Teaching and Learning Resources
In addition to historical records and collections, the Centre recommends the educational materials and resources listed below to support further learning about Residential Schools and their legacy in Canada. For additional First Nations, Metis, Inuit and Native American books and educational resources, visit GoodMinds.com and StrongNations.com.
Featured Resources
Residential schools in Canada: A timeline by Historica Canada. (2020).
This video covers history from the landing of Jesuits in what is now known as Quebec in the 17th century, to the release of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada’s final report in 2015.
Namwayut—We Are All One: A Pathway to Reconciliation by Chief Dr. Robert Joseph (2022). This recently published book traces Robert Josephs’s journey as a residential school survivor to becoming a leading voice in peacebuilding and reconciliation.
The Witness Blanket — Truth, Art and Reconciliation by Carey Newman and Kirstie Husdon (2022) highlight the hundreds of items reclaimed from residential schools, churches, and cultural centres across Canada. Every piece holds a story and a history that is never forgotten.
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Based on a viral article, 21 Things You May Not Know About the Indian Act is the essential guide to understanding the legal document and its repercussion on generations of Indigenous Peoples, written by a leading cultural sensitivity trainer.Since its creation in 1876, the Indian Act has shaped, controlled, and constrained the lives and opportunities […]
“Set in the Okanagon, BC, a First Nations family goes on an outing to forage for herbs and mushrooms. Grandmother passes down her knowledge of plant life to her young grandchildren. Recommended for grades K-2 for the following subjects: Art Education, English Language Arts, Social Studies. This resource offers a glimpse into the Nłeʔkepmx of […]
Knowing the historical backdrop of residential schooling and its legacy is essential to the work of reconciliation. In the past, agents of the Canadian state knocked on the doors of Indigenous families to take the children to school. Now, the Survivors have shared their truths and knocked back. It is time for Canadians to open […]
“For years, the story of residential schools has been told by the authorities who ran them. A Long Journey helps redress this imbalance by listening closely to the accounts of former students, as well as drawing extensively on government, community, and school archives. The book examines the history of boarding schools in Labrador and St. Anthony, and, […]
In an urgent and visceral work that asks essential questions about the treatment of Native people in North America while drawing on intimate details of her own life and experience with intergenerational trauma, Alicia Elliott offers indispensable insight into the ongoing legacy of colonialism. She engages with such wide-ranging topics as race, parenthood, love, mental illness, poverty, […]
“Using previously unreleased government documents, historian John S. Milloy provides a full picture of the history and reality of the residential school system. He begins by tracing the ideological roots of the system, and follows the paper trail of internal memoranda, reports from field inspectors, and letters of complaint. In the early decades, the system […]
“Traveling to be reunited with her family in the arctic, 10-year-old Margaret Pokiak can hardly contain her excitement. It’s been two years since her parents delivered her to the school run by the dark-cloaked nuns and brothers. Coming ashore, Margaret spots her family, but her mother barely recognizes her, screaming, “Not my girl.” Margaret realizes […]
“In this report, a critical analysis of the resilience literature is undertaken and is considered against the cultures, lived experiences and larger social contexts of Aboriginal Survivors of residential school. The findings serve as the basis for recommended actions in the areas of planning and research, interventions and evaluation”. ~Excerpt from Aboriginal Healing Foundation website
“When Maddy discovers an old photograph of two little girls in her grandmother’s belongings, she wants to know who they are. Nan reluctantly agrees to tell her the story, though she is unsure if Maddy is ready to hear it. The girls in the photo, Aggie and Mudgy, are two Kaska Dena sisters who lived […]
“Members of Eli Baxter’s generation are the last of the hunting and gathering societies living on Turtle Island. They are also among the last fluent speakers of the Anishinaabay language known as Anishinaabaymowin. Aki-wayn-zih is a story about the land and its spiritual relationship with the Anishinaabayg, from the beginning of their life on Miss-koh-tay-sih Minis (Turtle […]
“Amik tells Moshoom about his wonderful school. Then his grandfather tells him about the residential school he went to, much different from Amik’s school. So Amik has an idea….” ~Excerpt from Strong Nations website
The intergenerational effects of Canada’s Indian Residential Schools have been widely discussed, but limited empirical work exists. I use the confidential wave of the 2001 Aboriginal Peoples Survey of Children and Youth (APSCY) to study the association between mothers’ residential school attendance and their children’s educational outcomes and experiences in Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, and […]
Arts of Engagement focuses on the role that music, film, visual art, and Indigenous cultural practices play in and beyond Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission on Indian Residential Schools. Contributors here examine the impact of aesthetic and sensory experience in residential school history, at TRC national and community events, and in artwork and exhibitions not […]
“The novel follows one girl, Martha, from the Cat Lake First Nation in Northern Ontario who is “stolen” from her family at the age of six and flown far away to residential school. She doesn’t speak English but is punished for speaking her native language; most terrifying and bewildering, she is also “fed” to the […]
In 1954, when Florence Kaefer was just nineteen, she accepted a job as a teacher at Norway House Indian Residential School of Manitoba. Not fully aware of the difficult conditions the students were enduring, Florence and her fellow teachers nurtured a school full of lonely and homesick young children. – Exerpt from Good Reads
“Behind Closed Doors features written testimonials from thirty-two individuals who attended the Kamloops Indian Residential School. The school was one of many infamous residential schools that operated from 1893 to 1979. The storytellers remember and share with us their stolen time at the school; many stories are told through courageous tears”. ~Excerpt from Strong Nations […]
Collection of documentaries related to the 94 calls to action of the TRC.
