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Honouring Truth & Reconciliation

This booklist honours the Calls to Action made by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada as well as its 10th Guiding Principle: "Reconciliation requires sustained public education and dialogue...about the history and legacy of residential schools, Treaties, and Aboriginal rights, as well as the historical and contemporary contributions of Aboriginal peoples to Canadian society."

User from West Vancouver Memorial Library

20 items

  • Beyond the Rink

    Behind the Images of Residential School Hockey

    Giancarlo, Alexandra,
    In 1951, after winning the Thunder Bay district championship, the Sioux Lookout Black Hawks hockey team from Pelican Lake Indian Residential School embarked on a whirlwind promotional tour through Ottawa and Toronto. They were accompanied by a…
    Book, 2025Winnipeg, Manitoba : University of Manitoba Press, [2025] — 796.962 GIA
  • 52 Ways to Reconcile

    How to Walk With Indigenous Peoples on the Path to Healing

    Robertson, David, 1977-
    From author of the Misewa Saga series David A. Robertson, this is the essential guide for all Canadians to understand how small and attainable acts towards reconciliation can make an enormous difference in our collective efforts to build a…
    Book, 2025Toronto : McClelland & Stewart, 2025. — 305.897071 ROB
  • The Fire Still Burns

    Life in and After Residential School

    George, Sam (Samuel James)
    My name is Sam George. In spite of everything that happened to me, by the grace of the Creator, I have lived to be an Elder.' The crimes carried out at St. Paul's Indian Residential School in North Vancouver scarred untold numbers of Indigenous…
    Book, 2023Vancouver, BC : Purich Books, [2023] — 921 G349
  • From the #1 bestselling author of 'Indian' in the Cabinet, a groundbreaking and accessible roadmap to advancing true reconciliation across Canada.
    Book, 2022Toronto : McClelland & Stewart, 2022. — 323.1197 WIL
  • Behind Closed Doors

    Stories From the Kamloops Indian Residential School

    Behind Closed Doors features written testimonials from thirty-two individuals who attended the Kamloops Indian Residential School. The school was one of many infamous residential schools that operated from 1893 to 1979. These storytellers give voice…
    Book, 2025Penticton, BC : Theytus Books, [2025] — 371.82997 BEH
  • Picking Up the Pieces

    Residential School Memories and the Making of the Witness Blanket

    Newman, Carey, 1975-
    This nonfiction book, illustrated with photographs, tells the story of the making of the Witness Blanket, a work by Indigenous artist Carey Newman that includes hundreds of items from every Residential School in Canada and stories from the Survivors…
    Book, 2019Victoria, B.C. : Orca Book Publishers, 2019. — 371.82997 NEW
  • North of Nowhere

    Song of a Truth and Reconciliation Commissioner

    Wilson, Marie (Journalist)
    The Truth and Reconciliation Commission was established to record the previously hidden history of more than a century of forced residential schooling for Indigenous children. Marie Wilson helped lead that work as one of just three commissioners.…
    Book, 2024[Toronto] : House of Anansi Press Inc., 2024. — 971.00497 WIL
  • Beyond the Orange Shirt Story is a unique collection of truths, as told by Phyllis Webstad's family and others, that will give readers an up-close look at what life was like before, during, and after their Residential School experiences. In this…
    Book, 2021Canada : Teddy Anderson, [2021] — 371.82997 WEB
  • Standoff

    Why Reconciliation Fails Indigenous People and How to Fix It

    McIvor, Bruce,
    By weaving in personal stories of growing up Métis on the fringes of the Peguis First Nation in Manitoba and representing First Nations in court and negotiations, McIvor brings to life the human side of the law and politics surrounding Indigenous…
    Book, 2021Gibsons, BC : Nightwood Editions, 2021. — 342.0872 MCI
  • Mamaskatch

    a Cree Coming of Age

    McLeod, Darrel J.,
    A powerful story of resilience-a must-read for all Canadians. Growing up in the tiny village of Smith, Alberta, Darrel J. McLeod was surrounded by his Cree family's history. In shifting and unpredictable stories, his mother, Bertha, shared…
    Book, 2018Madeira Park, British Columbia : Douglas & McIntyre, 2018. — 921 M165
  • Unreconciled

