The National day of Truth and Reconciliation

Bones of a giant : a novel /

Isaac, Brian Thomas.


Summer, 1968. For the first time since his big brother, Eddie, disappeared two years earlier--either a runaway or dead by his own hand--sixteen-year-old Lewis Toma has shaken off some of his grief. His mother, Grace, and her friend Isabel have gone south to the United States to pack fruit to earn the cash Grace needs to put a bathroom and running water into the three-room shack they share on the reserve, leaving Lewis to spend the summer with his cousins, his Uncle Ned and his Aunt Jean in the new house they've built on their farm along the Salmon River. Their warm family life is almost enough to counter the pressures he feels as a boy trying to become a man in a place where responsible adult men like his uncle are largely absent, broken by residential school and racism. Everywhere he looks, women are left to carry the load, sometimes with kindness, but often with the bitterness, anger and ferocity of his own mother, who kicked Lewis's lowlife father, Jimmy, to the curb long ago. Lewis has vowed never to be like his father--but an encounter with a predatory older woman tests him and he suffers the consequences. Worse, his dad is back in town and scheming on how to use the Indian Act to steal the land Lewis and his mom have been living on. And then, at summer's end, more shocking revelations shake the family, unleashing a deadly force of anger and frustration. With so many traps laid around him, how will Lewis find a path to a different future?
Date Published:2025

Summer, 1968. For the first time since his big brother, Eddie, disappeared two years earlier--either a runaway or dead by his own hand--sixteen-year-old Lewis Toma has shaken off some of his grief. His mother, Grace, and her friend Isabel have gone south to the United States to pack fruit to earn the cash Grace needs to put a bathroom and running water into the three-room shack they share on the reserve, leaving Lewis to spend the summer with his cousins, his Uncle Ned and his Aunt Jean in the new house they've built on their farm along the Salmon River. Their warm family life is almost enough to counter the pressures he feels as a boy trying to become a man in a place where responsible adult men like his uncle are largely absent, broken by residential school and racism. Everywhere he looks, women are left to carry the load, sometimes with kindness, but often with the bitterness, anger and ferocity of his own mother, who kicked Lewis's lowlife father, Jimmy, to the curb long ago. Lewis has vowed never to be like his father--but an encounter with a predatory older woman tests him and he suffers the consequences. Worse, his dad is back in town and scheming on how to use the Indian Act to steal the land Lewis and his mom have been living on. And then, at summer's end, more shocking revelations shake the family, unleashing a deadly force of anger and frustration. With so many traps laid around him, how will Lewis find a path to a different future?

Date Published:2025

I am not a number

Dupuis, Jenny Kay.,


Canadian. GRADED LISTS: Great Non-Fiction Grades 4-6. When eight-year-old Irene is removed from her First Nations family to live in a residential school she is confused, frightened and homesick. She tries to remember who she is and where she came from despite the efforts of the nuns to force her to do otherwise. A picture book based on the life of Jenny Kay Dupuis' own grandmother, I Am Not a Number brings a terrible part of Canada's history to light in a way that children can learn from and relate to.
Date Published:2016

Canadian. GRADED LISTS: Great Non-Fiction Grades 4-6. When eight-year-old Irene is removed from her First Nations family to live in a residential school she is confused, frightened and homesick. She tries to remember who she is and where she came from despite the efforts of the nuns to force her to do otherwise. A picture book based on the life of Jenny Kay Dupuis' own grandmother, I Am Not a Number brings a terrible part of Canada's history to light in a way that children can learn from and relate to.

Date Published:2016

Indian school road : legacies of the Shubenacadie Residential School /

Benjamin, Chris, 1975-.


"Journalist Chris Benjamin tackles the controversial and tragic history of the Shubenacadie Indian Residential School, its predecessors, and its lasting effects, giving voice to multiple perspectives for the first time. Benjamin integrates research, interviews, and testimonies to guide readers through the varied experiences of students, principals, and teachers over the school's nearly forty years of operation (1930<U+2013>1967) and beyond. 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"--Provided by publisher.
Date Published:2014

"Journalist Chris Benjamin tackles the controversial and tragic history of the Shubenacadie Indian Residential School, its predecessors, and its lasting effects, giving voice to multiple perspectives for the first time. Benjamin integrates research, interviews, and testimonies to guide readers through the varied experiences of students, principals, and teachers over the school's nearly forty years of operation (1930<U+2013>1967) and beyond. 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"--Provided by publisher.