“Beyond the Orange Shirt Story is a unique collection of truths, as told by Phyllis Webstad’s family and others, that will give readers an up-close look at what life was like before, during, and after their Residential School experiences. In this book, Survivors and Intergenerational Survivors share their stories authentically and in their own words. Phyllis […]
“Set during the Second World War and the 1950s, Black Apple is an unforgettable, vividly rendered novel about two very different women whose worlds collide: an irrepressible young Blackfoot girl whose spirit cannot be destroyed, and an aging yet powerful nun who increasingly doubts the value of her life. It captures brilliantly the strange mix […]
“In this powerful and poignant memoir, Ted examines the impact of his psychological, emotional and sexual abuse, the loss of his language and culture, and, most important, the loss of his family and community because he attended residential school. He goes beyond details of the abuses of Native children to relate a unique understanding of […]
“Burning in This Midnight Dream is the latest collection of poems by Louise Bernice Halfe. Many were written in response to the grim tide of emotions, memories, dreams and nightmares that arose in her as the Truth and Reconciliation process unfolded. With fearlessly wrought verse, Halfe describes how the experience of the residential schools continues to […]
“At age 7, Saskamoose was taken from his family to spend the next ten years in residential school. He went on to be the first Indigenous player with Treaty status in the NHL. But his journey to being an elite hockey player is only part of the story. This memoir talks about his reasons for […]
“Calling Down the Sky” is a poetry collection that describes deep personal experiences and post generational effects of the Canadian Aboriginal Residential School confinements in the 1950’s when thousands of First Nations, Métis, and Inuit children were placed in these schools against their parents’ wishes. Many were forbidden to speak their language and practice their […]
Mink is a witness, a shape shifter, compelled to follow the story that has ensnared Celia and her village, on the West coast of Vancouver Island in Nu: Chahlnuth territory. Celia is a seer who – despite being convinced she’s a little “off” – must heal her village with the assistance of her sister, her […]
Revealing how Canada’s first Prime Minister used a policy of starvation against Indigenous people to clear the way for settlement, the multiple award-winning Clearing the Plains sparked widespread debate about genocide in Canada. In arresting, but harrowing, prose, James Daschuk examines the roles that Old World diseases, climate, and, most disturbingly, Canadian politics—the politics of […]
“Cultivating Canada: Reconciliation through the Lens of Cultural Diversity is the third in a three-volume series addressing the complex notion of reconciliation in a national landscape. The Aboriginal Healing Foundation brings together disparate voices to address how communities–immigrant, racialized, ‘new’ Canadians, and other minoritized groups–relate to the intricacies of reconciliation as a concept” – (back […]
Many promote Reconciliation as a “new” way for Canada to relate to Indigenous Peoples. In Dancing on Our Turtle’s Back: Stories of Nishnaabeg Re-Creation, Resurgence, and a New Emergence activist, editor, and educator Leanne Simpson asserts reconciliation must be grounded in political resurgence and must support the regeneration of Indigenous languages, oral cultures, and traditions […]
“Drawing from her own experiences at residential school, Ruby Slipperjack creates a brave, yet heartbreaking heroine in Violet, and lets young readers glimpse into an all-too important chapter in our nation’s history”. ~excerpt from Amazon.ca website
“These recollections of Assiniboia at times diverge, but together exhibit Survivor resilience and the strength of the relationships that bond them to this day. The volume captures the troubled history of residential schools. At the same time, it invites the reader to join in a reunion of sorts, entered into through memories and images of […]
In 1964, two brothers are torn from the warm and loving care of their grandparents, and taken to a residential school far from home. James, assigned to manual work on the grounds, sees less and less of his younger brother, Thomas. When James discovers the anguish Thomas is living under, it leads to unspeakable tragedy. […]
“At residential school Margaret soon encounters the Raven, a black-cloaked nun with a hooked nose and bony fingers that resemble claws. She immediately dislikes the strong-willed young Margaret. Intending to humiliate her, the heartless Raven gives gray stockings to all the girls — all except Margaret, who gets red ones. In an instant Margaret is […]
