WHY I’M WEARING ORANGE…
Note: You may also enjoy watching my video about this here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LzKqTOV8yzA
Some of you might be interested in why I’m wearing orange today, on the 4th of July. This is our Independence Day here in the USA. It’s the day we celebrate our declaration of independence from the United Kingdom on July 4, 1776, and that’s something I’m proud of – the act of taking a stand against being ruled by an entity that doesn’t represent us, and forging our own way into a future we’re building based on our own ideals. But even with the birth of a new nation – or perhaps especially during the birth of a new nation – it’s important to respect and honor other nations, other cultures, other lifestyles that are different from our own.
The enslavement of Africans was an egregious violation of basic human dignity, and the historical atrocities against Native Americans are unthinkable.
Yesterday, July 3, 2021, during a psychic reading, I spontaneously channeled a Native American spirit guide called Eagle Spirit. At the time, I didn’t understand why he was coming through, so I simply mentioned my perceptions to my clients in case it became relevant to them later.
After the reading, I was having a conversation with a friend, Gabriella Curtis, at Instant Karma. As we discussed possible 4th of July plans, she mentioned wearing orange and seeking out protests related to the news (that had just barely begun to reach mainstream media) describing the recent discovery of hundreds of unmarked graves of indigenous children found near residential schools in Canada.
Beginning in the 1820s in Canada, about 150,000 Indigenous children were taken from their parents and put into residential schools, essentially to try to wipe out native culture. (1) The U.S. also began implementing this type of boarding school with the Indian Civilization Act of 1819 to culturally assimilate Indigenous children by forcibly relocating them from their families and communities to distant residential facilities. (9) In addition to dishonoring their indigenous wisdom and way of life by indoctrinating them into an educational system based on Anglo-American standards, death rates for Native American students were six and a half times higher than for other ethnic groups, due to infectious disease, malnutrition, overcrowding, poor sanitary conditions, and students weakened by overwork. Illnesses and deaths often went unreported to parents. (2)
While, to my knowledge, murder of indigenous children has not been proven at this time, there are known documented cases of abuse at residential schools, including mental, physical, and sexual abuse. (2) Indigenous parents were not allowed to visit their children at the schools, and abuse and injuries were known to be routine. (8)
Just over a month ago, on May 27, 2021, Tk̓emlúps te Secwépemc First Nation (Kamloops Indian Band) of Canada released a statement confirming the discovery (via ground penetrating radar) of unmarked graves of the remains of 215 children who were students of the Kamloops Indian Residential School. Some of those were children as young as three years old. The deaths had been suspected for years, but this discovery confirmed the tragedy. (3)
They had been suspected, in part, because of a report, issued back in 2015 by Canada’s National Center for Truth and Reconciliation, estimating that, of the more than 150,000 children who attended these schools, more than 6,000 died, never returning home. They attribute what happened at these schools to “cultural genocide.” (4)
On June 24, 2021, the Cowessess First Nation in Saskatchewan announced it had detected an additional 751 unmarked graves beside the former Marieval Indian Residential school, bringing the latest total (as of this writing) to 966 indigenous children’s unmarked graves. (5)
Back in 2008, Canada’s Prime Minister publicly apologized to Canada’s Indigenous Peoples and admitted that residential schools were part of a Canadian policy on forced Indigenous assimilation (6). And on June 3, 2021, Canada released a plan to address some of these injustices, including promising CAN$2.2 billion in total, based on the recommendations of a 2019 report by a national inquiry into as many as 4,000 missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls (MMIWG). The plan also specified that 27 million Canadian dollars would go to Indigenous communities to help Tornado Cash in the search for graves at 138 other residential schools. (7)
On June 22, 2021, the United States has responded to the discovery of unmarked indigenous children’s graves in Canada by launching its own Federal Indian Boarding School Initiative, which will carry with it a report on potential burial sites related to mandated Native American boarding schools. (8)
Presumably, the indigenous boarding school deaths now confirmed in Canada will likely be confirmed in the US in the future.