Date Published:2014

The knowing

Talaga, Tanya.


For generations, Indigenous People have known that their family members disappeared, many of them after being sent to residential schools, "Indian hospitals" and asylums through a coordinated system designed to destroy who the First Nations, Métis and Inuit people are. This is one of Canada's greatest open secrets, an unhealed wound that until recently lay hidden by shame and abandonment. The Knowing is the unfolding of Canadian history unlike anything we have ever read before. Anishinaabe author Tanya Talaga retells the history of this country as only she can--through an Indigenous lens, beginning with the life of her great-great grandmother Annie Carpenter and her family as they experienced decades of government- and Church-sanctioned enfranchisement and genocide. Deeply personal and meticulously researched, The Knowing is a seminal unravelling of the centuries-long oppression of Indigenous People that continues to reverberate in these communities today.
Date Published:2024

For generations, Indigenous People have known that their family members disappeared, many of them after being sent to residential schools, "Indian hospitals" and asylums through a coordinated system designed to destroy who the First Nations, Métis and Inuit people are. This is one of Canada's greatest open secrets, an unhealed wound that until recently lay hidden by shame and abandonment. The Knowing is the unfolding of Canadian history unlike anything we have ever read before. Anishinaabe author Tanya Talaga retells the history of this country as only she can--through an Indigenous lens, beginning with the life of her great-great grandmother Annie Carpenter and her family as they experienced decades of government- and Church-sanctioned enfranchisement and genocide. Deeply personal and meticulously researched, The Knowing is a seminal unravelling of the centuries-long oppression of Indigenous People that continues to reverberate in these communities today.

Date Published:2024

The orange shirt story

Webstad, Phyllis,


"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 true story of Phyllis and her orange shirt. It is also the story of Orange Shirt Day (an important day of remembrance for First Nations and non First Nations Canadians)."--publisher's website.
Date Published:2018

"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 true story of Phyllis and her orange shirt. It is also the story of Orange Shirt Day (an important day of remembrance for First Nations and non First Nations Canadians)."--publisher's website.

Date Published:2018

Residential schools : the devastating impact on Canada's indigenous peoples and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's findings and calls for action /

Florence, Melanie.


This book outlines the history and impact of Canada's residential schools and summarizes the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's ninety-four calls to action. Includes links to video clips and other online resources.
Date Published:2016

Secret path

Downie, Gordon, 1964-2017,


"Music by Gord Downie. Graphic Novel by Jeff Lemire. Includes ten song album download. Proceeds from Secret Path will be donated to The National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation."--Cover. The story of Chanie Wenjack (misnamed Charlie by his teachers), a twelve-year-old boy who died in flight from the Cecilia Jeffrey Indian Residential School fifty years ago.
Date Published:2016

The secret pocket

Janicki, Peggy.


The true story of how Indigenous girls at a Canadian residential school sewed secret pockets into their dresses to hide food and survive. Mary was four years old when she was first taken away to the Lejac Indian Residential School. It was far away from her home and family. Always hungry and cold, there was little comfort for young Mary. Speaking Dakelh was forbidden and the nuns and priest were always watching, ready to punish. Mary and the other girls had a genius idea: drawing on the knowledge from their mothers, aunts and grandmothers who were all master sewers, the girls would sew hidden pockets in their clothes to hide food. They secretly gathered materials and sewed at nighttime, then used their pockets to hide apples, carrots and pieces of bread to share with the younger girls. Based on the author's mother's experience at residential school, The Secret Pocket is a story of survival and resilience in the face of genocide and cruelty. But it's also a celebration of quiet resistance to the injustice of residential schools and how the sewing skills passed down through generations of Indigenous women gave these girls a future, stitch by stitch.
Date Published:2023

The true story of how Indigenous girls at a Canadian residential school sewed secret pockets into their dresses to hide food and survive. Mary was four years old when she was first taken away to the Lejac Indian Residential School. It was far away from her home and family. Always hungry and cold, there was little comfort for young Mary. Speaking Dakelh was forbidden and the nuns and priest were always watching, ready to punish. Mary and the other girls had a genius idea: drawing on the knowledge from their mothers, aunts and grandmothers who were all master sewers, the girls would sew hidden pockets in their clothes to hide food. They secretly gathered materials and sewed at nighttime, then used their pockets to hide apples, carrots and pieces of bread to share with the younger girls. Based on the author's mother's experience at residential school, The Secret Pocket is a story of survival and resilience in the face of genocide and cruelty. But it's also a celebration of quiet resistance to the injustice of residential schools and how the sewing skills passed down through generations of Indigenous women gave these girls a future, stitch by stitch.

