A Winnipeg artist says she’s proud that her design for Orange Shirt Day will be worn by Canadians from coast to coast.
Brooklyn Rudolph — a member of Pimicikamak Cree Nation in northern Manitoba — had her artwork selected as part of a national campaign by Walmart Canada, with proceeds going to charities benefiting residential school survivors.
The painting the shirts are based on, Rudolph said, was inspired by her grandparents, who attended Guy Hill Residential School in The Pas.
“Both of my grandparents were residential school survivors,” Rudolph told Global Winnipeg.
“I really wanted to honour them and those who’ve been impacted by residential schools as well. I’m very excited to be here and share this meaningful campaign and the work that I’ve been doing through my creativity.”
Rudolph said when she initially submitted her painting via the Indigenous Proud organization, she expected that if she was selected, the design would be used locally — or at least on a smaller scale than the nationwide exposure it’s receiving through Walmart stores.
“I didn’t know it was going to be Walmart Canada, I just knew I wanted to have a positive impact on survivors and those impacted by residential schools.
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“Learning that it was this far and wide, it was such a meaningful opportunity for me and my family as well, because it all goes back to supporting those who really need it the most.”
Those hoping to recognize National Day for Truth and Reconciliation by sporting one of Rudolph’s shirts are out of luck — they’re completely sold out.
“I just heard that recently, too, and I’m so, so proud of that, because I know that every shirt sold goes back to supporting people who really need it the most — Indigenous people across the country — so I’m so proud and so grateful for that.”
Rudolph said a limited number of shirts, thanks to a provincial grant, will be donated to a local shelter, as well as to students at schools across Winnipeg.
Rudolph isn’t the only Indigenous artist whose work will be seen paying tribute to residential school survivors.
In Quebec, Jennifer Qupanuaq May said the shirts she has donated to local schools are intended to reaffirm that the impacts of the residential school system are a contemporary issue — not something from the distant past.
“I just wanted to help make it known that residential school survivors are around us,” May told Global Montreal. “Their children are around, their grandchildren are in my home … and that it needs to be talked about.
“I felt that making shirts for the children in my children’s schools, I donated shirts to four different schools, just to spark a conversation around the table at home, so the children could hear (about residential schools) in a safe space, not hearsay.”
May said she’s seen the effects of intergenerational trauma first-hand, and wants future generations to have the tools to break the cycle.
“I think that by creating these shirts, it brought me a lot of peace, just because I want to be able to show survivors and their children and their grandchildren that it’s a way to honour them,” she said.
“It’s a way to … just bring to light exactly what was wrong, what can still be done right today, and that help is available to those who need it and seek it.”
— With files from The Canadian Press
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