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I wore an orange shirt yesterday, September 30th

it’s a shirt I wanted everyone to see…

even though the color orange doesn’t look that good on me.

The reason has to do with a gruesome chapter in North America’s history:

Phyllis Webstad was a six year old young Native Nations girl back on 1973. 

She was sent to a church-run school in Canada.

She was wearing an orange shirt her very first day

when the staff at the school decided…to take her orange shirt away.

From her experience in that school…that orange shirt came to be

a symbol of how those schools tried to strip native nation children 

of their culture, their pride and their dignity.

They wanted every trace of who they were…by any means to expel…

It is the same behavior that went on in our country as well.

The Every Child Matters slogan on my shirt 

is a reminder of how Canada and the US broke all of humanity’s rules…

and recognizes the pain, trauma and suffering

indigenous children experienced in those mandatory residential schools.

Wearing the orange shirt is one small but effective way

to bring awareness to the way indigenous children were treated

in Canada and the USA.

It’s one way…of reminding those who want to erase this horrible time in our history

that you might succeed in taking it out of our books…but it remains in our memory.

As a country we should use the shame we feel to lead us to the goal

of improving future behavior…thus enriching our country’s soul.

If wearing an orange shirt helps shed a light on this horrible time 

in Canada’s and our country’s history too

then every September 30th 

that is exactly what I’ll do…

Today I celebrate the Powwow…if you’ve ever seen one

you’d find it not only beautiful but informative and entrancing….

It’s the Native Nations’ ceremony of feasting, singing and dancing,

It’s a time to come together…to let one’s heart and feelings soar…

A time to celebrate the present members of a community…

and those who’ve come before.. 

A time to celebrate all creation…to give thanks…to make amends.

A time to revel and enjoy the company of family and friends.

Perhaps the most important part of a Powwow

in our constant search for truth….

is it’s chance to pass the knowledge of the elders

onto the shoulders of the youth.

With the hope that when the new generation meets the old

and their lives are intertwined….

once the knowledge has been shared…wisdom will not be far behind.

For wisdom is not knowledge…It’s amazing how many people confuse it…

Knowledge is only information…wisdom…is how we choose to use it.

Knowledge is something we gain as through each day we catapult….

and from this knowledge…if we’re lucky…wisdom will result.

Wait…since I’m not a Native Nation person…some of you might take me to task…

What are you doing talking about Powwows…is a question you might ask…

Because through the years I have been blessed 

from the knowledge I’ve collected…

to be wise enough to know, as they did, how we are all connected.

Because of this connection…that through the years I have been shown…

I think it would be fitting…if everyday with everyone we meet 

we held a little Powwows of our own.