The National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, or Orange Shirt Day, is a solemn day to reflect on the ongoing legacy of the residential school system in Canada. Secwepemc author and activist Phyllis Webstad speaks of her first day attending residential school, where her new orange shirt was taken by school officials. September 30 is a day to honour survivors and consider your own responsibilities in reconciliation. Check out the UBC Okanagan Orange Shirt Day webpage for information about on-campus and community events.
While wearing an orange shirt in solidarity with Indigenous people can be a meaningful personal action, many Indigenous leaders and academics speak of the importance of truth before reconciliation. September 30 provides an excellent opportunity to learn more about the impacts of discriminatory colonial policies like residential schools on Indigenous communities. It is equally important to recognize the continuing emotional burden that teaching this history places on Indigenous people.
If you are looking for more information on the history of residential schools or Indigenous-Canadian relations, we encourage you to continue your learning and consult some of the books or movies we have available through the library.
Below are a few recommendations by Christian Isbister, Indigenous Initiatives Librarian at UBC Okanagan Library.
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The inconvenient Indian : a curious account of Native People in North America by Thomas King
A broad look at the history of Indigenous-settler relations throughout North America, King’s dry sense of humour acts as an irreverent guide through key moments in history and is a great starting place if you are new to this area.
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Indian Horse : a novel by Richard Wagamese
One of Richard Wagamese’s better known works and a personal favourite, it follows a young Anishinaabe hockey player who survives his time in a residential school but must contend with the ongoing impact it has on his life. A deeply challenging read at times but well worth your time.
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Stolen Words by Melanie Florence ; illustrated by Gabrielle Grimard
Beautifully told and illustrated story about the emotional toll that losing one’s language has and on the potential for intergenerational love to bring it back.
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Orange Shirt Day, September 30th by Phyllis Webstad and the Orange Shirt Society
Fiction
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Black apple : a novel by Joan Crate
Five Little Indians by Michelle Good
Kiss of the fur queen by Tomson Highway
Poetry
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Inconvenient skin = Nyêhtâwan wasakay by Shane L. Koyczan
The Red Files by Lisa Bird-Wilson
Memoirs and Autobiographies
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NISHGA by Jordan Abel
Totem poles and tea by Hughina Harold and Eldon Lee
Stoneface : memoir of a defiant dene by Stephen Kakfwi
Genocidal love : a life after residential school by Bevann Fox
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The Knowing by Tanya Talaga
Up Ghost River: A chief’s journey through the turbulent waters of native history by Edmund Metatawabin with Alexandra Shimo
Following the good river: the life and times of Wa’xaid by Briony Penn
Our voice of fire: a memoir of a warrior rising by Brandi Morin
Namwayut : we are all one : a pathway to reconciliation by Chief Robert Joseph
They called me number one: secrets and survival at an indian residential school by Bev Sellers
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Finding my talk : how fourteen Native women reclaimed their lives after residential school by Agnes Grant
Films
Survivors of the red brick school by Kla-How-Ya Communications, First Nations Friendship Centre
We were children = Nous n’étions que des enfants by Eagle Vision ; eOne ; National Film Board of Canada ; Aboriginal Peoples Television Network.
Childhood lost : the residential school experience by executive producer, Chalen Ewing
Indian horse = Cheval Indien directed by Stephen S. Campanelli.
Savage written & directed by Lisa Jackson.
8th fire : [Aboriginal peoples, Canada and the way forward] a CBC production
Stolen children a CBC production
Illustrated Books
When I was eight by Christy Jordan-Fenton & Margaret Pokiak-Fenton ; art by Gabrielle Grimard
When we were alone by David Alexander Robertson ; art by Julie Flett
I lost my talk words by Rita Joe ; art by Pauline Young
I am not a number written by Jenny Kay Dupuis and Kathy Kacer ; illustrated by Gillian Newland.
Shi-shi-etko by Nicola I. Campbell ; pictures by Kim La Fave
Every child matters by Phyllis Webstad, illustrated by Karlene Harvey
For young readers
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Fatty Legs by Christy Jordan-Fenton and Margaret Pokiak-Fenton/ Liz Amini-Holmes
A stranger at home : a true story by Christy Jordan-Fenton & Margaret Pokiak-Fenton ; artwork by Liz Amini-Holmes
Sugar Falls : a residential school story by David Alexander Robertson, Scott B. Henderson.
The journey forward: a novella on reconciliation by Richard Van Camp and Monique Gray Smith
Anthologies and Collections
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Resistance and renewal : surviving the Indian residential school by Celia Haig-Brown
Power through testimony : reframing residential schools in the age of reconciliation edited by Brieg Capitaine and Karine Vanthuyne
“Speaking my truth” : reflections on reconciliation & residential school selected by Shelagh Rogers, Mike DeGagné, Jonathan Dewar, Glen Lowry
Witnesses : art and Canada’s Indian residential schools : September 6-December 1, 2013 curated by Geoffrey Carr
Valley of the Birdtail: an Indian reserve, a White town, and the road to reconciliation by Andrew Stobo Sniderman & Douglas Sandderson (Amo Binashii)
A knock on the door : the essential history of residential schools from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada foreword by Phil Fontaine
Residential schools: with words and images of survivors by Larry Loyie with Wayne K. Spear, Constance Brissenden
Reconciliation from an indigenous perspective : weaving the web of life in the aftermath of residential schools by Herman J. Michell
In this together : fifteen stories of truth & reconciliation edited by Danielle Metcalfe-Chenail
The fire still burns : life in and after residential school by Sam George with Jill Yonit Goldberg and Liam Belson, Dylan MacPhee, and Tanis Wilson
Beyond the orange shirt story : a collection of stories from family and friends of Phyllis Webstad before, during, and after their residential school experiences by Phyllis Webstad
Behind closed doors : stories from the Kamloops Indian Residential School edited by Agnes Jack
Other non-fiction
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Truth Telling by Michelle Good
Resolve : the story of the Chelsea family and a First Nation community’s will to heal by Carolyn Parks Mintz with Andy and Phyllis Chelsea
Truth and indignation : Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission on Indian Residential Schools by Ronald Niezen
Unsettling the settler within: Indian Residential Schools, truth telling, and reconciliation in Canada by Paulette Regan
Final report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada
Picking up the pieces : residential school memories and the making of the Witness Blanket by Carey Newman and Kirstie Hudson
Residential schools : the devastating impact on Canada’s Indigenous Peoples and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s findings and calls for action by Melanie Florence
A national crime : the Canadian government and the residential school system, 1879 to 1986 by John S. Milloy ; foreword by Mary Jane Logan McCallum
Spirit of the grassroots people : seeking justice for indigenous survivors of Canada’s colonial education system edited by Jackson Pind and Theodore Michael Christou