Every school board and each community will have unique protocols to gain the support of local Indigenous knowledge and expertise. To start, educators are encouraged to contact their school board’s Indigenous education instructors, board leads, co-ordinators, support workers, and counsellors who may be able to facilitate the proper protocol and suitable local contacts for your classroom and community. When selecting Indigenous resources for the classroom, educators are responsible for ensuring the resources are culturally relevant, authentic, and are from reputable sources.
If you have additional resources that may be useful, please consider sharing them with DWF so we can make them accessible for other educators. Resources can be sent to legacyschools@downiewenjack.ca.
Digital Toolkit for Legacy School Educators
ReconciliACTION Guidebook
English link to PDF
French link to PDF
What does Reconciliaction mean to you? Poster – Quick Guide for Educators
• English – version 1, version 2
• French
2020-2021 Calendar: Turtle Moons
DWF YouTube channel
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCF1oxa50qy8aFHxolGiFQZQ?view_as=subscriber
Exploring By The Seat of Your Pants – Secret Path Week LIVE classroom series:
http://www.exploringbytheseat.com/event/secret-path-week/
Recommended for Educators, Parents, and Community
Beyond 94 – Truth and Reconciliation in Canada, CBC
From 2008 to 2014, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission heard stories from thousands of residential school survivors. In June 2015, the commission released a report based on those hearings. From that came the 94 Calls to Action: individual instructions to guide governments, communities, and faith groups down the road to reconciliation. Beyond 94 is now monitoring the progress of that journey.
Braiding Histories by Susan D. Dion
This book proposes a new pedagogy for addressing Aboriginal subject material, shifting the focus from an essentializing or “othering” exploration of the attributes of Aboriginal peoples to a focus on historical experiences that inform our understanding of contemporary relationships between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal peoples.
From the Ashes by Jesse Thistle
From the Ashes is a remarkable memoir about hope and resilience, and a revelatory look into the life of a Métis-Cree man who refused to give up.
Indigenous History Educational Portal, Historica Canada
A collection of learning tools focused on Indigenous history in Canada.
21 Things You May Not Know About the Indian Act by Bob Joseph
Based on a viral article, 21 Things You May Not Know About the Indian Act is the essential guide to understanding the legal document and its repercussion on generations of Indigenous Peoples.
Ensouling Our Schools: A Universally Designed Framework for Mental Health, Well-Being and Reconciliation by Jennifer Katz and Kevin Lamoureux
Ensouling Our Schools: A Universally Designed Framework for Mental Health, Well-Being and Reconciliation is one of the titles in the Portage and Main Series, Teaching to Diversity. This professional teacher resource is aimed at Teaching Staff & Professional Development Teams.
Indigenous Peoples Atlas of Canada – an English and French educational resource created by the Royal Canadian Geographical Society, published by Canadian Geographic, and funded by the Government of Canada
In this atlas, you will find outstanding reference maps of Indigenous Canada, as well as a section devoted to Truth and Reconciliation, including detailed pages on many aspects of the topic with contemporary and historical photography, maps and more.
Indigenous Perspectives Education Guide by Historica Canada
Popular narratives of Canadian history have most frequently been told from the perspective of European settlers. As a result, Indigenous experiences have often been neglected or excluded from the telling of our country’s history.
Indigenous Writes: A Guide to First Nations, Métis & Inuit Issues in Canada by Chelsea Vowel
In Indigenous Writes, Chelsea Vowel, legal scholar, teacher, and intellectual, opens an important dialogue about these (and more) concepts and the wider social beliefs associated with the relationship between Indigenous peoples and Canada.
Truth and Reconciliation in Canadian Schools by Pamela Toulouse, Anishinaabe educator, author, speaker, and motivator
Truth and Reconciliation in Canadian Schools by educator and author Pamela Toulouse, Anishinaabe educator speaker and motivator, provides current information, personal insights, authentic resources, interactive strategies and lesson plans that support Indigenous and Non-Indigenous learners in the classroom. This book is for all teachers that are looking for ways to respectfully infuse residential school history, treaty education, Indigenous contributions, First Nations, Inuit and Metis perspectives, Seven Grandfather Teachings, and sacred circle teachings.
Joining the Circle Habitat for Learning
This resource is one part of our collective effort on the journey of reconciliation. This is a journey that involves what COPA terms the cycle of positive change that features learning, reflecting, growing and changing. Joining the Circle is designed to help ensure Indigenous students and their families feel that they belong and are able to realize their greatest potential.
National Center for Truth and Reconciliation Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada: Calls to Action
A shared vision held by those affected by Indian residential schools was to create a place of learning and dialogue where the truths of their experiences were honoured and kept safe for future generations. They wanted their families, communities and all of Canada to learn from these hard lessons so they would not be repeated. They wanted to share the wisdom of the Elders and Traditional Knowledge Keepers on how to create just and peaceful relationships amongst diverse peoples. They knew that Reconciliation is not only about the past; it is about the future that all Canadians will forge together.
On Screen Protocols & Pathways: A Media Production Guide To Working With First Nations, Metis, and Inuit Communities, Cultures, Concepts & Stories (French & English)
While this resource was commissioned by imagineNATIVE to provide cultural principles, key findings from a national consultation process, and best practices for filmmakers, production companies, and funders when depicting Indigenous content on-screen, it is well worth the read for educators to better understand their own role in sharing Indigenous knowledge, stories and learning.
Seven Fallen Feathers by Tanya Talaga
In 1966, twelve-year-old Chanie Wenjack froze to death on the railway tracks after running away from residential school. An inquest was called and four recommendations were made to prevent another tragedy. None of those recommendations were applied.
The Legacy of Hope Foundation
The Legacy of Hope Foundation (LHF) is a national Indigenous-led, charitable organization founded in 2000 with the goal of educating and raising awareness about the history and many legacies of the Residential School System. These include the direct and ongoing impacts on First Nation, Métis, and Inuit Survivors, their communities, and their descendants.
Kairos Blanket Exercise Karios Canada
The KAIROS Blanket Exercise program is a unique, participatory history lesson – developed in collaboration with Indigenous Elders, knowledge keepers and educators – that fosters truth, understanding, respect and reconciliation among Indigenous and non-Indigenous people.
The Winter We Danced Voices from the Past, the Future, and the Idle No More Movement Edited by The Kino-nda-niimi Collective
This is a vivid collection of writing, poetry, lyrics, art, and images from the many diverse voices that make up the past, present, and future of the Idle No More movement. Calling for pathways into healthy, just, equitable, and sustainable communities while drawing on a wide-ranging body of narratives, journalism, editorials, and creative pieces, this collection consolidates some of the most powerful, creative, and insightful moments from The Winter We Danced and gestures towards next steps in an on-going movement for justice and Indigenous self-determination.
United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
The official resolution was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on September 13, 2007.
