To honour the victims and survivors of residential schools, Coast Salish artist, Eliot White-Hill, has designed this orange shirt to remind us that Every Child Matters. White-Hill descended from the White family of Snuneymuxw, the Hamilton family of Hupačasath, and the Rice family of Penelakut, with roots branching out far in the Pacific Northwest. His work poses the question: Where do we go from here? 

"This artwork represents the truth from my perspective as a Coast Salish and Nuu-Chah-Nulth person and the grandson of a residential school survivor. I draw upon traditional Coast Salish style and art to express this narrative. With this art I hope to honour the children, to speak to them and tell them that we remember them and that they are so loved and so missed.

The design shows the faces of the children in the shape of a spindle whorl, which is a thing of movement, of creation, and of transformation in a cyclical way. Children from all different peoples were taken from their homes and families and communities to then be abused and experimented upon, and, in countless cases, murdered. This thing called Canada stole them from us. Their sqiqulus, their profound grief and sadness, is our inheritance as a nation. Their tears are our reality. This is the world that we live in. This is an irrevocable fact of the Indigenous experience in so-called “Canada.” It is the water that we must paddle through. This is the Truth. “ - Eliot White-Hill Kwulasultun (Pictured)

Proceeds from the sale of this shirt will be donated to the Indian Residential School Survivors Society (IRSSS) and Orange Shirt Society on behalf of MOA, Indian Residential School History and Dialogue Centre, and UBC.

Show More