By Wade Sheldon, Tulalip News
Tulalip community members gathered at Greg Williams Court for a Day of Remembrance cultural practice, preparing songs to be shared during the upcoming Orange Shirt Day gathering on September 29 at the Gathering Hall.
Tulalip Education Division Director Jessica Bustad opened the practice by speaking about what the gathering represents for the community. “This event is really important to us because it’s our opportunity to honor our ancestors.”
Tulalip tribal member Tony Hatch then spoke about the history behind Orange Shirt Day and the importance of remembering the Native children who were taken from their families and placed in boarding schools.
At the center of the evening was a song composed by Lummi tribal member Anton George. Hatch explained that the song has traveled beyond Tulalip and is now heard in other places as communities remember the children who never returned home.
“The words to the song here are, ‘When they came, they took you from us, no remorse, stripped away, never see you again,’” Hatch said. “Anton George composed that song, and I saw this travel all over the place. I’ve been to different places where I’ve seen that song sung, and it’s in remembrance of all those kids that didn’t make it back home.”
As those gathered learned and practiced the song, Hatch spoke about the children who were taken at young ages and placed into institutions created to separate Native people from their families, languages, and cultures. He also reflected on the continued identification of burial sites associated with former residential and boarding schools.
Orange Shirt Day grew from the experience of Phyllis Webstad, a Northern Secwépemc woman whose new orange shirt was taken from her when she entered residential school as a six-year-old child. Her story became the foundation for a movement carrying the message “Every Child Matters.”
For Native communities, the day is an opportunity to honor survivors, remember the children who never returned home, and recognize the effects of the boarding school era that continue across generations.
The cultural practice at Greg Williams Court also carried another significance. Songs and cultural practices that generations of Native children were once separated from continue to be learned, shared, and carried forward today.
Tulalip will gather for Orange Shirt Day and the Day of Remembrance on Wednesday, September 30, beginning at 4:30 pm at the Gathering Hall.