September 30th
ORANGE SHIRT DAY

THE COLOUR OF RESILIENCY By: Mariah MacDonald

It's the colour of a beautiful sunset in autumn, the glow of the sun highlights the yellows in the trees, and the dried leaves decorating the grass below.

It's the colour of sockeye salmon eggs in our harvest. We collect a bucket full to be given to the elders to feast on later that night.

It's the colour of Ä̀taʼs chainsaw in the woodlot, the smell of wood dust, and the cracking sound as another tree falls to the ground. But it was all worth it in the end when our wood stove glows red to keep us warm in thirty below winters.

It's the colour of pillowcases, children running in groups down the village road desperate for candy. It's wearing my winter coat over my costume and being salty about it all night. But it's all forgotten when the firework show begins, and Ä̀mą buys me hot chocolate to end the night.

It's the colour of children playing outside while the aunties' boisterous laugh fills the potlatch house as they gossip over pilot bread and tea. Their granny scarf's different colours, bright blues, pinks and orange decorate their heads.

It's the colour of Ä́taʼs wood truck barreling down the road, AC/DC guitar solos, a dreamcatcher bouncing on the review mirror. and construction vests hanging over the driver's seat as we head into town

It's the colour of enthusiasm, happiness, and nostalgia.
Itʼs the act of living despite the systems set against us.
Itʼs the colour of resiliency, the act of living under colonial structures, the act of pushing back & living despite the aggression. Itʼs that act of knowing my Dän Kʼe name, itʼs the act of harvesting whitefish in the summer, itʼs the act of sewing your first pair of moccasins, itʼs the act of dancing traditionally, itʼs the act of smudging every morning, itʼs the act of resiliency.

Itʼs the colour to honour our past, our futures, our present, itʼs the colour of resiliency.