Whose Land
Whose Land is a web-based app that uses GIS technology to assist users in identifying Indigenous Nations, territories, and Indigenous communities across Canada. The app can be used for learning about the territory your home or business is situated on, finding information for a land acknowledgment, and learning about the treaties and agreements signed across Canada.
Visions of the Heart by Davis Long & Olive Patricia Dickson
An inclusive and interdisciplinary exploration of current issues involving Indigenous Peoples in Canada – with a view to the future. This contributed collection by leading scholars is an indispensable resource for understanding contemporary issues involving Indigenous Peoples in Canada, such as modern treaty relationships, cultural resurgence, and critical examinations of gender and sexuality.
University of Regina – Faculty of Education Resources
List of non-fiction, memoir, autobiography, biography, true stories, fiction, youth and children books, poetry, plays, video, ROVER, and resource links.
“Why our kids need to learn about residential schools”, Today’s Parent
Secret Path Resources for Everyone
The Secret Path (Documentary) CBC
The Secret Path is an animated film from Gord Downie that tells the true story of Chanie Wenjack, a 12-year-old boy who died while trying to escape from a residential school and travel back home.
“The Lonely Death of Chanie Wenjack” Written By Ian Adams, MacLean’s Magazine, 1967
In 1967, a Maclean’s cover story told the tragic tale of Chanie Wenjack, an Indigenous boy who died after running away from his residential school in northern Ontario. Gord Downie has explained that this story inspired him to write Secret Path and so begun the Gord Downie & Chanie Wenjack Fund.
Chanie’s Life Journey (Map) ArcGIS Online for Manitoba Schools
This Story Map chronicles the life of Chanie Wenjack and engages us in the ongoing conversation about truth and reconciliation.
Gord Downie’s Secret Path in Concert CBC Radio Canada
This intimate concert film captures Canadian musician Gord Downie’s remarkable and emotional Secret Path performance in October 2016, interwoven with footage from the original animated film. This live tribute to Chanie Wenjack, an Anishinaabe boy who died trying to escape residential school, brought together more than 30 members of the Wenjack family, who joined the musicians on stage.
Indigenous Languages and Secret Path Educator Resources by Learning Bird
This free resource kit was created by Learning Bird to share with teachers across Canada. This kit is designed to facilitate independent research, communication, empathy and literacy skills while learning about Indigenous languages and revitalization projects both in their area and worldwide.
Resources for Secret Path Week by Learning Bird (2019)
This resource kit, entitled “Storytelling and the Secret Path”, helps teachers show how we can use different types of storytelling to express ourselves and honour stories like that of Chanie Wenjack.
Storytelling and Secret Path Learning Bird Educator Kit and Guide Learning Bird (www.learningbird.com)
Learning Bird partners with schools and Nations to help them share their stories and integrate language and culture into their classrooms to improve educational outcomes for all students. This resource kit (geared towards Grade 7) positions Gord Downie’s Secret Path multimedia project as an opportunity to explore how different forms of storytelling can be used to express ourselves and honour stories like those of Chanie Wenjack.
Secret Path Website
“Chanie haunts me. His story is Canada’s story. This is about Canada. We are not the country we thought we were. History will be re-written. We are all accountable, but this begins in the late 1800s and goes to 1996. “White” Canada knew – on somebody’s purpose – nothing about this. We weren’t taught it; it was hardly ever mentioned.” – Gord Downie
Secret Path (A Graphic Novel) by Gord Downie and Jeff Lemire, Simon and Schuster Canada
Graphic novel that tells the story of Chanie “Charlie” Wenjack, a twelve-year-old boy who died running away from the Cecilia Jeffrey Indian Residential School. Secret Path acknowledges a dark part of Canada’s history and the long-suppressed mistreatment of Indigenous children and families by the residential school system with the hope of starting our country on a road to reconciliation.
Secret Path Lesson Plans Manitoba Teachers’ Society (French & Eng)
Includes lesson plans for early years, middle years and senior years.
Secret Path Lesson Plans & Artwork by Mitch Champagne & Trent University (Grades 4-8)
Educator Mitch Champagne took the opportunity not only as a fan of Gord’s music, but also as someone who is deeply rooted in social justice and community outreach, to work with his intermediate students in Peterborough to develop art, inspired by Lemire’s work.
The Secret Path: Jr. High Lesson Plans through Edmonton Public Schools
The five lesson plans included in this series are meant to help teachers explore the Secret Path book and video with students in grades 7 to 9. Each lesson plan has a corresponding PowerPoint with embedded video.
Understanding The Secret Path
Hosted by Tanya Talaga, “Understanding The Secret Path” explores Gord Downie’s journey that led to the creation of Secret Path and the Gord Downie & Chanie Wenjack Fund. It also explores the upcoming Secret Path Live concert, held Oct. 19, 2019, as well as DWF’s current program.
To Walk In Chanie Wenjack’s Shoes by Andrea Eby (Grades 6-7)
A reflective look at inquiry in the classroom through an empathic lens
Friends of DWF
We are pleased to have worked with the following Indigenous-owned companies in making some items for our Legacy School Toolkits & Booster kits for 2020-2021:
Anishinabe Printing – http://www.anishprint.ca/index.html Bracelets
Nish Tees – https://www.nishtees.ca/ Tote Bags
Jensen Group – https://jensengroup.ca/ Calendar
Exploring by the Seat of Your Pants (EBTSOYP)
Exploring by the Seat of Your Pants aims to inspire the next generation of scientists, explorers, and conservationists. During Secret Path Week, EBTSOYP will be hosting Indigenous and non-Indigenous scientists, artists, and activists for students to interact with and learn from.
First Book Canada
First Book Canada’s mission is to transform the lives of children in need by improving access to educational opportunities by providing free books to youth.
Hot Docs
Offering free in-school and in-cinema screenings for grade 7 to 12 teachers and their students throughout the school year.
Teach for Canada
Teach for Canada is a non-profit organization that works with northern First Nations to recruit, prepare, and support committed teachers.
Grades K-3 Activity Guides & Lesson Plans
Every Indigenous community throughout Canada has different knowledge. Research your local Indigenous community and check with Indigenous leads to ensure the resources you use are suitable to your region and for your students.
A Lesson Study in Building a Sense of Community Values in Grade One: Connecting to the Seven Grandfather Teachings
The Primary Years’ Lesson Study Team focused on the Seven Grandfather Teachings. Grade 1 Teacher Zoe Donoahue taught the public lesson, introducing the seven teachings to the Grade 1 students in connection with their study of communities. The lesson concluded with a reading from the beginning of The Lost Teachings by Michael James Isaac.
Becoming Comfortable with the Uncomfortable: Introducing the Topic of Residential Schools in Kindergarten by Dr. Eric Jackman Institute of Child Study
In light of the Truth and Reconciliation Report, and the Government of Alberta’s determination that the history of Residential Schools be addressed every year from K to 12, the Early Years Group was inspired to consider how the topic might be addressed in their own classes. Shifting the question from “when” to “how” highlighted the importance of taking both a developmental approach and responding sensitively to the individuals in their class. Picture books were used to introduce the topic of residential schools in developmentally appropriate ways.
