As our hearts and minds reflect on the discovery of 215 children buried at the Kamloops residential school, and the ongoing trauma that Indigenous peoples face, this list of resources on residential schools and anti-Indigenous racism will help inform our conversations.
We also recommend spending some time with the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's final report and Calls to Action.
A Residential Schools Crisis Line (1-866-925-4419) is available 24 hours a day for anyone experiencing pain or distress as a result of their residential school experience.
Phyllis's Orange Shirt
For ages 4-6. On her first day at residential school, Phyllis Webstad was forced to take off her shiny orange shirt. The shirt was taken away and never returned. Also available in French.
L'histoire du Chandail Orange
Lorsque Phyllis Webstad (née Jack) a eu six ans, elle est allée au pensionnat pour la première fois. Pour sa première journée d'école, elle portait un chandail orange tout neuf que sa grand-mère lui avait acheté. À son arrivée à l'école, on le lui a enlevé, pour ne jamais le lui redonner. Voici la vraie histoire de Phyllis et de son chandail orange. C'est aussi l'histoire de la Journée du chandail orange, un jour de commémoration important pour tous les Canadiens.
Indian Act: Residential School Plays
Seven plays by contemporary First Nations playwrights cover the broad scope of residential school experiences, all kinds of characters, and no stereotypes, giving voice to those who could not be heard.
Resistance and Renewal: Surviving the Indian Residential School
A study of the system of residential schools in Canada, which were created to suppress Native culture. Includes thirteen interviews with former students at the Kamloops Indian Residential School in British Columbia.
Five Little Indians
Taken from their families when they are very small and sent to a remote, church-run residential school, Kenny, Lucy, Clara, Howie and Maisie are barely out of childhood when they are finally released after years of detention. Alone and without any skills, support or families, the teens find their way to the seedy and foreign world of Downtown Eastside Vancouver. Available in print
The Train
Author Jodie Callaghan worked as a journalist at the time of the Canadian government's apology for the residential school system. She took inspiration for this book from her conversations with survivors--including her own grandmother's experience at Indian day school.
Indian Horse
With compassion and insight, author Richard Wagamese traces through his fictional characters the decline of a culture and a cultural way. For Saul, taken forcibly from the land and his family when he's sent to residential school, salvation comes for a while through his incredible gifts as a hockey player. Available online
I'm Finding My Talk
A response to Rita Joe's iconic poem "I Lost My Talk," and published simultaneously with the new children's book edition illustrated by Pauline Young, comes a companion picture book by award-winning spoken-word artist and Mi'kmaw activist Rebecca Thomas. 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.
Call Me Indian: From the Trauma of Residential School to Becoming the NHL's First Treaty Indigenous Player
Residential school Survivor. First Treaty Indigenous player in the NHL. All of these descriptions are true--but none of them tell the whole story. Fred Sasakamoose, torn from his home at the age of seven, endured the horrors of residential school for a decade before becoming one of 120 players in the most elite hockey league in the world.
Gaawin Gindaaswin Ndawsii = I Am Not a Number
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 not to use her own name but instead use the number they have assigned to her.
Les Mots Qu'il Me Reste: Violette Pesheens, Pensionnaire à L'école Résidentielle
Violette Pesheens a de la difficulté à s'adapter à sa nouvelle vie au pensionnat. Sa grand-mère lui manque et de sérieux affrontements éclatent entre des filles cries. De plus, tout le monde la dévisage dans cette école de blancs, et tout ce qu'elle a apporté lui a été confisqué, y compris son nom : elle n'est plus qu'un numéro. Available in English
Canada's Residential Schools
The final report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada
Les Bas du Pensionnat: Une Histoire Vraie
Au pensionnat, Margaret ne tarde pas à faire la connaissance du Corbeau, une religieuse au nez crochu et aux doigts longs et osseux comme des serres. Bien vite, le Corbeau se heurte à la fillette au tempérament fort. Pour lui montrer à quel point elle lui déplaît, le Corbeau distribue des bas gris à toutes les filles... sauf à Margaret qui en reçoit des rouge vif. La fillette devient aussitôt la risée de toute l'école.
Fatty Legs: A True Story
At 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 the laughingstock of the entire school.
Burning in This Midnight Dream
Burning in the 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. See also: 2018 edition
They Called Me Number One: Secrets and Survival at an Indian Residential School
Like thousands of Aboriginal children in the United States, Canada, and elsewhere in the colonized world, Xatsu'll chief Bev Sellars spent part of her childhood as a student in a church-run residential school. These institutions endeavored to "civilize" Native children through Christian teachings; forced separation from family, language, and culture; and strict discipline. In this frank and poignant memoir of her years at St. Joseph's Mission, Sellars breaks her silence about the residential school's lasting effects on her and her family.
Speaking Our Truth: A Journey of Reconciliation
Guided by acclaimed Indigenous author Monique Gray Smith, readers will learn about the lives of Survivors and listen to allies who are putting the findings of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission into action. Available in print
Honouring the Truth, Reconciling For the Future
Summary of the final report of the Truth and Reconcilliation Commission of Canada
Knock On the Door: the Essential History of Residential Schools From the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada
A Knock on the Door, published in collaboration with the National Research Centre for Truth & Reconciliation, gathers material from the several reports the TRC has produced to present the essential history and legacy of residential schools in a concise and accessible package that includes new materials to help inform and contextualize the journey to reconciliation that Canadians are now embarked upon.
Broken Circle: The Dark Legacy of Indian Residential Schools
In this powerful and poignant memoir, Ted Fontaine 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. He goes beyond details of the abuses of Native children to relate a unique understanding of why most residential school survivors have post-traumatic stress disorders and why succeeding generations of First Nations children suffer from this dark chapter in history
Residential Schools and Reconciliation: Canada Confronts its History
In Residential Schools and Reconciliation, award winning author J. R. Miller tackles and explains these institutional responses to Canada's residential school legacy. 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.
