Honouring the stories and voices of Indigenous Peoples
Resources to help us reflect on the tragic legacy of residential schools in Canada
As we reflect on the legacy and tragedy of residential schools in Canada, here is a list of resources from close to home that can help.
Read
From first-person essays to curated lists of books, this reading list offers an opportunity to reflect and learn.
Ossie Michelin is a freelance Inuk journalist from North West River, Labrador. He is the director of the CBC podcast Telling our Twisted Histories. In a first-person essay, he explains why it's important for Indigenous people to tell their own stories.
Cree author David A. Robertson writes books for readers of all ages. He curated this excellent list of 48 books by Indigenous writers to read to understand residential schools that includes children's books.
The dark legacy of residential schools, and how survivors are shining a light to move forward is the focus of this piece, which includes a look at the five residential schools in Newfoundland and Labrador.
The community of Crow Gulch was broken up decades ago, but Mi'kmaq artists Jordan Bennett and Marcus Gosse came together to immortalize it in a painted mural on the site of the former Mi'kmaq neighbourhood.
Listen
Podcasts and radio interviews are a great way to spend time listening to Indigenous perspectives. Here are suggestions on where to start.
Indigenous histories have been twisted by centuries of colonization. In Telling our Twisted Histories, host Kaniehti:io Horn brings us together to decolonize our minds – one word at a time.
In this episode of CBC Newfoundland Morning, a leader of the NunatuKavut Inuit group in Labrador described how the tragedy of the Kamloops residential school has sparked a difficult but important national conversation about reconciliation.
Chief Michael Sack of Sipekne'katik First Nation was a guest on Information Morning with Portia Clark when more unmarked graves were discovered at a cemetery near a former residential school in Saskatchewan.
On Labrador Morning, former chief of the Assembly of First Nations Phil Fontaine discussed the tragedy at the Kamloops residential school, and psychologist Dr. Janine Hubbard advised how to talk to our kids, and each other, about it. Ossie Michelin, writer and director of Telling Our Twisted Histories, is also a guest.
In a week of colonial anniversaries in Canada and the United States, Reclaimed presented Take it All Back: Indigenous music for a time of reckoning and resistance.
Watch
Looking for something to watch? Check out this programming that conveys the profound impact of residential schools in Canada.
Cassidy Gallant's great-grandmother was a survivor of the Shubenacadie Indian Residential School in Nova Scotia, and now Gallant is writing poetry about the lasting harm of residential schools.
In Getting to know some of the most honoured members of First Nation communities, several Wabanaki elders in New Brunswick opened up about the type of work they do and the roles they play in their communities.
The emotional film We Were Children shows the profound impact of the residential school system through the eyes of two children who were forced to endure unimaginable hardships.
Kids
You may be looking for kid-friendly books and other resources to help teach your children about Indigenous literature and art. The resources in this list will help you speak with them about Canada's dark history of residential schools.
The residential school system separated 150,000 Indigenous children from their families—and the last one closed in 1997. Was one of those schools in the community where your family grew up? This interactive map is a great tool to help your kids find out.
Known for her gentle approach to empathy, resilience and informing young Canadians of the legacy of the residential school system in Canada, author Monique Gray Smith shares how children's books help young Canadians learn more about residential schools.
More and more children will be reading stories about the legacy of residential schools in the classroom this year, opening up space for conversation. This list presents 10 books about truth and reconciliation to read with your kids.
Teaching children about the history of residential schools examines how we can shed light on one of our country's darkest histories.