Education for reconciliation and social justice: Bringing Shannen’s Dream, Jordan’s Principle and I am a witness campaigns into the classroom
The First Nations Child & Family Caring Society is honoured to work with educators and schools across Canada to engage children and youth in peaceful and respectful processes of reconciliation designed to achieve culturally-based equity for First Nations children and young people. This resource guide offers ideas for engaging students in critical learning to better understand the situation of First Nations children and young people and to address the inequalities they experience in education, child welfare, and access to government services.
In Our Own Words; Bringing Authentic First Peoples Content to the K-Gr 3 Classroom
First Nations Education Steering Committee (FNESC) Educator Resource Guide, BC Curriculum Developed to offer teachers information and guidance about how to incorporate authentic First Peoples materials into their instruction and assessment practices. Includes lesson plans, curriculum connections, assessment resources and suggested texts.
Indian Residential Schools & Reconciliation, Teacher Resource Guide – Gr 5 (Adaptable Gr 3-7)
The Grade 5 lessons draw upon literature resources that help introduce the subject of residential schools in age-appropriate ways. You can order these resources from many publishers and distributors, including the ABORIGINAL-OWNED company Strong Nations. These resources are adaptable for grades 3-7.
Orange Shirt Day: Every Child Matters, Orange Shirt Day Lesson Plans
Orange Shirt Day is a legacy of the St. Joseph Mission (SJM) residential school commemoration event held in Williams Lake, BC, Canada, in the spring of 2013. It grew out of Phyllis’ story of having her shiny new orange shirt taken away on her first day of school at the Mission, and it has become an opportunity to keep the discussion on all aspects of residential schools happening annually. Lesson plans and resources are also available for Grades K-3, Grades 4-8, Grades 9-12 along with additional resources.
Think Indigenous Online K-8 lesson plans
Made in support of at-home learning during COVID-19.
University of British Columbia’s Indigenous Lesson
Indigenous Focused Lesson Plans for grades 1-9.
Primary Junior Indigenous Education Resources through Queen’s University Library
This page supports the teaching and learning of teacher candidates in the Indigenous Teacher Education Program.
Grades K-3 Books
Artic Stories by Michael Kusugak, Illustrator Vladyana Krykorka, Published by Annick Press
Cheyenne Again by Eve Bunting, Illustrator Irving Toddy, Published by HMH Books for Young Readers
Shi-shi-etko by Nicola I. Campbell, Illustrator Kim Lafave, Published by Groundwood Books, 2005
Stolen Words by Melanie Florence, Illustrator Gabrielle Grimard, Publisher Second Story Press
The Elders Are Watching By David Bouchard And Roy Henry Vickers
The Water Walker Written and Illustrated by Joanne Robertson
Grades 4-6 Lessons, Activity Guides & Online learning
First Nations, Metis, and Inuit peoples throughout Canada unique and celebrate different cultures. Research your local Indigenous community and check with Indigenous leads to ensure the resources you use are suitable to your region and for your students.
Authentic First Peoples Resources
This guide has been created to help BC educators make appropriate decisions about which of these resources might be appropriate for use with their students. The annotated listings provided in this guide identify currently available authentic First Peoples texts that students can work with to meet provincial standards.
Education for reconciliation and social justice: Bringing Shannen’s Dream, Jordan’s Principle and I am a witness campaigns into the classroom
This resource guide offers ideas for engaging students in critical learning to better understand the situation of First Nations children to address the inequalities they experience in education, child welfare, and access to government service through three interrelated campaigns nested in principles of reconciliation and in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC): Shannen’s Dream, Jordan’s Principle and I am a witness.
Gladys We Never Knew – The Life of a child in a BC Indian Residential School by BCTF Aboriginal Education Program
An e-book and teaching module about the life of Gladys Chapman, who fell ill with tuberculosis while at residential school and died in 1931 at the age of 12.
Indian Residential Schools & Reconciliation, Teacher Resource Guide – Gr 5 by First Nations Education Steering Committee (FNESC)
Learning resources designed to help Grade Five students attain an understanding of the history of the relationship between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples in Canada’s history. While the instructional activities are presented in a structured format that is an example of how they may be incorporated, they are intended to be flexible in their use.
Orange Shirt Day: Every Child Matters
http://www.orangeshirtday.org
Orange Shirt Day is a legacy of the St. Joseph Mission (SJM) residential school commemoration event held in Williams Lake, BC, Canada, in the spring of 2013, and it has become an opportunity to keep the discussion on all aspects of residential schools happening annually.
Red Wolf Teachers’ Guide
Developed by Jennifer Dance and Jennifer Greenham, this resource is designed to create a visceral understanding of oppression, specifically Indigenous people in Canada.
Science First Peoples Gr 5-9 Teacher Resource Guide by First Nations Education Steering Committee (FNESC)
Provides educators with resources to support increased integration of the rich body of First Peoples (unappropriated) knowledge and perspectives into classrooms and schools in BC.
Speaking Our Truth: A Journey of Reconciliation by Monique Gray Smith, Published by Orca Book Publishing
Monique Gray Smith invites you and your students to walk with her on a journey to examine the impacts of colonialism on Canada’s First Nations, Métis and Inuit families and communities.
Think Indigenous Online K-8 lesson plans
Made in support of at-home learning during COVID-19.
Truth and Reconciliation Lessons by Wilton Littlechild, Speak Truth to Power Canada
The Truth and Reconciliation lessons and activities by Wilton Littlechild are applicable to Grade 5 to 12 students.
University of British Columbia’s Indigenous Lesson Plans
Indigenous Focused Lesson Plans for grade 1-9.
Grades 4-6 Books
Grades 7-9 Lessons, Activity Guides & Online learning
Authentic First Peoples Resources
This guide has been created to help BC educators make appropriate decisions about which of these resources might be appropriate for use with their students. The annotated listings provided in this guide identify currently available authentic First Peoples texts that students can work with to meet provincial standards.
From Apology to Reconciliation: Residential School Survivors (Gr 9 & 11) by Manitoba Education and Training
This project was created to help Manitoba students in Grades 9 and 11 to understand the history of the residential school experience, its influence on contemporary Canada, and our responsibilities as Canadian citizens.
Orange Shirt Day: Every Child Matters By the Manitoba Teachers’ Society
Orange Shirt Day is a legacy of the St. Joseph Mission (SJM) residential school commemoration event held in Williams Lake, BC, Canada, in the spring of 2013, and it has become an opportunity to keep the discussion on all aspects of residential schools happening annually.
Speaking Our Truth: A Journey of Reconciliation by Monique Gray Smith, Published by Orca Book Publishing
Monique Gray Smith invites you and your students to walk with her on a journey to examine the impacts of colonialism on Canada’s First Nations, Métis and Inuit families and communities.