    Family, Truth, and Indigenous Resistance

    Wente, Jesse,
    One of Canada's most prominent Indigenous voices uncovers the lies Canada tells itself and the power of narrative to prioritize truth over comfort.
    Book, 2021[Toronto] : Allen Lane, 2021. — 305.897071 WEN
  • Pathways of Reconciliation

    Indigenous and Settler Approaches to Implementing the TRC's Calls to Action

    Since the Truth and Reconciliation Commission released its Calls to Action in June 2015, governments, churches, non-profit, professional and community organizations, corporations, schools and universities, clubs and individuals have asked: "How can…
    Book, 2020Winnipeg, Manitoba : University of Manitoba Press, 2020. — 971.00497 PAT
  • A Reconciliation Without Recollection?

    An Investigation of the Foundations of Aboriginal Law in Canada

    Nichols, Joshua, 1978-
    The current framework for reconciliation between Indigenous peoples and the Canadian state is based on the Supreme Court of Canada's acceptance of the Crown's assertion of sovereignty, legislative power, and underlying title. The basis of this…
    Book, 2020Toronto : University of Toronto Press, [2020] — 342.0872 NIC
  • Wawahte

    Indian Residential Schools

    Wells, Robert P.,
    Wawahte is a non-fiction book about three Aboriginal children born in the 1930's. Their experiences were much the same as it was for more than 150,000 Aboriginal children who, between 1883 and 1996, were forced to attend 130 residential schools and…
    Book, 2016Victoria, BC : FriesenPress, [2016] — 371.82997 WEL
  • The Survivors Speak

    a Report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada

    Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada
    In this volume, residential school Survivors speak of their pain, loneliness, and suffering, and of their accomplishments. While this is a difficult story, it is also a story of courage and endurance. The first step in any process of national…
    Book, 2015[Winnipeg] : Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, 2015. — 970.00497 TRU
  • In a series of chronological vignettes, Arthur Bear Chief depicts the punishment, cruelty, abuse, and injustice that he endured at Old Sun Residential School and then later relived in the traumatic process of retelling his story at an examination…
    Book, 2016Edmonton, Alberta : AU Press, [2016] — 921 B368
  • What We Learned

    Two Generations Reflect on Tsimshian Education and the Day Schools

    Raptis, Helen
    The legacy of residential schools has haunted Canadians in recent years, yet little is known about the day and public schools where most Indigenous children were sent to be educated. In What We Learned, two generations of Tsimshian students--elders…
    Book, 2016Vancouver : UBC Press, [2016] — 970.00497 RAP
  • From Bear Rock Mountain

    the Life and Times of a Dene Residential School Survivor

    Mountain, Antoine, 1949-
    In this poetic, poignant memoir, Dene artist and social activist Antoine Mountain paints an unforgettable picture of his journey from residential school to art school--and his path to healing. In 1949, Antoine Mountain was born on the land near…
    Book, 2019[Victoria, British Columbia] : Brindle and Glass, [2019] — 921 M928
  • Out of the Depths

    the Experiences of Mi'kmaw Children at the Indian Residential School at Shubenacadie, Nova Scotia

    Knockwood, Isabelle, 1931-
    In the 1880s, through an amendment to the Indian Act of 1876, the government of Canada began to require all Aboriginal children to attend schools administered by churches. Separating these children from their families, removing them from their…
    Book, 2015Halifax : Fernwood Publishing, [2015] — 371.82997 KNO
  • These Are My Words

    the Residential School Diary of Violet Pesheens

    Slipperjack, Ruby, 1952-
    Twelve-year-old Violet Pesheens is taken away to Residential School in 1966. The diary recounts her experiences of travelling there, the first day, and first months, focusing on the everyday life she experiences--the school routine, battles with…
    Book, 2016Toronto : Scholastic Canada Ltd., [2016] — KIDS SLI