Talon Singleton is a member of the community of Migisi Sahaigan First Nation, Treaty #3. He is a third-year student in McMaster’s Media Arts Program. His design was selected after Indigenous Student Services and the McMaster Campus Store invited local Indigenous student artists and recent graduates to create the 2025 Orange Shirt that will be sold on McMaster’s campus. All profits benefit the Survivor’s Secretariat.   

 Tell us about yourself and the community where you’re from.

I grew up in Dryden, Ontario, and I’m from Migisi Sahaigan First Nation near Eagle Lake, which is about 20 minutes outside of Dryden. Growing up, I spent a lot of time in my community attending powwows, swimming, and visiting family. Those moments were special and helped shape who I am today.

Did your family or community share stories with you about residential schools?

Stories about residential schools always revolved around my family, especially my grandma. She attended St. Mary’s residential school near Kenora, Ontario. This is important and personal for me because she was a survivor. Hearing those stories and getting to understand them at a young age made me realize how unfairly they were treated.  

What inspired you to submit your design for the T-shirt?

There were two reasons. One is personal, inspired by my grandma’s story. The other is seeing my sister’s success. She won a similar competition at the University of Toronto. That inspired me to embrace my Indigeneity and create something meaningful for our campus.

Can you describe the meaning behind your design?

My thinking behind this design is a young child who stands strong with their culture, the braid blowing in front shows the strength to move forward. The sun, also shining forward, shows life and hope while the flower remains as a reminder of residential schools and how children, who were delicate and full of potential, were stripped away from community and family roots.  

The flower blossoms beautifully behind the girl as a reminder to show the resilience, and strength residential school survivors have, reclaiming their identities and sharing their story.  

What role should universities play in educating students about Indigenous history and the residential school legacy?

It’s important to make sure students are aware of the tragedies of residential schools, that it’s not a laughing matter. It’s not something that can be easily brushed away.  

“Some people tend to think, ‘Oh, well,’ or, ‘It happened so long ago,’ but all of our people still feel the effects of residential schools through generational trauma, the loss of culture, language, and systematic inequalities we face.”

How do you hope people will feel when they wear or see your design? And how will you feel?  

I hope they feel proud and happy to support truth and reconciliation. Wearing the T-shirt is a way to publicly acknowledge the importance of the day and honour survivors. I’m super proud that my design was selected and that it supports survivors. I feel awesome, it brings a smile to my face anytime I think about it. 

What does pursuing higher education mean to you in the context of your family’s history and the legacy of residential schools? 

While the effects of residential schools had its challenges, my grandmother did the best she could to raise my mom and her siblings without previous hardships. And in turn, that’s how I was raised. And I think that I’m forever grateful for that, and I’ll always love her for that because she built that path for future generations to go to school and pursue higher education. 

My mom always told me I had to go to college, I had to pursue higher education. I never really understood why until I found out that my grandma thought it was very important to get a higher education and later on in life she did – she went to college. So, I guess that rubbed off on my mom, which rubbed off on me. 

Overall, Truth and Reconciliation Day is about remembering my grandma, but also remembering those who did not come home. But me being here today, at school, and having this talk shows that I am living proof that what was meant to destroy our people did not.