The Secret Path: Jr. High Lesson Plans through Edmonton Public Schools
The five lesson plans included in this series are meant to help teachers explore the Secret Path book and video with students in grade 7 to 9. Each lesson plan has a corresponding PowerPoint with embedded video.
Think Indigenous Online K-8 lesson plans
Made in support of at-home learning during COVID-19.
Truth and Reconciliation Lessons by Wilton Littlechild of Speak Truth to Power Canada
The Truth and Reconciliation lessons and activities by Wilton Littlechild are applicable to Grade 5 to 12 students.
Grades 7-9 Recommended Books
Canada’s First Nations and Cultural Genocide by Robert Z. Cohen, Published by Rosen Publishing
This insightful resource provides a history of Canada and outlines the development of attitudes that resulted in the residential education system, as well as a glimpse into the experiences of children who were forced to attend residential schools administered by various religious organizations.
Dear Canada: These Are My Words: The Residential Diary Of Violet Peesheens By Ruby Slipperjack
Mush-Hole: Memories of a Residential School by Maddie Harper, Published by Sister Vision Press
My Name is Seepeetza by Shirley Sterling, Published by Groundwood Books
Grades 10-12 Lessons, Activity Guides & Online learning
7 Generations Series – Teacher’s Guide by Portage & Main Press
The goal of this resource and graphic novel series is to integrate Indigenous perspectives into curricula and to ensure that all students have opportunities to understand and respect themselves, their cultural heritage, and the cultural heritage of others.
8th Fire Guide for Educators Written by Chelsea Prince, Salmon Arm Secondary School, Project Manager Laraine Bone
8th Fire is a four-part documentary series about contemporary Aboriginal peoples in Canada, social and economic issues facing them, and possibilities for moving forward in a world that is rapidly changing. This Guide for Educators contains several components. For each of the four episodes, there are content overviews and social considerations, along with main elements on which to focus instruction. In addition, for each episode, there are “Critical Thinking Challenges”, “Viewing Questions”, “Instructional Activities” and “Possibilities for Involving the Community”.
Day of the Apology: Healing the Generations Residential School Curriculum (Gr 9-12) Nishnawbe Aski Nation
This curriculum aims to increase awareness of the residential school system as a major part of the European colonizing effort against Aboriginal peoples, resulting in significant intergenerational impacts.
From Apology to Reconciliation: Residential School Survivors (Gr 9-11) Manitoba Education and Training
The project was created to help Manitoba students in Grades 9 and 11 understand the history of the residential school experience, its influence on contemporary Canada, and our responsibilities as Canadian citizens.
Indian Horse Educational DVD and Study Guide
The book and the film provide an opportunity for educators to enact the TRC recommendation to engage with students who may be learning this history for the first time. Study guide available for download in French and English.
Indian Residential Schools & Reconciliation; Teacher Resource Guide (Gr 10) First Nations Education Steering Committee (FNESC)
These learning resources are designed to help Grade Ten students attain an understanding of the history of the relationship between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people in Canada’s history. Teachers can follow the sequence of lessons, they can use particular lessons or sections as stand-alone activities, or they can adapt the activities to meet their own curriculum planning requirements and the learning needs of their students.
Indian Residential Schools & Reconciliation, Teacher Resource Guide – Part One and Part Two (Gr 11 & 12) First Nations Education Steering Committee (FNESC)
These Indian Residential Schools learning resources are designed to use an inquiry approach to provide students in a number of Grade 11 and 12 courses with an understanding of the history of the relationship between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people in Canada.
nîpawistamâsowin: We Will Stand Up A Film By Tasha Hubbard
As Hubbard uncovers the systemic racism that marks the investigation, the trial, and the public response, she also shines a light on the powerful voices of Indigenous women that emerge from the process.
Orange Shirt Day: Every Child Matters by the Manitoba Teachers’ Society
Orange Shirt Day is a legacy of the St. Joseph Mission (SJM) residential school commemoration event held in Williams Lake, BC, Canada, in the spring of 2013, and it has become an opportunity to keep the discussion on all aspects of residential schools happening annually.
Red Wolf Teachers’ Guide developed by Jennifer Dance and Jennifer Greenham
This resource is designed to create a visceral understanding of oppression, specifically Indigenous people in Canada.
RUMBLE: The Indians Who Rocked the World Film Educator Resource
The award-winning documentary RUMBLE: The Indians Who Rocked the World tells the story of a profound, essential, and, until now, missing chapter in the history of American music: the Indigenous influence. The standards-aligned TeachRock RUMBLE lesson plans can help you bring that story into the classroom.
Stolen Lives: The Indigenous Peoples of Canada and The Indian Residential School System by Facing History and Ourselves
In a Facing History and Ourselves study, students go beyond core historical understandings to think about their own identities and then make connections that relate to their lives and those of the communities in which they live. Stolen Lives includes digital resources, professional development sessions and a two-week unit outline.
The Secret Path: Ahead By A Century CBC
A group of Ontario high school students write and perform a play that honours Gord Downie’s music and Secret Path project.
Truth and Reconciliation Lessons by Wilton Littlechild of Speak Truth to Power Canada
The Truth and Reconciliation lessons and activities by Wilton Littlechild are applicable to Grade 5 to 12 students.
Grades 10-12 Books
7 Generations Series – Teacher’s Guide by Portage & Main Press
As Long as the Rivers Flow by James Bartleman, Published by Random House
From the Ashes by Jesse Thistle
Indian Horse by Richard Wagamese, Published by Douglas & McIntyre
Indian School Days by Basil H. Johnston, Published by University of Oklahoma Press
Marrow Thieves By Cherie Dimaline
Red Wolf by Jennifer Dance, Published by Dundurn Press
The Education of Augie Merasry by Joseph Auguste Merasty
Seven Fallen Feathers by Tanya Talaga
In 1966, twelve-year-old Chanie Wenjack froze to death on the railway tracks after running away from residential school. An inquest was called and four recommendations were made to prevent another tragedy. None of those recommendations were applied.
Books & Audibooks - Teen to Adult
A Girl Called Echo by Katherena Vermette
In this graphic novel series Echo Desjardins, a 13 year-old Métis girl, is struggling with her feelings of loneliness while attending a new school and living with a new family. Then an ordinary day in Mr. Bee’s history class turns extraordinary and Echo’s life will never be the same. During Mr. Bee’s lecture, Echo finds herself transported to another time and place–a bison hunt on the Saskatchewan prairie and back again to the present. In the following weeks, Echo slips back and forth in time. She visits a Métis camp, travels the old fur trade routes, and experiences the perilous and bygone era of the Pemmican wars.
