2 First Nations civil servants in Sask. 'shamed,' sent home for wearing orange on Sept. 30: chiefs

Two First Nations women who work at the Meadow Lake provincial court house were "shamed" and sent home for wearing orange shirts for National Day for Truth and Reconciliation on Monday, First Nations leaders say.

"One of the ladies is a second-generation [residential school] survivor and she left home that morning proud of that shirt she wore that day," said Richard Derocher, vice-chief of the Meadow Lake Tribal Council (MLTC), which represents nine Cree and Dene First Nations.

"The way I see it is they silenced her spirit. She fought to stay to work, but they eventually made her go home."

The MLTC and Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations (FSIN) urged the next provincial government to make the day, observed on Sept. 30, a statutory holiday in a press conference in Meadow Lake on Friday.

The National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, officially observed on Sept. 30 since 2021, is meant to honour the children who died while attending residential schools and the survivors, families and communities still affected by the legacy of that system. 

It's also known as Orange Shirt Day, in honour of Phyllis Webstad, whose orange shirt — given to her by her grandmother — was taken away from her on her first day of school at a B.C. residential school in 1973.

FSIN vice-chief David Pratt called what happened to the two women "a sad day."

"It was retriggering and retraumatizing what [they] had to face," he said.

"We have a lot of work yet to do in this province, we have a lot of work, when our people can still be punished for acknowledging survivors of the residential school system. That's not right."

The women involved are not speaking publicly at this time out of fear of losing their jobs with the provincial Ministry of Justice, Derocher said.

The Saskatchewan General Employees Union, which represents many employees at provincial courthouses, says it was aware two of its members had been sent home for wearing orange clothing that day, but declined to comment on specifics, citing confidentiality. 

FSIN vice-chief Craig McCallum says wearing an orange shirt is not only a gesture, but a "critical step" toward truth and reconciliation.

The incident is a "clear act of dismissal and disrespect for the truth" that shakes faith in the justice system and the reconciliation work it says is underway, he said.

"How can we expect a system to deliver justice for Indigenous people when it refuses to acknowledge the very history that continues to harm us?" McCallum asked.