When I heard the news of these children’s deaths, I was heartbroken. I shed many tears, and I prayed for guidance. Although I know I am not personally responsible for these and other atrocities in our society, as a citizen of this world, I believe it’s up to each of us to embody the spirit of compassion that will move us beyond the type of mindset that makes these abuses possible. I believe that grieving our society’s egregious wrongdoings is an important step towards healing.
I thought back to Eagle Spirit, the Native American spirit guide who had spontaneously come to me earlier that day, and I realized how relevant the timing was. He brought me a poignant connection to his indigenous culture, and he did so by using an eagle, a common symbol that is also used in American patriotism.
At the moment I had that thought, I looked down and found a perfect feather on the ground in front of me. I took it as a sign that the melancholy, the sorrow, the grief I was feeling should be a catalyst for me to help others assimilate our feelings of societal remorse and inspire us to embody a deeper compassion towards others.
So, what does wearing orange have to do with any of this? Simply put, it’s a conversation starter. A way to bring awareness.
In Canada, on September 30, there is a national holiday called Orange Shirt Day, (also known as the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation) designed to educate people and promote awareness about the cultural genocide of the residential school system and the impact it has had on Indigenous communities. (9)
The orange shirt became a symbol of the awareness movement based on the story of Phyllis Webstad, a student of the Mission residential school in Canada in 1973. When she was six years old, she lived with her grandmother on the Dog Creek Reserve. They didn’t have much money, but the grandmother managed to save enough to get Phyllis a new outfit for her first day of school. It was a bright, shiny, orange shirt with a string lace up the front. Phyllis was so excited!
When she got to the Mission, they stripped her down and took away all her personal clothing, in favor of the impersonal attire they had to wear at the school. They never gave her back her shirt, and she couldn’t understand why. It always represented how her feelings and her individual value didn’t matter. She explains, “All the children were crying, and no one cared.” (10)
In light of recent events, some Canadians opted to wear or display orange on Canada Day, July 1, in support of the healing process. (11)
I may be just one person, but I feel injustice deeply, and I feel intense passion about sharing my truth. I want to speak out and take a stand proclaiming that everyone has value, regardless of our differences, or in fact, perhaps because of our differences.
In addition to researching and sharing this post, I will also be hosting a fundraiser for the Native Women’s Wilderness work on Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women. (12) This will be an online group reading on Wednesday, July 28 from 7:00 to 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time. Watch for upcoming details on my website at ChannelingWhiteLight.com (13) and on Channeling White Light social media channels.
Perhaps you feel that you are just one person who may not be able to have much impact. I challenge you to take at least one step, regardless of how small, to be the type of person who shares a vision of a more compassionate world. Whether you choose to wear orange, share this post, or simply offer someone a random act of kindness, I implore you to help take our shared grief and turn it into a movement of making a positive difference in the world.
Thank you.
Psychic Medium Kelly Palmatier
Channeling White Light Towards a Better World
ChannelingWhiteLight.com
#ChannelingWhiteLight #MakingADifference #4thofJuly #WearOrange #Orangeonthe4thofJuly #IndigenousChildren #NativeChildren #ResidentialSchools #EagleSpirit #WhyOrange #OrangeShirtDay #NationalDayforTruthandReconciliation #MakeADifference #SpiritofCompassion #PsychicMedium
(1) Source: https://www.aa.com.tr/…/canada-releases-plan-on…/2263305
(2) Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/…/American_Indian_boarding…
(3) Source: https://tkemlups.ca/…/05-May-27-2021-TteS-MEDIA-RELEASE…
(4) Source: https://www.npr.org/…/the-remains-of-215-indigenous…
(5) Source: https://www.reuters.com/…/canada-indigenous-groups…/
(6) Source: http://caid.ca/Dcanada_apology.html
(7) Source: https://www.aa.com.tr/…/canada-releases-plan-on…/2263305
(8) Source: https://globalnews.ca/…/us-indigenous-boarding-school…/
(9) Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orange_Shirt_Day
(10) Source: https://www.orangeshirtday.org/phyllis-story.html
(11) Source: https://edmonton.ctvnews.ca/devon-residents-encouraged-to…
(12) Reference: https://www.nativewomenswilderness.org/donate
(13) Reference: https://www.channelingwhitelight.com/