A knock on the door by TRC
A Knock on the Door: The Essential History of Residential Schools from the Truth and Reconciliation of Canada is edited & abridged for ease of use by the general public and secondary school students. This 296-page book consists of the TRC text of What We Have Learned: Principles of Truth and Reconciliation as well as shorter versions from TRC executive summary (Introduction, Reconciliation & Legacy chapters). This volume contains the 94 Calls to Action. It also includes a foreword by Phil Fontaine and an afterword by Aimee Craft, director of research, National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation. The book includes a map of residential schools in Canada, notes, and bibliography. It does not have an index.
ALL OUR RELATIONS: FINDING THE PATH FORWARD by Tanya Talaga
In this vital and incisive work, bestselling and award-winning author Tanya Talaga explores the alarming rise of youth suicide in Indigenous communities in Canada and beyond.
ALL THE WAY: MY LIFE ON ICE By Jordin Tootoo
It seemed as though nothing could stop Jordin Tootoo on the ice. The captain, a fan favourite, a star in international competition, Tootoo was always a leader. And when he was drafted by Nashville in 2001 and made the Predators out of camp in 2003, he became a leader in another way–as the first player of Inuk descent to suit up in the NHL.
A HISTORY OF MY BRIEF BODY By Billy-Ray Belcourt
Billy-Ray Belcourt”s debut memoir opens with a tender letter to his kokum and memories of his early life in the hamlet of Joussard, Alberta, and on the Driftpile First Nation. From there, it expands to encompass the big and broken world around him, in all its complexity and contradictions: a legacy of colonial violence and the joy that flourishes in spite of it, first loves and first loves lost, sexual exploration and intimacy, and the act of writing as a survival instinct and a way to grieve.
As Long as the Rivers Flow by James Bartleman
From the accomplished memoirist and former Lieutenant-Governor of Ontario comes a first novel of incredible heart and spirit for every Canadian.
The novel follows one girl, Martha, from the Cat Lake First Nation in Northern Ontario who is “stolen” from her family at the age of six and flown far away to residential school. She doesn’t speak English but is punished for speaking her native language; most terrifying and bewildering, she is also “fed” to the school’s attendant priest with an attraction to little girls.
Beautiful Scars by Tom Wilson
Tom Wilson was raised in the rough-and-tumble world of Hamilton—Steeltown— in the company of World War II vets, factory workers, fall-guy wrestlers and the deeply guarded secrets kept by his parents, Bunny and George. For decades Tom carved out a life for himself in shadows. He built an international music career and became a father, he battled demons and addiction, and he waited, hoping for the lies to cease and the truth to emerge. It would. And when it did, it would sweep up the St. Lawrence River to the Mohawk reserves of Quebec, on to the heights of the Manhattan skyline.
Braiding Histories by Susan D. Dion
This book proposes a new pedagogy for addressing Indigenous subject material, shifting the focus from an essentializing or “othering” exploration of the attributes of Indigenous peoples to a focus on historical experiences that inform our understanding of contemporary relationships between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples.
BRAIDING SWEETGRASS: INDIGENOUS WISDOM, SCIENTIFIC KNOWLEDGE AND THE TEACHINGS OF PLANTS by Robin Wall Kimmerer
A New York Times Bestseller A Washington Post Bestseller Named a Best Essay Collection of the Decade” by Literary Hub As a botanist, Robin Wall Kimmerer has been trained to ask questions of nature with the tools of science. As a member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation, she embraces the notion that plants and animals are our oldest teachers. In Braiding Sweetgrass, Kimmerer brings these two lenses of knowledge together to take us on “a journey that is every bit as mythic as it is scientific, as sacred as it is historical, as clever as it is wise” (Elizabeth Gilbert).
Blanket Toss Under Midnight Sun: Portraits of Everyday Life in Eight Indigenous Communities by Paul Seesequasis
This an exceptional collection of photos that includes Indigenous photographers showing a reality of integrity, strength, resourcefulness, hard work, family and play.
Broken Circle: The Dark Legacy of Indian Residential Schools by Theodore Fontaine
Broken Circle: The Dark Legacy of Indian Residential Schools, A Memoir is a first-person account of the residential school experience by Theodore Fontaine from the Sagkeeng First Nation. Removed from his family and home community at the age of seven, Fontaine writes about the impact of his psychological, emotional and sexual abuse, the loss of his language and culture, and, most important, the loss of his family and community during his time at residential school. He attended Fort Alexander Indian Residential School, run by the Oblates for twelve years. After leaving the school the young man was confused, angry and conflicted.
Buffy Sainte-Marie: The Authorized Biography by Andrea Warner
Folk hero. Songwriter icon. Living legend. Buffy Sainte-Marie is all of these things and more. In this, Sainte-Marie’s first and only authorized biography, music critic Andrea Warner draws from more than sixty hours of exclusive interviews to offer a powerful, intimate look at the life of the beloved artist and everything that she has accomplished in her seventy-seven years (and counting).
Caste: THE ORIGINS OF OUR DISCONTENTS By Isabel Wilkerson
In this brilliant book, Isabel Wilkerson gives us a masterful portrait of an unseen phenomenon in America as she explores, through an immersive, deeply researched narrative and stories about real people, how America today and throughout its history has been shaped by a hidden caste system, a rigid hierarchy of human rankings.
COTTAGERS AND INDIANS By Drew Hayden Taylor
Cottagers and Indians explores the politics and issues surrounding a real-life event still occurring in the Kawartha Lakes region of Central Ontario. An Indigenous man, Arthur Copper, has taken it upon himself to repopulate the nearby lakes with wild rice, known amongst the Anishnawbe as Manoomin, much to the disapproval of the local non-Indigenous cottagers, Maureen Poole in particular.
Dear Canada: These Are My Words: The Residential Diary Of Violet Peesheens By Ruby Slipperjack
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.
EMPIRE OF WILD by Cherie Dimaline
Broken-hearted Joan has been searching for her husband, Victor, for almost a year–ever since he went missing on the night they had their first serious argument.
From the Ashes by Jesse Thistle
From the Ashes is a remarkable memoir about hope and resilience, and a revelatory look into the life of a Métis-Cree man who refused to give up.
HEART BERRIES: A MEMOIR By Terese Marie Mailhot
Heart Berries is a powerful, poetic memoir of a woman”s coming of age on the Seabird Island Indian Reservation in British Columbia. Having survived a profoundly dysfunctional upbringing only to find herself hospitalized and facing a dual diagnosis of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and Bipolar II, Terese Mailhot is given a notebook and begins to write her way out of trauma.
Indigenous Writes by Chelsea Vowel
Are you familiar with the terms listed above? In Indigenous Writes, Chelsea Vowel, legal scholar, teacher, and intellectual, opens an important dialogue about these (and more) concepts and the wider social beliefs associated with the relationship between Indigenous peoples and Canada. In 31 essays, Chelsea explores the Indigenous experience from the time of contact to the present, through five categories – Terminology of Relationships; Culture and Identity; Myth-Busting; State Violence; and Land, Learning, Law, and Treaties. She answers the questions that many people have on these topics to spark further conversations at home, in the classroom, and in the larger community.