“In Finding My Talk, fourteen aboriginal women who attended residential schools, or were affected by them, reflect on their experiences. They describe their years in residential schools across Canada and how they overcame tremendous obstacles to become strong and independent members of aboriginal cultures and valuable members of Canadian society”. ~excerpt from CBC books website
Written mainly by First Nations and Métis people, this book examines current issues in First Nations education. – Excerpt from Goodminds
“The story of five residential school survivors as they make their way through very different lives, all trying to overcome the traumas of their shared past”. ~Excerpt from Amazon.ca website
“In this poetic, poignant memoir, Dene artist and social activist Antoine Mountain paints an unforgettable picture of his journey from residential school to art school—and his path to healing”. ~excerpt from Strong Nations website
“Abandoned by his parents as a toddler, Jesse Thistle briefly found himself in the foster-care system with his two brothers, cut off from all they had known. Eventually the children landed in the home of their paternal grandparents, whose tough-love attitudes quickly resulted in conflicts. Throughout it all, the ghost of Jesse’s drug-addicted father haunted […]
“This book is divided into four sections that are intended to take the reader along a path of reconciliation. Each chapter is written by a different author and in different styles. The first section, Truth-Telling looks at Aboriginal history in Canada with a focus on residential schools. The second section, The legacy Lives On describes […]
“This book is about the Aboriginal Healing Foundation, but much more besides. That is because the Foundation’s board of directors were eager to tell a story, rather than issue a multi-volume quantitative academic analysis. Formal reports of this character have great value, and the reader who wishes material of that kind may obtain it. The […]
“Ashley meets her great-uncle by the old train tracks near their community in Nova Scotia. Ashley sees his sadness, and Uncle tells her of the day years ago when he and the other children from their community were told to board the train before being taken to residential school where their lives were changed forever. […]
“This is the story of Myrtle battling to recover her voice. Genocidal Love is a powerful confirmation of the long-lasting consequences of residential school violence —and a moving story of finding a path towards healing”. ~excerpt from Amazon.com website
“At its core, God and the Indian, by celebrated Aboriginal playwright Drew Hayden Taylor, explores the complex process of healing through dialogue. Loosely based on Death and the Maiden by Chilean playwright Ariel Dorfman, the play identifies the ambiguities that frame past traumatic events. Against the backdrop of Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which has […]
“Written by a Mohawk Institute Residential School survivor, this is a fierce and candid story that reveals the heartbreaking trauma of that tragic time in our history. The author portrays how the ongoing impact of the residential schools confinements has affected Indigenous communities over several generations and has contributed to many social problems that continue […]
“Drama and humour combine in Goodbye Buffalo Bay by award-winning Cree author Larry Loyie. The sequel to the award-winning book As Long as the Rivers Flow and the award-finalist When the Spirits Dance Goodbye Buffalo Bay is set during the author’s teenaged years. In his last year in residential school, Lawrence learns the power of […]
“When eight-year-old Irene is removed from her First Nations family to live in a residential school she is confused, frightened, and terribly homesick. She tries to remember who she is and where she came from, despite the efforts of the nuns who are in charge at the school and who tell her that she is […]
“I Lost My Talk is a necessary reminder of a dark chapter in Canada’s history, a powerful reading experience, and an effective teaching tool for young readers of all cultures and backgrounds”. ~Excerpt from Strong Nations website
In Memory of Feast: Memories of Residential School Survivors by Judy Reuben, Mohawk from the Turtle Clan, are stories of childhood food memories of Residential School Survivors. These stories record early food memories prior to entering this school system. The stories share the knowledge that many Indigenous families relied on traditional foods and were food […]
Helen Knott, a highly accomplished Indigenous woman, seems to have it all. But in her memoir, she offers a different perspective. In My Own Moccasins is an unflinching account of addiction, intergenerational trauma, and the wounds brought on by sexual violence. It is also the story of sisterhood, the power of ceremony, the love of […]