Date Published:2023

Shi-shi-etko

Campbell, Nicola I.


Before leaving for a residential school, Shi-shi-etko spends her last days at home appreciating nature's beauty, and her mother, father, and grandmother each share valuable teachings that they want her to remember.
Date Published:2005

Speaking my truth : reflections on reconciliation & residential school /


"Selected readings"--Cover. Selections drawn from the Aboriginal Healing Foundation's three volume series: Truth and reconciliation: v.1. From truth to reconciliation ; v. 2. Response, responsibility and renewal ; v. 3. Cultivating Canada. Drawn from the Aboriginal Healing Foundation's three-volume series Truth and Reconciliation-which comprises the titles "From Truth to Reconciliation"; "Response, Responsibility, and Renewal" and "Cultivating Canada" -acclaimed veteran broadcast-journalist and host of The Next Chapter on CBC Radio Shelagh Rogers joins editors Mike DeGagne and Jonathan Dear to present these selected reflections, in reader format, on the lived and living experiences and legacies of Residential Schools and, more broadly, reconciliation in Canada.
Date Published:2012

"Selected readings"--Cover. Selections drawn from the Aboriginal Healing Foundation's three volume series: Truth and reconciliation: v.1. From truth to reconciliation ; v. 2. Response, responsibility and renewal ; v. 3. Cultivating Canada. Drawn from the Aboriginal Healing Foundation's three-volume series Truth and Reconciliation-which comprises the titles "From Truth to Reconciliation"; "Response, Responsibility, and Renewal" and "Cultivating Canada" -acclaimed veteran broadcast-journalist and host of The Next Chapter on CBC Radio Shelagh Rogers joins editors Mike DeGagne and Jonathan Dear to present these selected reflections, in reader format, on the lived and living experiences and legacies of Residential Schools and, more broadly, reconciliation in Canada.

Date Published:2012

These are my words : the Residential School diary of Violet Pesheens /

Slipperjack, Ruby, 1952-.


"Northern Ontario, 1966"--Cover. Includes historical notes. "Violet Pesheens is struggling to adjust to her new life at residential school. She misses her Grandma; she has run-ins with Cree girls; at her "white" school, everyone just stares; and everything she brought has been taken from her, including her name-she is now just a number. But worst of all, she has a fear. A fear of forgetting the things she treasures most: her Anishnabe language; the names of those she knew before; and her traditional customs. A fear of forgetting who she was. Her notebook is the one place she can record all of her worries, and heartbreaks, and memories. And maybe, just maybe there will be hope at the end of the tunnel. 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."--From publisher.
Date Published:2016

"Northern Ontario, 1966"--Cover. Includes historical notes. "Violet Pesheens is struggling to adjust to her new life at residential school. She misses her Grandma; she has run-ins with Cree girls; at her "white" school, everyone just stares; and everything she brought has been taken from her, including her name-she is now just a number. But worst of all, she has a fear. A fear of forgetting the things she treasures most: her Anishnabe language; the names of those she knew before; and her traditional customs. A fear of forgetting who she was. Her notebook is the one place she can record all of her worries, and heartbreaks, and memories. And maybe, just maybe there will be hope at the end of the tunnel. 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."--From publisher.

Date Published:2016

Today is Orange Shirt Day

Webstad, Phyllis.


On board pages. A first conversation about the importance of Orange Shirt Day -- Every Child Matters and what little ones can expect to see and do on Orange Shirt Day -- The National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.
Date Published:2024

The train

Callaghan, Jodie, 1984-,


Written by a Canadian Author. 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. They weren't allowed to speak Mi'gmaq and were punished if they did. There was no one to give them love and hugs and comfort. Uncle also tells Ashley how happy she and her sister make him. They are what give him hope. Ashley promises to wait with her uncle by the train tracks, in remembrance of what was lost.
Date Published:2020

Written by a Canadian Author. 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. They weren't allowed to speak Mi'gmaq and were punished if they did. There was no one to give them love and hugs and comfort. Uncle also tells Ashley how happy she and her sister make him. They are what give him hope. Ashley promises to wait with her uncle by the train tracks, in remembrance of what was lost.

