Beaded Orange Shirt Tapestry -Resource/Instructions/template

🧡 Beaded Orange Shirt Tapestry

An Indigenous-created classroom resource 

by Amanda Crocker
Coast Salish Artist • Indigenous Language Revitalization • Cultural Presenter

Suggested grades: 5–12
Focus: Orange Shirt Day, residential schools, lived experience, intergenerational impacts, art, language, and reconciliation

Learning through art, story, and lived experience

“The stories of those who went to residential school and experienced its impacts matter. The intergenerational impacts passed through families matter. The stories of the students sitting in classrooms today matter too.”

About the Artist

Who created this resource?

My name is Amanda Crocker. I am a Coast Salish artist and Indigenous language revitalization educator. My work brings together art, education, culture, and language.

I created this beaded orange shirt as a way of using art to create an opportunity for learning and conversation.

For me, art is not simply something to look at. It can carry stories, memories, teachings, questions, and connections between generations.

I also work in Indigenous language revitalization, including learning and teaching Hul’q’umi’num’. Language revitalization is deeply connected to identity, culture, family, and the work of reclaiming what colonial systems attempted to suppress.

This resource was created to help educators use the tapestry as a starting point for thoughtful learning about Orange Shirt Day and residential school experiences.