“Indian Act is a tribute and thank you to those who survived the Indian Residential School system so that future generations could be free to pursue their lives unhindered by educationally enforced lowered expectations and institutionalized abuse. Plays by contemporary First Nations and Métis playwrights cover the broad scope of residential school experiences, all kinds of […]
“A game of hockey it becomes evident that a passion for the game, natural talent and hard work will make him stand out. Indian Horse’s experiences as a First Nations minor-league hockey player in the 1960s and 1970s are the overlay for a greater commentary on racism, violence and trauma, as well as a background for […]
“Exposing the raw wounds of Truth and Reconciliation as well as the struggle for an inclusive Mi’kmaw education system, Indian School Road is a comprehensive and compassionate narrative history of the school that uneducated hundreds of Aboriginal children”. ~excerpt from Good Reads website
“His residential school experience was lifechanging, as it suffocated his artistic expression and resulted in decades of struggle and healing. Now in his twenty-eighth year of sobriety, Rene is a successful multidisciplinary artist, musician and writer. Meshake’s artistic vision and poetic lens provide a unique telling of a story of colonization and recovery”. ~Excerpt from […]
Interior Voices is an Aboriginal health and wellness podcast series that explores the intersection of health and culture in the workplace, everyday lives and patient care. A podcast from Interior Health. Interior Voices (libsyn.com)
“Invisible Generations evokes the Catholic residential school that Irene’s parents and so many other ”mixed blood” children attended. Among Irene’s family and friends we meet Josephine, who was separated as a child from her beloved upwardly mobile politician father. When her presence in his socially charged household became untenable, Josephine was dispatched to the same Fraser […]
In her debut collection of short stories, Islands of Decolonial Love, renowned writer and activist Leanne Simpson vividly explores the lives of contemporary Indigenous Peoples and communities, especially those of her own Nishnaabeg nation. Found on reserves, in cities and small towns, in bars and curling rinks, canoes and community centres, doctors offices and pickup […]
“A second-generation residential school survivor, Thomas writes this response poem openly and honestly, reflecting on the process of working through the destructive effects of colonialism. From sewing regalia to dancing at powow to learning traditional language, I’m Finding My Talk is about rediscovering her community, and finding culture”. ~Excerpt from Amazon.ca website
This beautifully illustrated edition is a collection of original Okanagan legends with time-honoured lessons for children – the values of sharing, respect and reverence for life in all forms. Told in a strong rhythmic style, this new edition now includes the text in both languages: English and Okanagan. – Excerpt from Strong Nations
“Indigenous peoples have shockingly higher rates of addiction, depression, diabetes, and other chronic health conditions than other North Americans. According to the Aboriginal Healing Foundation, these are a result of intergenerational trauma: the unresolved terror, anger, fear, and grief created in Indigenous communities by the painful experiences of colonialism, passed down from generation to generation. […]
Clara D. True and Clinton J. Crandall, teacher and superintendent for the Indian Day School of the Santa Clara Pueblo, were typical agents in the campaign waged by the federal government to assimilate Native Americans into mainstream American society. As the primary Office of Indian Affairs officials for the Pueblo, True and Crandall administered the […]
For much of his life, Clayton Thomas-Muller’s very existence has been scrutinized and vilified. As a child, he endured the intergenerational trauma that resulted from his family attending residential school. Growing up Cree in downtown Winnipeg, Canada, Clayton faced systemic racism and violence in school and on the streets, which led him to use his […]
After her critically acclaimed books of interviews with Afghan, Iraqi, Israeli and Palestinian children, Deborah Ellis turns her attention closer to home. For two years she traveled across the United States and Canada interviewing Native children. The result is a compelling collection of interviews with children aged nine to eighteen. They come from all over […]
A podcast series about connection, community, culture, and Indigeneity. Written and hosted by a team of four Indigenous youth, Love, Land & Spirit aims to create discussion between youth and knowledge holders about interconnected topics in their lives – in conversation and celebration of Indigenous joy and excellence.
