As Indigenous people, we are asked to wear orange shirts and eat orange sprinkled doughnuts as though that could answer nearly two centuries of harm caused by residential schools and their continuing legacy. At the same time, we face growing residential school denialism, a danger the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation has warned about. Orange shirts carry a survivor’s story and a responsibility to remember. That responsibility must extend beyond what we wear or purchase for one day. A “Got bones?” banner displayed in Kamloops by demonstrators linked to Second Sons Canada. A “Show me the evidence” shirt worn by a Sooke Brewing co-owner on the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. These incidents deserve a response grounded in facts. The evidence already exists. The history commonly begins in 1831, with the opening of the Mohawk Institute in Brantford, Ontario. Gordon’s residential school closed in 1996, while Kivalliq Hall later recognized under the settlement agreement operated until 1997. More than 150,000 First Nations, Inuit and Métis children attended residential schools. 140 institutions are recognized under the Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement, although that count does not include every institution involved in this broader history. The objective was assimilation, separating children from their families, languages, cultures and identities and absorbing them into the “dominant” society. In Canada’s official apology on June 11, 2008, Prime Minister Stephen Harper described the objectives as “remove and isolate children from the influence of their homes, families, traditions and cultures” The same apology acknowledged the intent “to kill the Indian in the child” These words appear in Canada’s own acknowledgment of the system’s purpose and harm. Canada used federal law to compel attendance. Under the 1920 Indian Act amendment, children legally classified as “Indian,” aged seven to fifteen and physically able to attend, were required to attend the day, industrial or boarding school designated by the government. That designation could force a child into a residential school. Truant officers had peace officer powers and authority to enter places where they believed children were present, without an express warrant requirement in that provision. After three days’ notice, parents or guardians who refused to comply could face a fine, up to ten days in jail, or both. The law expressly allowed a child to be arrested without a warrant and taken to school, subject to its exemptions. These were powers written into Canadian law. The deaths are documented. In 2015, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission identified 3,201 reported student deaths in its combined named and unnamed registers. Its research was incomplete. Nearly one third of those death records did not include the child’s name, and nearly half did not include the cause of death. The TRC found that residential school students died at substantially higher rates than other school-aged children. Inadequate funding, unsafe conditions and failures to protect children contributed to unnecessarily high death rates. The evidence includes death certificates, government and church records, school admission and discharge records, and survivor testimony. Research continues to identify children and verify their names. Knowing that a child died does not necessarily mean their family knows where they were buried. The TRC found that bodies were generally not returned to home communities, leaving families with distant or unknown burial places. Questions about particular burial sites must be investigated carefully and findings described accurately. Uncertainty about one site does not erase documented deaths across the system. Families should not have to disturb their children’s resting places to persuade people to examine the historical record. These were children with names, families, languages and futures. Their families deserve answers. Survivors deserve respect. Wearing orange must come with a willingness to hear the truth, confront denialism and act on the responsibilities that remembrance brings