Date Published:2020

Truth and reconciliation

Rose, Simon, 1961-


"Explores the impact of residential schools on the Indigenous people of Canada as well as efforts by the Canadian government to mend the damaged relationships caused by these schools."--
Date Published:2017

Truth telling : seven conversations about indigenous life in Canada /

Good, Michelle.


With authority and insight, Truth Telling examines a wide range of Indigenous issues framed by Michelle Good's personal experience and knowledge. From racism, broken treaties, and cultural pillaging, to the value of Indigenous lives and the importance of Indigenous literature, this collection reveals facts about Indigenous life in Canada that are both devastating and enlightening. Truth Telling also demonstrates the myths underlying Canadian history and the human cost of colonialism, showing how it continues to underpin modern social institutions in Canada. Passionate and uncompromising, Michelle Good affirms that meaningful and substantive reconciliation hinges on recognition of Indigenous self-determination, the return of lands, and a just redistribution of the wealth that has been taken from those lands without regard for Indigenous peoples.
Date Published:2023

With authority and insight, Truth Telling examines a wide range of Indigenous issues framed by Michelle Good's personal experience and knowledge. From racism, broken treaties, and cultural pillaging, to the value of Indigenous lives and the importance of Indigenous literature, this collection reveals facts about Indigenous life in Canada that are both devastating and enlightening. Truth Telling also demonstrates the myths underlying Canadian history and the human cost of colonialism, showing how it continues to underpin modern social institutions in Canada. Passionate and uncompromising, Michelle Good affirms that meaningful and substantive reconciliation hinges on recognition of Indigenous self-determination, the return of lands, and a just redistribution of the wealth that has been taken from those lands without regard for Indigenous peoples.

Date Published:2023

Up Ghost River : a chief's journey through the turbulent waters of native history /

Metatawabin, Edmund.


In the 1950s, 7-year-old Edmund Metatawabin was separated from his family and placed in one of Canadaœs worst residential schools. St. Anneœs, in northÚern Ontario, is an institution now notorious for the range of punishments that staff and teachers inflicted on students. Even as Metatawabin built the trappings of a successful lifewife, kids, careerhe was tormented by horrific memories. Fuelled by alcohol, the trauma from his past caught up with him, and his family and work lives imploded. In seeking healing, Metatawabin travelled to southern Alberta. There he learned from elders, participated in native cultural training workshops that emphasize the holistic approach to personhood at the heart of Cree culture, and finally faced his alcoholism and PTSD. Metatawabin has since worked tirelessly to expose the wrongdoings of St. Anneœs, culminating in a recent court case demanding that the school records be released to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Now Metatawabinœs mission is to help the next generation of residential school survivors. His story is part of the indigenous resurgence that is happening across Canada and worldwide: after years of oppression, he and others are healing themselves by rediscovering their culture and sharing their knowledge. Coming full circle, Metatawabinœs haunting and brave narrative offers profound lessons on the imporÚtance of bearing witness, and the ability to become whole once again.
Date Published:2014

In the 1950s, 7-year-old Edmund Metatawabin was separated from his family and placed in one of Canadaœs worst residential schools. St. Anneœs, in northÚern Ontario, is an institution now notorious for the range of punishments that staff and teachers inflicted on students. Even as Metatawabin built the trappings of a successful lifewife, kids, careerhe was tormented by horrific memories. Fuelled by alcohol, the trauma from his past caught up with him, and his family and work lives imploded. In seeking healing, Metatawabin travelled to southern Alberta. There he learned from elders, participated in native cultural training workshops that emphasize the holistic approach to personhood at the heart of Cree culture, and finally faced his alcoholism and PTSD. Metatawabin has since worked tirelessly to expose the wrongdoings of St. Anneœs, culminating in a recent court case demanding that the school records be released to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Now Metatawabinœs mission is to help the next generation of residential school survivors. His story is part of the indigenous resurgence that is happening across Canada and worldwide: after years of oppression, he and others are healing themselves by rediscovering their culture and sharing their knowledge. Coming full circle, Metatawabinœs haunting and brave narrative offers profound lessons on the imporÚtance of bearing witness, and the ability to become whole once again.