“The legacy of the residential school system ripples throughout Native Canada, its fingerprints on the domestic violence, poverty, alcoholism, drug abuse, and suicide rates that continue to cripple many Native communities. Magic Weapons is the first major survey of Indigenous writings on the residential school system, and provides groundbreaking readings of life writings by Rita […]
“Inhabit Education Books is proud to introduce Qinuisaarniq (“resiliency”), a program created to educate Nunavummiut about the history and impacts of residential schools, policies of assimilation, and other colonial acts that affected the Canadian Arctic”. ~Excerpt from Strong Nations website
A weekly current affairs roundtable hosted by MEDIA INDIGENA’s own Rick Harp, a 20-year veteran of broadcasting including APTN (Contact) and CBC Radio (Edmonton AM). Each week, guests from the worlds of activism, arts, academia and beyond join Rick for lively, insightful conversation that goes beyond the headlines to get at what matters most to Indigenous peoples. MEDIA INDIGENA : Indigenous current […]
“Memory Keeper is a collection of stories which offers anecdotes and stories, from the author’s life, living on the Six Nations of the Grand River Territory. These stories helped her to circumnavigate constructively the residual pain and dysfunction that is the legacy of the Residential School System. As a Registered Social Worker and Community Health […]
“The residential school system in Canada continues to have a great impact on Aboriginal people. This book takes a brief look at the history but the focus is on the intergenerational impacts that exist today from the residential school system. These impacts affect learning, education, and family relations. This book highlights positive approaches and paths […]
“A poignant, honest, and necessary book featuring brilliant artwork from Mi’kmaw artist Zeta Paul and words inspired by Muinji’j MacEachern’s true story, Muinji’j Asks Why will inspire conversation, understanding, and allyship for readers of all ages”. ~excerpt from Good Reads website
Mush-Hole: Memories of a Residential School written by Maddie Harper explains her years attending the Mohawk Institute Residential School in Brantford. When she was seven years old Maddie was forced to attend the school until the age of fifteen. She writes with clarity and power as she describes her experiences. She includes a painful episode […]
“This book depicts the punishment, cruelty, abuse, and injustice that he endured at Old Sun Residential School and then later relived in the traumatic process of retelling his story at an examination for discovery in connection with a lawsuit brought against the federal government. Late in life, he returned to Gleichen, Alberta on the Siksika […]
Seepeetza loves living on Joyaska Ranch with her family. But when she is six years old, she is driven to the town of Kalamak, in the interior of British Columbia. Seepeetza will spend the next several years of her life at an Indian residential school. The nuns call her Martha and cut her hair. Worst […]
“NISHGA explores those complications and is invested in understanding how the colonial violence originating at the Coqualeetza Indian Residential School impacted his grandparents’ generation, then his father’s generation, and ultimately his own. The project is rooted in a desire to illuminate the realities of intergenerational survivors of residential school, but sheds light on Indigenous experiences that […]
“No Time to Say Goodbye is a fictional account of five children sent to aboriginal boarding school, based on the recollections of a number of Tsartlip First Nations people. These unforgettable children are taken by government agents from Tsartlip Day School to live at Kuper Island Residential School. The five are isolated on the small […]
Based on the true story of Margaret Pokiak-Fenton, and complemented by evocative illustrations, Not My Girl makes the original, award-winning memoir, A Stranger at Home, accessible to younger children. It is also a sequel to the picture book When I Was Eight. A poignant story of a determined young girl’s struggle to belong, it will both move and inspire […]
“Join Nuttah and Kitchi as they honour and remember the tens of thousands of residential school survivors and the children who did not survive the residential schools”. ~Excerpt from Strong Nations website
“During the 60s Scoop, over 20,000 Indigenous children in Canada were removed from their biological families, lands and culture and trafficked across provinces, borders and overseas to be raised in non-Indigenous households. Ohpikiihaakan-ohpihmeh delves into the personal and provocative narrative of Colleen Cardinal’s journey growing up in a non- Indigenous household as a 60s Scoop […]
“Jose Kusugak had a typical Arctic childhood, growing up playing games, enjoying food caught by hunters, and watching his mother preparing skins. But he was one of the first generation of Inuit children who were taken from their homes and communities and sent to live in residential schools. In this moving and candid memoir, Jose […]
“Orange Shirt Day is observed annually on September 30th to honour residential school survivors and their families, and to remember those who did not make it. This book explores the historical impact on Indigenous people in order to create champions who will walk a path of reconciliation through Orange Shirt Day, promoting the message that […]
In the 1880s, through an amendment to the Indian Act of 1876, the government of Canada began to require all Aboriginal children to attend schools administered by churches. Separating these children from their families, removing them from their communities and destroying Aboriginal culture by denying them the right to speak Indigenous languages and perform native […]
The sacred legends of the four host First Nations, the Lil’wat, Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh, have been passed down from generation to generation through the Elders and are integral to the teachings and oral traditions of First Nations peoples. These stories link people to the land and to each other and pass on traditional knowledge […]
