This made the First Nation children very sad and hurt their hearts very much.

Now like all children, First Nation children are very smart. During the time they had to spend away from their families they tried to remember how their families told them how special they were. They remembered how they were taught to speak their language and how special their culture and powwows were. These children kept those memories in their hearts.

Now all those children have grown up and they are moms and dads, grandmas and grandpas, and aunties and uncles and they remember how special their parents told them they were. They are also telling their children how special they are and how learning about and sharing their culture is so important.

Now First Nation families get to show everyone what special people they are and share the love in their hearts, and their love for their families. They again get to laugh, to share stories and continue to work hard all throughout Canada. They love to share songs and drumming at powwows and they get to use the sacred medicines and teach everyone about their culture.

We want all First Nation children and all children in the world to remember how wonderful they are and when they see an orange shirt they will remember and I hope that you will remember that Every Child Matters!

So when you are playing with your friends remember that they are special just like you and that you always treat people with kindness so that they smile and never have a sad heart again.