A fourth-year English and creative writing student crafted a new orange shirt design as part of Western University’s recognition of National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, with proceeds from t-shirt sales supporting an Indigenous-led preservation initiative.
Kolbi Williams, a member of the Mohawk Nation from Six Nations of the Grand River, created the artwork titled Tewa:aráton and Its Creations, after a call for submissions from Western’s Office of Indigenous Initiatives. Her design illustrates a Haudenosaunee creation story about lacrosse, known in her community as Tewa:aráton, and its origins as a gift from the Creator to bring relief during a time of hardship and conflict.
According to Haudenosaunee tradition, in the first game of lacrosse played between four-legged animals and birds, the mouse and squirrel were ostracized by their own team because of their small size. They asked to join the birds, who accepted them as teammates and fashioned wings for them. With the game tied at nightfall, the mouse – transformed into a bat – ultimately scored the winning goal.
“This story teaches us not to judge another by the way they look because you don’t know what they’re capable of,” Williams said. “It’s the same in the community – you might not know what someone’s teachings and gifts are.”
“Coming together to appreciate all people’s gifts is one way to better understand and share the gifts that children in residential schools were denied access to and punished for using,” Williams said.
Survivors have described abuse, neglect, malnutrition, harsh working conditions and unsanitary living quarters. The National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation documented thousands of children who died at the schools and says the true number is likely much higher.
Orange Shirt Day began in 2013 as a grassroots movement under the rallying cry “Every Child Matters” to remember the children who never made it home and honour survivors of residential schools. It evolved into the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation in 2021 to promote awareness of the harms caused by residential schools and grow reconciliation across Canada.
Wearing an orange shirt is considered a way of standing with Indigenous communities in remembrance and healing. Orange shirts with Williams’ design will be sold year-round at the Dellelce Family Bookstore in Western’s University Community Centre. Proceeds will support the Save the Barn campaign, a project to preserve the last remaining building from Mount Elgin Industrial Institute, a residential school on what is now Chippewas of the Thames First Nation, near London, Ont.
Kolbi Williams’ artwork, inspired by Haudenosaunee teachings, is featured on this year’s orange shirts sold at Western.
Orange shirt design supports reconciliation and First Nations’ history near London
Williams says this message is at the heart of reconciliation as Canadians reckon with the legacy of the Residential School System for Indigenous children. From the 19th century until 1996, more than 150,000 First Nations, Inuit and Métis children were forced to attend church-run residential schools where they were stripped of their languages, cultures and traditions.(L to R) Mike Cywink, community engagement coordinator for Indigenous Initiatives, Mikayla Antone-Gregory, Indigenous Students’ Association president and Kolbi Williams, student artist, wear orange shirts symbolizing the loss of identity, culture and family experienced by Indigenous children in residential schools, while honouring children who never returned home. (Western Housing and Ancillary Services)