Indian Horse by Richard Wagamese
With compassion and insight, author Richard Wagamese traces through his fictional characters the decline of a culture and a cultural way. For Saul, taken forcibly from the land and his family when he’s sent to residential school, salvation comes for a while through his incredible gifts as a hockey player. But in the harsh realities of 1960s Canada, he battles obdurate racism and the spirit-destroying effects of cultural alienation and displacement. Indian Horse unfolds against the bleak loveliness of northern Ontario, all rock, marsh, bog and cedar. Wagamese writes with a spare beauty, penetrating the heart of a remarkable Ojibway man.
Indigenous Peoples Atlas of Canada – an English and French educational resource created by the Royal Canadian Geographical Society, published by Canadian Geographic, and funded by the Government of Canada
In this atlas, you will find outstanding reference maps of Indigenous Canada, as well as a section devoted to Truth and Reconciliation, including detailed pages on many aspects of the topic with contemporary and historical photography, maps and more.
Indigenous Writes: A Guide to First Nations, Métis & Inuit Issues in Canada by Chelsea Vowel
In Indigenous Writes, Chelsea Vowel, legal scholar, teacher, and intellectual, opens an important dialogue about these (and more) concepts and the wider social beliefs associated with the relationship between Indigenous peoples and Canada.
MONKEY BEACH By Eden Robinson
Tragedy strikes a Native community when the Hill family’s handsome seventeen-year-old son, Jimmy, mysteriously vanishes at sea. Left behind to cope during the search-and-rescue effort is his sister, Lisamarie, a wayward teenager with a dark secret.
MOTORCYCLES & SWEETGRASS By Drew Hayden Taylor
A story of magic, family, a mysterious stranger . . . and a band of marauding raccoons.
Otter Lake is a sleepy Anishnawbe community where little happens. Until the day a handsome stranger pulls up astride a 1953 Indian Chief motorcycle – and turns Otter Lake completely upside down.
MOON OF THE CRUSTED SNOW: A NOVEL by Waubgeshig Rice
With winter looming, a small northern Anishinaabe community goes dark. Cut off, people become passive and confused. Panic builds as the food supply dwindles. While the band council and a pocket of community members struggle to maintain order, an unexpected visitor arrives, escaping the crumbling society to the south. Soon after, others follow.
Mush-Hole: Memories of a Residential School by Maddie Harper
Maddie Harper explains her years attending the Mohawk Institute Residential School in Brantford. When she was seven years old Maddie was forced to attend the school until the age of fifteen. She writes with clarity and power as she describes her experiences.
My Name is Seepeetza by Shirley Sterling
An honest, inside look at life in an Indian residential school in the 1950s, and how one indomitable young spirit survived it.
No Time to Say Goodbye: Children’s Stories of the Kuper Island Residential School by Rita Morris, Sylvia Olsen and Ann Sam
No Time to Say Goodbye is a fictional account of five children sent to aboriginal boarding school, based on the recollections of a number of Tsartlip First Nations people. These unforgettable children are taken by government agents from Tsartlip Day School to live at Kuper Island Residential School.
On Screen Protocols & Pathways: A Media Production Guide To Working With First Nations, Metis, and Inuit Communities, Cultures, Concepts & Stories (French & English)
While this resource was commissioned by imagineNATIVE to provide cultural principles, key findings from a national consultation process, and best practices for filmmakers, production companies, and funders when depicting Indigenous content on-screen, it is well worth the read for educators to better understand their own role in sharing Indigenous knowledge, stories and learning.
Red Wolf by Jennifer Dance
In the late 1800s, both Native people and wolves are being forced from the land. Starving and lonely, an orphaned timber wolf is befriended by a boy named Red Wolf. But under the Indian Act, Red Wolf is forced to attend a residential school far from the life he knows, and the wolf is alone once more. Courage, love and fate reunite the pair, and they embark on a perilous journey home. But with winter closing in, will Red Wolf and Crooked Ear survive? And if they do, what will they find?
Residential Schools, With the Words and Images of Survivors, A National History by Larry Oskiniko Loyie, Constance Brissenden, Wayne K. Spear
Residential Schools, with the Words and Images of Survivors, A National History Honours the survivors, the former students, who attended residential schools. Designed for ther Young Adult reader this accessible, 112 page history offers a first-person perspective of the residential school system in Canada, as it shares the memories of more than 70 survivors from across Canada as well as 125 archival and contemporary images
Seven Fallen Feathers by Tanya Talaga
In 1966, twelve-year-old Chanie Wenjack froze to death on the railway tracks after running away from residential school. An inquest was called and four recommendations were made to prevent another tragedy. None of those recommendations were applied.
Sugar Falls: A Residential School Story by David Alexander Roberston
A school assignment to interview a residential-school survivor leads Daniel to Betsy, his friend’s grandmother, 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. There she was forced to endure abuse and indignity, but Betsy recalled the words her father spoke to her at Sugar Falls — words that gave her the resilience, strength, and determination to survive.
THE MARROW THIEVES By Cherie Dimaline
Humanity has nearly destroyed its world through global warming, but now an even greater evil lurks. The indigenous people of North America are being hunted and harvested for their bone marrow, which carries the key to recovering something the rest of the population has lost: the ability to dream.
THE RIGHT TO BE COLD: ONE WOMAN’S STORY OF PROTECTING HER CULTURE, THE ARCTIC AND THE WHOLE PLANET By Sheila Watt-Cloutier
The Arctic ice is receding each year, but just as irreplaceable is the culture, the wisdom that has allowed the Inuit to thrive in the Far North for so long. And it”s not just the Arctic. The whole world is changing in dangerous, unpredictable ways. Sheila Watt-Cloutier has devoted her life to protecting what is threatened and nurturing what has been wounded.
THE OTHER SLAVERY: THE UNCOVERED STORY OF INDIAN ENSLAVEMENT IN AMERICA
by Andres Resendez
The Other Slavery is nothing short of an epic recalibration of American history, one that’s long overdue. . . In addition to his skills as a historian and an investigator, Resendez is a skilled storyteller with a truly remarkable subject.
This Place: 150 Years Retold
A 296-page graphic novel anthology just released in April 2019 by Highwater Press. A graphic anthology with a foreword by Alicia Elliott, that showcases 11 Indigenous writers, eight illustrators, and two colour artists.
It presents Canadian history over the last 150 years from multiple viewpoints, including Métis, Inuit, Dene, Cree, Anishinaabe, and Mi’kmaq.
THE TAO OF RAVEN: AN ALASKA NATIVE MEMOIR by Ernestine Hayes
Using the story of Raven and the Box of Daylight (and relating it to Sun Tzu?s equally timeless Art of War) to deepen her narration and reflection, Hayes expresses an ongoing frustration and anger at the obstacles and prejudices still facing Alaska Natives in their own land, but also recounts her own story of attending and completing college in her fifties and becoming a professor and a writer.
