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Indigenous & First Nations Studies: Residential Schools

Library and online resources for researching Indigenous and First Nations topics.

Books

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Stoneface: a Defiant Dene

Stephen Kakfwi belongs to a cohort of young northerners who survived the childhood abuses of residential school only to find themselves as teenagers in another residential school. Kakfwi's life has been a series of diverse endeavours, blending traditional Dene practices with the daily demands of political office.

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Kukum

Kukum recounts the story of Almanda Siméon, an orphan raised by her aunt and uncle, who falls in love with a young Innu man despite their cultural differences and goes on to share her life with the Pekuakami Innu community. They accept her as one of their own: Almanda learns their language, how to live a nomadic existence, and begins to break down the barriers imposed on Indigenous women. 

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Kâ-Pî-isi-kiskisiyân / The Way I Remember

A residential school survivor finds his way back to his language and culture through his family's traditional stories. When reflecting on forces that have shaped his life, Solomon Ratt says his education was interrupted by his schooling. Torn from his family at the age of six, Ratt was placed into the residential school system--far from the love and comfort of home and family. 

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Valley of the Birdtail

A heartrending 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 nearly as long as Canada has been a country. Their story reflects much of what has gone wrong in relations between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Canadians. 

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Tsqelmucwílc: The Kamloops Indian Residential School - Resistance and a Reckoning

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. 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 and brought them to the schools.

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The Witness Blanket: Truth, Art and Reconciliation

This nonfiction book for middle-grade readers, illustrated with photographs, tells the story of the making of the Witness Blanket, a work by Indigenous artist Carey Newman that includes items from every residential school in Canada and stories from the Survivors who donated them.

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Sugar Falls

 A school assignment to interview a residential school survivor leads Daniel to Betsy, who tells him her story. 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. 

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Nishga

Drawing on autobiography, a series of interconnected documents (including pieces of memoir, transcriptions of talks, and photography), NISHGA is a book about confronting difficult truths and it is about how both Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples engage with a history of colonial violence that is quite often rendered invisible.

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Genocidal Love

Genocidal Love delves into the long-term effects of childhood trauma on those who attended residential school and demonstrates the power of story to help in recovery and healing. Presenting herself as “Myrtle,” Bevann Fox recounts her early childhood filled with love and warmth on the First Nation reservation with her grandparents. At the age of seven she was sent to residential school, and her horrific experiences of abuse there left her without a voice, timid and nervous, never sure, never trusting, and always searching. 

eBooks

Kukum (2023)

Kukum recounts the story of Almanda Siméon, an orphan raised by her aunt and uncle, who falls in love with a young Innu man despite their cultural differences and goes on to share her life with the Pekuakami Innu community. They accept her as one of their own: Almanda learns their language, how to live a nomadic existence, and begins to break down the barriers imposed on Indigenous women. 

 

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Valley of the Birdtail (2022)

A heartrending 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 nearly as long as Canada has been a country. Their story reflects much of what has gone wrong in relations between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Canadians. 

 

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St. Michael's Residential School : Lament & Legacy (2021)

In 1970, Nancy Dyson and Dan Rubenstein were hired as childcare workers at the Alert Bay Student Residence (known as St. Michael's Indian Residential School) on northern Vancouver Island. Shocked when Indigenous children are forcibly taken from their families, punished for speaking their First Nations languages, fed substandard food, and severely disciplined for minor offences, Dan and Nancy questioned the way the school was run with its underlying missionary philosophy.

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Permanent Astonishment (2021)

In 1990 Rene Highway, a world-renowned dancer, died of an AIDS-related illness. Permanent Astonishment: Growing Up in the Land of Snow and Sky is Tomson's extravagant embrace of his younger brother's final words: "Don't mourn me, be joyful." His memoir offers insights, both hilarious and profound, into the Cree experience of culture, conquest, and survival.
 

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Xwist Memin Kin "I Want to go Home" (2021)

Personal memories of people, routines, rules and education at an Indian residential school are outlined. It is a very different picture when compared with home life and family visits. The Government of Canada intended to separate children from parents, traditions, language and spiritual beliefs, but these were the very things that saved and nurtured Nk'xetko, Mary Jane Joe.

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Did You See Us? : Reunion, Remembrance, and Reclamation at an Urban Indian Residential School (2021)

Stitching together memories of arrival at, day-to-day life within, and departure from the school with a socio-historical reconstruction of the school and its position in both Winnipeg and the larger residential school system, Did You See Us? offers a glimpse of Assiniboia that is not available in the archival records. It connects readers with a specific residential school and illustrates that residential schools were often complex spaces where forced assimilation and Indigenous resilience co-existed.

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Call Me Indian: From the trauma of residential school to becoming the NHL's first treaty Indigenous player (2021)

This isn't just a hockey story; Sasakamoose's groundbreaking memoir sheds piercing light on Canadian history and Indigenous politics, and follows this extraordinary man's journey to reclaim pride in an identity and a heritage that had previously been used against him.

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Genocidal Love (2020)

Genocidal Love delves into the long-term effects of childhood trauma on those who attended residential school and demonstrates the power of story to help in recovery and healing. Presenting herself as “Myrtle,” Bevann Fox recounts her early childhood filled with love and warmth on the First Nation reservation with her grandparents. At the age of seven she was sent to residential school, and her horrific experiences of abuse there left her without a voice, timid and nervous, never sure, never trusting, and always searching. 

Children's Books

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Every Child Matters

ECCE WEB (Downtown Library)

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With Our Orange Hearts

ECCE WEB (Downtown Library)

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Shin-Chi's Canoe

ECCE CAM (Downtown)

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I Lost My Talk

ECCE JOE (Downtown)

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Phyllis's Orange Shirt

ECCE WEB (Downtown)

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Stolen Words

ECCE FLO (Downtown)

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When I Was Eight

ECCE JOR (Downtown)

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When We Were Alone

PS 8585 O32115 W54 2016 (Broadway and Downtown)

YouTube: Video Resources

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To find resources on this topic, we suggest you first try typing into the search box the following terms:

  • Residential Schools
  • Residential Schools and Canada
  • Residential Schools and British Columbia
  • Truth and Reconciliation
  • Indigenous Peoples and Residential Schools
  • Métis and Residential Schools
  • Inuit and Residential schools

If you are having trouble finding any resources using these search words, you can try using more outdated terminology or you can ask us to search for you. For example, two subject terms used frequently in our Library catalogue are Native Peoples Canada and Indians of North America. These terms are commonly used in academic libraries, even though they don't accurately reflect the current language used to describe Indigenous people in Canada today. This terminology is disrespectful and hurtful. We sincerely apologize for any pain this may cause. We are currently working towards changing this aspect of the library system. Unfortunately these changes can take time and we appreciate your patience and understanding.  The good news is that our newer resources are all using the more representative and respectful subject term Indigenous Peoples.

Resources

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