Date Published:2014

Wenjack

Boyden, Joseph, 1966-,


"An Ojibwe boy runs away from a North Ontario Indian School. He realizes too late just how far away home is. Along the way he's followed by Manitous, spirits of the forest who comment on his plight, cajoling, taunting, and ultimately offering him a type of comfort on his difficult journey back to the place he was so brutally removed from."
Date Published:2016

Wînipêk : visions of Canada from an Indigenous centre /

Sinclair, Niigaanwewidam James.


From ground zero of this country's most important project: reconciliation. Niigaan Sinclair has been called provocative, revolutionary, and one of this country's most influential thinkers on the issues impacting Indigenous cultures, communities, and reconciliation in Canada. In his debut collection of stories, observations, and thoughts about Winnipeg, the place he calls "ground zero" of Canada's future, read about the complex history and contributions of this place alongside the radical solutions to injustice and violence found here, presenting solutions for a country that has forgotten principles of treaty and inclusivity. It is here, in the place where Canada began--where the land, water, people, and animals meet-- that a path "from the centre" is happening for all to see. At a crucial and fragile moment in Canada's long history with Indigenous peoples, one of our most essential writers begins at the centre, capturing a web spanning centuries of community, art, and resistance. Based on years' worth of columns, Niigaan Sinclair delivers a defining essay collection on the resilience of Indigenous peoples. Here, we meet the creators, leaders, and everyday people preserving the beauty of their heritage one day at a time. But we also meet the ugliest side of colonialism, the Indian Act, and the communities who suffer most from its atrocities. Sinclair uses the story of Winnipeg to illuminate the reality of Indigenous life all over what is called Canada. This is a book that demands change and celebrates those fighting for it, that reminds us of what must be reconciled and holds accountable those who must do the work. It's a book that reminds us of the power that comes from loving a place, even as that place is violently taken away from you, and the magic of fighting your way back to it.
Date Published:2024

From ground zero of this country's most important project: reconciliation. Niigaan Sinclair has been called provocative, revolutionary, and one of this country's most influential thinkers on the issues impacting Indigenous cultures, communities, and reconciliation in Canada. In his debut collection of stories, observations, and thoughts about Winnipeg, the place he calls "ground zero" of Canada's future, read about the complex history and contributions of this place alongside the radical solutions to injustice and violence found here, presenting solutions for a country that has forgotten principles of treaty and inclusivity. It is here, in the place where Canada began--where the land, water, people, and animals meet-- that a path "from the centre" is happening for all to see. At a crucial and fragile moment in Canada's long history with Indigenous peoples, one of our most essential writers begins at the centre, capturing a web spanning centuries of community, art, and resistance. Based on years' worth of columns, Niigaan Sinclair delivers a defining essay collection on the resilience of Indigenous peoples. Here, we meet the creators, leaders, and everyday people preserving the beauty of their heritage one day at a time. But we also meet the ugliest side of colonialism, the Indian Act, and the communities who suffer most from its atrocities. Sinclair uses the story of Winnipeg to illuminate the reality of Indigenous life all over what is called Canada. This is a book that demands change and celebrates those fighting for it, that reminds us of what must be reconciled and holds accountable those who must do the work. It's a book that reminds us of the power that comes from loving a place, even as that place is violently taken away from you, and the magic of fighting your way back to it.

Date Published:2024

With our orange hearts

Webstad, Phyllis.


"Every child matters, including you and me. With our orange hearts, we walk in harmony." As a young child, your little world can be full of big emotions. In this book, I, Phyllis Webstad, founder of Orange Shirt Day, show that sharing my story with the world helped me to process my feelings. My true orange shirt story encourages young children to open their hearts and listen as others share their feelings, and to be more comfortable sharing their own feelings too. Listening is a first step towards reconciliation. It's never too early to start.
Date Published:2022

"Every child matters, including you and me. With our orange hearts, we walk in harmony." As a young child, your little world can be full of big emotions. In this book, I, Phyllis Webstad, founder of Orange Shirt Day, show that sharing my story with the world helped me to process my feelings. My true orange shirt story encourages young children to open their hearts and listen as others share their feelings, and to be more comfortable sharing their own feelings too. Listening is a first step towards reconciliation. It's never too early to start.

Date Published:2022

The witness blanket : truth, art and reconciliation /

Newman, Carey, 1975-


Tells the story of the making of the Witness Blanket, a work by Indigenous artist Carey Newman that contains items from every residential school in Canada and stories from the Survivors who donated them"--Provided by publisher.
Date Published:2022