THERE THERE: A NOVEL by Tommy Orange
Here is a voice we have never heard–a voice full of poetry and rage, exploding onto the page with stunning urgency and force.
The Education of Augie Merasry by Joseph Auguste Merasty
A courageous and intimate memoir, The Education of Augie Merasty is the story of a child who faced the dark heart of humanity, let loose by the cruel policies of a bigoted nation.
A retired fisherman and trapper who sometimes lived rough on the streets, Augie Merasty was one of an estimated 150,000 First Nations, Inuit, and Metis children who were taken from their families and sent to government-funded, church-run schools, where they were subjected to a policy of aggressive assimilation.
The Winter We Danced Voices from the Past, the Future, and the Idle No More Movement Edited by The Kino-nda-niimi Collective
This is a vivid collection of writing, poetry, lyrics, art, and images from the many diverse voices that make up the past, present, and future of the Idle No More movement. Calling for pathways into healthy, just, equitable, and sustainable communities while drawing on a wide-ranging body of narratives, journalism, editorials, and creative pieces, this collection consolidates some of the most powerful, creative, and insightful moments from The Winter We Danced and gestures towards next steps in an on-going movement for justice and Indigenous self-determination.
Visions of the Heart by Davis Long & Olive Patricia Dickson
An inclusive and interdisciplinary exploration of current issues involving Indigenous Peoples in Canada – with a view to the future. This contributed collection by leading scholars is an indispensable resource for understanding contemporary issues involving Indigenous Peoples in Canada, such as modern treaty relationships, cultural resurgence, and critical examinations of gender and sexuality.
Canada’s First Nations and Cultural Genocide by Robert Z. Cohen, Published by Rosen Publishing
This insightful resource provides a history of Canada and outlines the development of attitudes that resulted in the residential education system, as well as a glimpse into the experiences of children who were forced to attend residential schools administered by various religious organizations.
ONE NATIVE LIFE by Richard Wagamese
When Garnet Raven was three years old, he was taken from his home on an Ojibway Indian reserve and placed in a series of foster homes. Having reached his mid-teens, he escapes at the first available opportunity, only to find himself cast adrift on the streets of the big city.
Seven Fallen Feathers by Tanya Talaga
The groundbreaking and multiple award-winning national bestseller work about systemic racism, education, the failure of the policing and justice systems, and Indigenous rights by Tanya Talaga.
Over the span of eleven years, seven Indigenous high school students died in Thunder Bay, Ontario. They were hundreds of kilometres away from their families, forced to leave home because there was no adequate high school on their reserves. Five were found dead in the rivers surrounding Lake Superior, below a sacred Indigenous site. Using a sweeping narrative focusing on the lives of the students, award-winning author Tanya Talaga delves into the history of this northern city that has come to manifest Canada’s long struggle with human rights violations against Indigenous communities.
SPLIT TOOTH By Tanya Tagaq
Fact can be as strange as fiction. It can also be as dark, as violent, as rapturous. In the end, there may be no difference between them. A girl grows up in Nunavut in the 1970s. She knows joy, and friendship, and parents” love. She knows boredom, and listlessness, and bullying. She knows the tedium of the everyday world, and the raw, amoral power of the ice and sky, the seductive energy of the animal world. She knows the ravages of alcohol, and violence at the hands of those she should be able to trust. She sees the spirits that surround her, and the immense power that dwarfs all of us.
The Break by Katherena Vermette
When Stella, a young Métis mother, looks out her window one evening and spots someone in trouble on the Break — a barren field on an isolated strip of land outside her house — she calls the police to alert them to a possible crime.
When Stella, a young Métis mother, looks out her window one evening and spots someone in trouble on the Break — a barren field on an isolated strip of land outside her house — she calls the police to alert them to a possible crime.
In a series of shifting narratives, people who are connected, both directly and indirectly, with the victim — police, family, and friends — tell their personal stories leading up to that fateful night. Lou, a social worker, grapples with the departure of her live-in boyfriend. Cheryl, an artist, mourns the premature death of her sister Rain. Paulina, a single mother, struggles to trust her new partner. Phoenix, a homeless teenager, is released from a youth detention centre. Officer Scott, a Métis policeman, feels caught between two worlds as he patrols the city. Through their various perspectives a larger, more comprehensive story about lives of the residents in Winnipeg’s North End is exposed.
THE NIGHT WANDERER: A GRAPHIC NOVEL by Drew Hayden Taylor
A mesmerizing blend of Gothic thriller and modern coming-of-age novel, The Night Wanderer is unlike any other vampire story.
In My Own Moccasins: A Memoir of Resilience by Helen Knott
Helen Knott, a highly accomplished Indigenous woman, seems to have it all. But in her memoir, she offers a different perspective. In My Own Moccasins is an unflinching account of addiction, intergenerational trauma, and the wounds brought on by sexual violence. It is also the story of sisterhood, the power of ceremony, the love of family, and the possibility of redemption. With gripping moments of withdrawal, times of spiritual awareness, and historical insights going back to the signing of Treaty 8 by her great-great grandfather, Chief Bigfoot, her journey exposes the legacy of colonialism, while reclaiming her spirit.
The Trickster Trilogy by Eden Robinson
Jared is an Indigenous teen struggling to keep his dysfunctional family above water. When he starts seeing strange things – talking ravens, doppelgängers, skin monsters – his already chaotic life is turned upside down.
7 Generations Series – Teacher’s Guide by David Alexander Roberston
7 Generations Series
7 Generations: A Plains Cree Saga includes the four graphic novels: Stone, Scars, Ends/Begins, and The Pact.
7 Generations: A Plains Cree Saga is an epic 4-part graphic novel. Illustrated in vivid colour, the story follows one Aboriginal family over three centuries and seven generations. 7 Generations: A Plains Cree Saga includes the four graphic novels: Stone, Scars, Ends/Begins, and The Pact.
21 Things You May Not Know About the Indian Act by Bob Joseph
Based on a viral article, 21 Things You May Not Know About the Indian Act is the essential guide to understanding the legal document and its repercussion on generations of Indigenous Peoples.
Reports and recommendations
National Center for Truth and Reconciliation Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada: Calls to Action
A shared vision held by those affected by Indian residential schools was to create a place of learning and dialogue where the truths of their experiences were honoured and kept safe for future generations. They wanted their families, communities and all of Canada to learn from these hard lessons so they would not be repeated. They wanted to share the wisdom of the Elders and Traditional Knowledge Keepers on how to create just and peaceful relationships amongst diverse peoples. They knew that Reconciliation is not only about the past; it is about the future that all Canadians will forge together.
Reclaiming Power – Final Report MMIWG
The National Inquiry’s Final Report reveals that persistent and deliberate human and Indigenous rights violations and abuses are the root cause behind Canada’s staggering rates of violence against Indigenous women, girls and 2SLGBTQQIA people. The two volume report calls for transformative legal and social changes to resolve the crisis that has devastated Indigenous communities across the country.