“Carey takes the reader on a journey from the initial idea behind the Witness Blanket to the challenges in making it work to its completion. The story is told through the objects and the Survivors who donated them to the project. At every step in this important journey for children and adults alike, Carey is […]
A haunting story that explores with frank and honest words the dark legacy of the residential school system and its impact on individuals, families and communities. James Nathan and Jake Noland have been best friends for life. After finishing mission school they return to their Gwich’in community in the Northwest Territories. Their lives revolve around […]
“Part Ojibwe and part white, River lives with her white mother and stepfather on a farm in Ontario. Teased about her Indigenous heritage as a young girl, she feels like she doesn’t belong and struggles with her identity. On her family’s nearby reserve, she learns more than she expects about the lives of Indigenous people, […]
“The horrors of the Indian residential schools are by now well-known facts, and they have certainly found purchase in the Canadian consciousness in recent years. The history of violence and the struggles of survivors for redress resulted in the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which chronicled the harms inflicted by the residential schools and explored ways […]
“When Nellie Winters was 11 years old, she was sent to attend the Nain Boarding School, a residential school 400 kilometres from her home. In this memoir, she recalls life before residential school, her experiences at the school, and what it was like to come home”. ~excerpt from Strong Nations website
“Analysing archival material and interviews with former students, politicians, bureaucrats, church officials, and the Chief Commissioner of the TRC, Miller reveals a major obstacle to achieving reconciliation – the inability of Canadians at large to overcome their flawed, overly positive understanding of their country’s history. This unique, timely, and provocative work asks Canadians to accept […]
Residential Schools is a three-part podcast series created by Historica Canada and hosted by Shaneen Robinson-Desjarlais. It aims to commemorate the history and legacy of residential schools, and honour the stories of First Nations, Métis, and Inuit Survivors, their families, and communities. The series is part of a larger awareness campaign created by Historica Canada and funded by the Government of Canada. […]
“Residential Schools, With the Words and Images of Survivors, A National History honours the survivors, the former students, who attended residential schools. Designed for the general reader this accessible, 112-page history offers a first-person perspective of the residential school system in Canada, as it shares the memories of more than 70 survivors from across Canada […]
“Resilience is the third colouring book made up of works by Anishnaabe artist Jackie Traverse. As with her previous highly successful colouring books, Sacred Feminine and IKWE , this new book contains both drawings and paintings by Jackie. Resilience honours the Indigenous Peoples who were colonized by and endured the violence of Canada’s child stealing […]
“One of the first books published to deal with the phenomenon of residential schools in Canada, this book is a disturbing collection of Indigenous perspectives on the Kamloops Indian Residential School (KIRS) in the BC interior. Interviews with 13 indigenous individuals, all former residents of KIRS, for the nucleus of this book, a frank depiction […]
“This book includes the text of the government’s apology and summarizes the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s 94 Calls to Action, which offer the basis for a new relationship between the Canadian government, Indigenous people and non-Indigenous people”. ~excerpt from Strong Nations website
“Honest, penetrating, and often darkly comic, these poems explore the extraordinary will it requires to stay alive in the face of economic precariousness, growing inequality, and prevailing dissatisfaction. With a fierce dedication to place, the collection explores the conflict inherent to individualistic priorities and collective needs present in a hyper-commodified Newfoundland and Labrador. Satched demands compassionate advocacy […]
“Secret Path is a ten song album by Gord Downie with a graphic novel by illustrator Jeff Lemire that tells the story of Chanie “Charlie” Wenjack, a twelve-year-old boy who died in flight from the Cecilia Jeffrey Indian Residential School fifty years ago.” – Excerpt from Strong Nations
Seven Fallen Feathers: Racism, Death, and Hard Truths in a Northern City recounts with clarity and honesty the truths surrounding the lives of seven Indigenous teenagers who lost their lives while attending high school in Thunder Bay, Ontario. Jethro Anderson, Curran Strang, Robyn Harper, Paul Panacheese, Reggie Bushie, Kyle Morrisseau, and Jordan Wabasse attended secondary school to further their education because […]
“In just four days young Shi-shi-etko will have to leave her family and all that she knows to attend residential school. She spends her last days at home treasuring the beauty of her world — the dancing sunlight, the tall grass, each shiny rock, the tadpoles in the creek, her grandfather’s paddle song. Her mother, […]
“This moving sequel to the award-winning Shi-shi-etko tells the story of two children’s experience at residential school. Shi-shi-etko is about to return for her second year, but this time her six-year-old brother, Shin-chi, is going, too. As they begin their journey in the back of a cattle truck, Shi-shi-etko takes it upon herself to tell her […]
“For decades, “scooping up” (taking) Indigenous children from their families for placement in foster homes or adoption, was commonplace. this is the story of one of those 20,000 children.” – excerpt from amazon website
