NNCTC staff wear orange. Not pictured: Ethleen Iron Cloud-Two Dogs, Mark Lane, and Deanna Chancellor.
Every September 30th, we pause to honor a painful truth, one that echoes across generations and reverberates in the hearts of Indigenous peoples and communities today. The National Day of Remembrance for U.S. Indian Boarding Schools is not just a date on the calendar; it is a solemn call to remember, to repair, and to heal.
To wear orange on this day is to say: I remember. I honor. I will not look away.
For over 150 years, federal policies forcibly removed Native children from their homes and placed them in boarding schools designed to erase their sense of self- their languages culture, and community. These institutions promised education but delivered trauma. Children were stripped of their names, their traditions, and their families. Many endured physical, emotional, sexual, and spiritual abuse or never came home at all.
This day is for them. It is for the families who waited for children that never returned. And it is for the generations still healing from the wounds left behind.
Candlelight vigils, songs, and stories mark this day. Communities gather to honor the resilience of survivors and to mourn the lives lost, and to push for accountability and education so that this history is never forgotten.
Let us carry forward the stories of those who were silenced. Let us be the generation that chooses truth over erasure and healing over harm. We must listen to survivors, and we must stand with Indigenous communities, not just today, but every day. Remembrance is not just about acknowledging the past, it grounds us in the present and prepares us for the future, healing from generation to generation.