Cornell University students will hold a remembrance walk Wednesday, Sept. 30, as the university marks Orange Shirt Day and recommends films about the history of Indigenous boarding schools, according to Cornell's College of Arts and Sciences.
The walk, organized by Native American and Indigenous Students at Cornell with the Indigenous Graduate Student Association and Cornell's American Indian and Indigenous Studies Program, begins at 5 p.m. at the front door of Caldwell Hall, according to the university.
The history behind Orange Shirt Day
Orange Shirt Day honors Indigenous children who were taken from their families to residential and boarding schools, as well as survivors and their families. The observance draws its name from the experience of Phyllis Webstad, whose orange shirt was taken when she entered a Canadian residential school at age 6 in 1973.
Webstad, of the Stswecem'c Xgat'tem First Nation, had received the shirt from her grandmother before arriving at St. Joseph's Mission residential school near Williams Lake, British Columbia. She shared her story publicly in 2013, and the observance grew around the message “Every Child Matters.” Canada has observed Sept. 30 as the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation since 2021.
The United States also operated a boarding school system that separated Native children from their families, languages and cultures. President Joe Biden issued the federal government's first formal apology for that system in October 2024 at the Gila River Indian Community in Arizona.
Kurt Jordan, interim faculty director of Cornell's American Indian and Indigenous Studies Program, said the history is part of many Cornell community members' family experience. He encouraged viewers to center Indigenous voices and approach films about the schools with care because some content is difficult.
Jordan said some survivors of the schools are still living, making Orange Shirt Day a recognition of both their experiences and the resilience of Indigenous communities. He described the observance as a way to face the harm done to children and families while looking toward the future.
Six films recommended for viewers
The recommended films include “Ghosts,” a 2022 short directed by Cornell professor Jeffrey Palmer about three Kiowa boys who fled an Oklahoma boarding school in 1891. The list also includes the documentaries “Sugarcane,” “Remaining Native” and “We Were Children,” and the feature films “Older than America” and “Indian Horse.”
Palmer, who is Kiowa, grew up hearing the story behind “Ghosts” from his father and grandfather. The film was written by Cornell professor Austin Bunn. Its account follows the boys' escape from a government boarding school in Anadarko during the winter of 1891.
“Sugarcane” investigates St. Joseph's Mission, the school Webstad attended. “Remaining Native” follows Paiute runner Ku Stevens as he retraces his great-grandfather's escape from the Stewart Indian School in Nevada. “We Were Children” presents survivors' accounts from Canada.
The fictional films address the history through different stories. “Older than America” follows a woman whose visions reveal an effort to silence her mother's account of abuse at a residential school. “Indian Horse,” adapted from Richard Wagamese's novel, follows an Ojibwe boy who survives residential school through hockey.
Molly Ryan, director of Cornell Cinema, said the films use different approaches to document resistance to cultural erasure and to tell individual and family survival stories. Cornell's recommendations are for individual viewing, not an announced public screening.
Cornell said some of the films depict abuse and loss. Students seeking support can contact the American Indian and Indigenous Studies Program at Akwe:kon or Cornell Health's Counseling and Psychological Services.
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