I originally drafted this post as part of Queen’s Reads in 2017-18, when the common read was Katherena Vermette’s The Break. It never saw the light of day since I left Queen’s before the end of the program, but it’s never too late to share books and resources!
If you’ve read The Break (or even if you haven’t) and are interested in learning more about Indigenous history in Canada, the residential school system, or how our country and government treat the Aboriginal population today, try reading one of these books next
Up Ghost River
by Edmund Metatawabin (with Alexandra Shimo)
The autobiography of Edmund Metatawabin, Up Ghost
Seven Fallen Feathers
by Tanya Talaga
In Thunder Bay, Indigenous teenagers are dying, and we’re not doing nearly enough to prevent it. From 2000 to 2011, 7 Indigenous teenagers, who had moved to Thunder Bay, alone, to attend high school, died. Five of their bodies were found in the rivers surrounding the city. In all deaths, Thunder Bay Police decided that there was no evidence of foul play, and the deaths were ruled accidents. But were they? Combining journalism with storytelling, Seven Fallen Feathers introduces us to the seven teenagers, tells us about their life and death, and tells us in detail how we as a country are failing the Indigenous youth of Northern Ontario- with life-threatening results. >> More about Seven Fallen Feathers
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission: Final Report Summary
If you want to learn more about the residential school system in Canada, there may be no better resource than the summary of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s final report. From 2008 to 2015, the TRC travelled all over Canada to hear the stories of residential school survivors. Using both stories and facts, the summary paints a detailed picture of the reasons the system was created, the failures of the system, and where we need to go from here. >> More about The Truth and Reconciliation Commission: Final Report Summary
Secret Path
by Gord Downie and Jeff Lemire
One night in the middle of winter, Chanie Wenjack ran away from his residential school, and begin the 600km walk back to his home in Northern Ontario. Only 40km in, he froze to death on the side of the railway tracks. Secret Path tells Chanie’s story through a graphic novel and
The Right to Be Cold
by Sheila Watts-Cloutier
In this memoir, chosen as a Canada Reads 2017 finalist, Shelia Watts-Cloutier details her life growing up in the Inuit north, and the fight for access to education and against climate change that she undertook as an adult. The book does a great job at describing a life different from the average
21 Things You May Not Know About the Indian Act
by Bob Joseph
The title is a pretty apt description of this book. Chapter by chapter, Bob Joseph takes you through 21 things you should know about the Indian Act, simultaneously describing the history of Indigenous peoples in Canada (since they’re obviously connected). It’s a fairly short, well-written book that pretty much leaves you without an excuse for not knowing. >> More about 21 Things You May Not Know About the Indian Act
Featured image by Gaelle Marcel on Unsplash