“Canada’s relationship with its Indigenous people has suffered as a result of both the residential school system and the lack of understanding of the historical and current impact of those schools. Healing and repairing that relationship requires education, awareness and increased understanding of the legacy and the impacts still being felt by Survivors and their […]
“Speaking our Truth A Journey of Reconciliation’ Teacher Guide is an excellent complement to Speaking Our Truth published in 2017. Embark on your journey of reconciliation in the classroom by using this comprehensive guide to help you build an inquiry-based unit plan focused on Indigenous teachings. Begin the journey by thinking with your heart and […]
“Spirit Bear and Children Make History tells the story of a landmark human rights case for First Nations children at the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal. Nine years after the case was filed, the Tribunal ruled that the government of Canada was racially discriminating against 165,000 First Nations children by underfunding child welfare and failing to […]
“Spirit Bear is off on another adventure! Follow him as he learns about traditional knowledge and Residential Schools from his Uncle Huckleberry and his friend, Lak’insxw, before heading to Algonquin territory, where children teach him about Shannen’s Dream. Spirit Bear and his new friends won’t stop until Shannen’s Dream of “safe and comfy schools” comes […]
“Spirit Bear is on his way home from a sacred ceremony when he meets Jake, a friendly dog, with a bag full of paper hearts attached to wood stakes. Jake tells Spirit Bear that school children and residential school survivors will plant the hearts when a big report on residential schools called the Truth and […]
A podcast that brings awareness to the history and lasting impacts of residential schools as well as the ongoing impacts of colonization. Listen to stories from residential school survivors and learn from discussions with Indigenous youth about topics such as culture, language, identity, and community. Still Here Still Healing | Podcast on Spotify
“The story of the beautiful relationship between a little girl and her grandfather. When she asks her grandfather how to say something in his language – Cree – he admits that his language was stolen from him when he was a boy. The little girl then sets out to help her grandfather find his language […]
“Abandoned as a young child, Betsy was soon adopted into a loving family. A few short years later, at the age of 8, everything changed. Betsy was taken away to a residential school. There she was forced to endure abuse and indignity, but Betsy recalled the words her father spoke to her at Sugar Falls—words […]
“Discuss the history and legacy of residential schools with your students using Sugar Falls and this accompanying teacher guide.” Excerpt from Good Minds
Teachings In The Air is an Indigenous health and wellness podcast hosted by Elder Gerry Oldman. Teachings in the Air aims to inspire, motivate, and empower Indigenous people to be sound in mind, body and spirit – because that’s what healthy means. Home — Teachings in the Air
“Cecil King grew up in the small settlement of Buzwah, Ontario, situated on Wikwemikong Unceded Indian Reserve on Manitoulin Island. This moving memoir shares King’s life on reserve in the 1930s and ’40s and describes a vibrant community full of interesting characters who shared knowledge, warmth, affection, and humour. King also describes his experiences attending […]
“The Boy Who Walked Backwards is a moving story about a young Ojibway boy, Leo, and his family in Serpent River First Nation. Leo’s life turns to darkness when forced to attend residential school. Back home for Christmas, Leo uses inspiration from an Ojibway childhood game to deal with his struggles.” – Excerpt from Strong […]
“A courageous and intimate memoir, The Education of Augie Merasty is the story of a child who faced the dark heart of humanity, let loose by the cruel policies of a bigoted nation.A retired fisherman and trapper who sometimes lived rough on the streets, Augie Merasty was one of an estimated 150,000 First Nations, Inuit, […]
“When Phyllis Webstad (nee Jack) turned six, she went to the residential school for the first time. On her first day at school, she wore a shiny orange shirt that her Granny had bought for her, but when she got to the school, it was taken away from her and never returned. This is the […]
“The Reason You Walk is one of five finalists for the 2016 RBC Taylor Prize for literary non-fiction. 2016 recipient of Kobo Emerging Writer Prize for non-fiction. When his father was given a diagnosis of terminal cancer, Winnipeg broadcaster and musician Wab Kinew (Ojibways of Onigaming First Nation) decided to spend a year reconnecting with […]
“The Sleeping Giant Awakens offers a unique and timely perspective on the prospects for conciliation after genocide, exploring the difficulties in moving forward in a context where many settlers know little of the residential schools and ongoing legacies of colonization and need to have a better conception of Indigenous rights. It provides a detailed analysis of […]
Ashley meets her great-uncle by the old train tracks near their community in Nova Scotia. When she sees his sadness, he shares with her the history of those tracks. Uncle tells her that during his childhood the train would bring their community supplies, but there came a day when the train took away with it […]
“Artist Carey Newman created the Witness Blanket to make sure that history is never forgotten. The Blanket is a living work of art—a collection of hundreds of objects from those schools. It includes everything from photos, bricks, hockey skates, graduation certificates, dolls and piano keys to braids of hair. Behind every piece is a story. […]
“These are the Stories is a memoir presented in short chapters, comprising the life of a survivor of the Sixties Scoop. Christine Miskonoodinkwe Smith reveals her experiences in the child welfare system and her journey towards healing in various stages of her life. As an adult, she was able to reconnect with her birth mother. Though […]
“Xat’sull Chief Bev Sellars spent her childhood in a church-run residential school whose aim it was to “civilize” Native children through Christian teachings, forced separation from family and culture, and discipline. In addition, beginning at the age of five, Sellars was isolated for two years at Coqualeetza Indian Tuberculosis Hospital in Sardis, British Columbia, nearly […]
“For over a century, generations of Aboriginal children were separated from their parents and raised in overcrowded, underfunded, and often unhealthy residential schools across Canada. They were commonly denied the right to speak their language and told their cultural beliefs were sinful. Some students did not see their parents for years. Others, the victims of […]
“Robert Kakakaway is from White Bear First Nations in SK. He lives on Whitecap Dakota First Nation near Saskatoon, SK. He is the founder of Kakakaway & Associates Consulting, an Indigenous organization that offers ceremonial teachings. He completed his B.G.S. degree at UBC in 1992. He also completed several post-secondary diploma programs.He attended Marieval Indian […]
“In this updated edition, Niezen discusses the Final Report and Calls to Action bringing the book up to date and making it a valuable text for teaching about transitional justice, colonialism and redress, public anthropology, and human rights. Thoughtful, provocative, and uncompromising in the need to tell the “truth” as he sees it, Niezen offers […]
In this book, author Pamela Rose Toulouse provides current information, personal insights, authentic resources, interactive strategies and lesson plans that support Indigenous and non-Indigenous learners in the classroom. This book is for all teachers that are looking for ways to respectfully infuse residential school history, treaty education, Indigenous contributions, First Nation/Métis/Inuit perspectives and sacred circle […]
“In May 2021, the world was shocked by news of the detection of 215 unmarked graves on the grounds of the former Kamloops Indian Residential School (KIRS) in British Columbia, Canada. Ground-penetrating radar confirmed the deaths of students as young as three in the infamous residential school system, which systematically removed children from their families […]
“Two Plays About Residential School (Indigenous Education Press) honours the fearless voices of residential school survivor Larry Loyie (Cree, 1933-2016) and intergenerational survivor Vera Manuel (Secwepemc / Ktunaxa, 1949-2010). In the early 1990s, these award-winning authors wrote about their individual experiences of residential schools. The plays were staged a decade before Canada apologized for the […]
Radio space for Indigenous voices – our cousins, our aunties, our elders, our heroes. Rosanna Deerchild guides us on the path to better understand our shared story. Together, we learn and unlearn, laugh and become gentler in all our relations. https://www.cbc.ca/listen/live-radio/1-105-unreserved?cmp=DM_SEM_Listen_Titles
“In 2008 the Canadian government apologized to the victims of the notorious Indian residential school system, and established a Truth and Reconciliation Commission whose goal was to mend the deep rifts between Aboriginal peoples and the settler society that engineered the system. In Unsettling the Settler Within, Paulette Regan, a former residential-schools-claims manager, argues that […]
“After being separated from his family at age seven, Metatawabin was assigned a number and stripped of his Cree identity. At his residential school, St. Anne’s in northern Ontario—one of the worst in Canada—he was physically and emotionally abused, and was sexually abused by one of the staff. Leaving high school, he turned to alcohol […]
“A heart-rending true story about racial injustice, residential schools and a path forward. Divided by a beautiful valley and 150 years of racism, the Waywayseecappo reserve and the town of Rossburn have been neighbours for nearly as long as Canada has been a country. Their story reflects much of what has gone wrong in relations […]
An interactive podcast that is a celebration of everything Indigenous! The podcast aims to share Indigenous cultures and values so that kids can learn about what it means to be strong, healthy, and compassionate warriors for themselves, their families, communities and Nations. Listen here: https://warriorkidspodcast.com/#listen
“Wawahte: Indian Residential Schools recounts the life experiences of three Indian residential school survivors, as told to Kingston author Robert Wells, a retired Ontario Conservation Officer. Robert Wells made a promise to an Elder in his childhood that one day he would tell the stories of his three friends Esther Faries, Bunny Galvin and Stanley […]
The legacy of residential schools has haunted Canadians, yet little is known about the day and public schools where most Indigenous children were sent to be educated. In What We Learned, two generations of Tsimshian students – elders born in the 1930s and 1940s and middle-aged adults born in the 1950s and 1960s – add […]
“The nuns at the school take her Inuit name and call her Margaret. They cut off her long hair and force her to do chores. She has only one thing left — a book about a girl named Alice, who falls down a rabbit hole. Margaret’s tenacious character draws the attention of a black-cloaked nun […]
“When a young girl helps tend to her grandmother’s garden, she begins to notice things that make her curious. Why does her grandmother have long, braided hair and beautifully coloured clothing? Why does she speak another language and spend so much time with her family? As she asks her grandmother about these things, she is […]
“Little Wolf’s mother, White Raven, visits and begins to tell her grandchildren stories from her own childhood. But the stories are not happy ones. As a child, White Raven left her family to attend St. Michael’s Residential School in Alert Bay, BC. While there, she experienced hunger, loneliness, shame, and isolation from her language and […]