United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP)
The official resolution was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on September 13, 2007.
Land Acknowledgements
Canada’s #Next150 Years Will Start with a Territory Acknowledgement, Animikii Indigenous Technology
This challenge asks you to find out on whose traditional territory you live (or are from, or are visiting, etc.) and to respectfully acknowledge that territory for others to see so they can engage in that learning too.
Guide to Acknowledging First Peoples & Traditional Territory, Canadian Association of University Teachers
The goal of this guide is to encourage all academic staff association representatives and members to acknowledge the First Peoples on whose traditional territories we live and work.
Know the Land Territories Campaign, Laurier Students’ Public Interest Research Group (LSPIRG)
To recognize the land is an expression of gratitude and appreciation to those whose territory you reside on, and a way of honouring the Indigenous people who have been living and working on the land from time immemorial.
“Land acknowledgements: uncovering an oral history of Tkaronto” by Local Love
The GTA has been home to Indigenous peoples for millennia. Here, Sara Roque and Selena Mills share their reflections on this land. Illustrations by Chief Lady Bird.
Starting from the Heart – Going Beyond Land Acknowledgements by EFTO
“What are land acknowledgements and why do they matter?” by Local Love
Indigenous writer Selena Mills illustrates the importance of land acknowledgements—and shares perspectives about this newly popular form of reconciliation
Whose Land – A project of BOLD Realities, TakingITGlobal, and Canadian Roots Exchange
Identify Indigenous Nations, territories, and Indigenous communities across Canada easily with this gorgeous map.
Dance
Kaha:Wi
Exploring the intersection of Indigenous and new performance, Kaha:wi Dance Theatre’s embodied work features visually stunning, visceral, and thought provoking performance created through Indigenous knowledge, process and methodology.
Outside Looking In
The Outside Looking In (OLI) Dance program is run as a credit course so youth can contribute the course credit towards their Secondary School diploma. Outside Looking In works closely with the Ministry of Education to develop courses that meet curriculum requirements. Through the transformative art of Dance, Indigenous youth are inspired to pursue education, engage in self-expression, and celebrate empowerment.
English
The People and the Text: Indigenous Writing in Northern North America by Simon Fraser University
This collection features Indigenous writers up until 1992.
History
Indigenous Canadian Veterans
National Indigenous Peoples Day is celebrated each year on June 21 and Remembrance Day November 11. Indigenous people in Canada have reason to be proud of their wartime contributions.
Parallels in Teaching – Canada’s History Article
Educator Rob Jardine outlines the parallels in teaching about the Holocaust and the history of residential schools in Canada.
Indigenous Languages
Native/Indigenous Languages Resource List Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto
Resource list from the University of Toronto categorized by language.
The Algonquian Linguistic Atlas School of Linguistics and Applied Language Studies Carleton University
The goal of the project is to co-create an on-line, multimedia linguistic atlas of Algonquian languages.
Waking up Ojibwe
Seven Generations Education Institute, Rainy River District School Board, and SayITFirst entered into a partnership in 2017 to develop The Ojibwe Language Strategy. The main goal of the strategy is to help put Anishinaabemowin back into the homes of the Anishinaabe people.
A website featuring a list of resources to help you learn the Blackfoot language or improve your skills.
Law
Guide for Lawyers Working with Indigenous Peoples – A joint project of: The Advocates’ Society the Indigenous Bar Association the Law Society of Ontario
This Guide is intended to be a starting resource to help lawyers and others in the justice system to learn about Indigenous cultures and understand the interplay between Indigenous legal orders and the Canadian legal system.
Teaching the 94 Calls to Action in the Classroom, Reconciliation syllabus
TRC-inspired gathering of materials for teaching law.
Physical Education
Culturally Relevant Physical Education: Educative Conversations with Mi’kmaw Elders and Community Leaders by Daniel B. Robinson, St. Francis Xavier University; Joe Barrett, Brock University; Ingrid Robinson, St. Francis Xavier University
Canadian scholars have recently suggested there is an absence of understanding, or action, related to culturally relevant pedagogy in physical education, particularly with respect to Indigenous students. This resource addresses this.
Science
NCCIE – Approaches to Maths & Sciences in Indigenous Learning
Science in Sound with Buffy Sainte-Marie
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mTXwbOIFSgo&t=2s
Exploring Kainai Plants & Culture
Astronomy
http://www.virtualmuseum.ca/edu/ViewLoitCollection.do?method=preview&lang=EN&id=5163
Science and conservation
https://www.pc.gc.ca/en/nature/science/autochtones-indigenous
Guidance Counselors - Programs and Mental Health
Nan Hope
The Nishnawbe Aski Mental Health Wellness Support Access Program (NAN Hope) provides community-driven, culturally appropriate and timely mental health and addictions support to members of the 49 First Nations communities in the Nishnawbe Aski region.
Support Social Impact Club
The project aims to engage, invest, and retain Indigenous students in post-secondary education institutions. SSIC plans to share post-secondary resources and provide $400 in scholarship for three select students, thus furthering SSIC’s mission of accessible education.
Child Apprehension Rates - Social Services
Mocassin Project
Da-giiwewaat (so they can go home) is a national campaign to raise awareness about child apprehension impacting Indigenous children in Canada. Through education and citizen action our goal is to eradicate racism and bring children home to their families and communities
Media, Communication Technology - Film, Television, News Socials, and more
After the Last River
In the shadow of a de Beers diamond mine, the remote community of Attawapiskat lurches from crisis to crisis, as their homeland transforms into a modern frontier.
APTN National News
Aboriginal Peoples Television Network national news website.
Bighetty & Bighetty ( TV for children)
Four brothers and their Cree-speaking puppets Marcel, Baptiste, Michel and The Chief show the silly, joyful side of Indigenous life.
Available on CBC GEM (Completely free streaming service with a large selection of Indigenous film and tv)
Biidaaban: The Dawn Comes (Movie suitable for older children)
Since time immemorial, Indigenous people have harvested sap from trees to produce syrup, a practice that continues today. Two main characters—Biidaaban, a young Indigenous gender fluid person and Sabe, a Sasquatch shapeshifter—set out to harvest sap from sugar maples in their urban environment and private neighbourhoods of the city. Biidaabaan can see traces of time, people, creatures and land. By harvesting syrup in this way, they are continuing the work of their ancestors.
CBC News – Indigenous
CBC news curated stream of Indigenous news in Canada.
(Dis)placed: Indigenous Youth and the Child Welfare System (Brittain & Navia, 2017)
This documentary features the voices of Indigenous youth as they reflect on their prior involvement with child welfare and share their multiple strategies of resistance to assimilation and state control. Teaching Guide: https://fncaringsociety.com/sites/default/files/displaced_teaching_guide_0.pdf
Future History
A documentary series about harnessing Indigenous knowledge and Indigenizing the future.
Gord Downie honoured by AFN CBC News
The Tragically Hip lead singer and advocate for First Nations people was hailed at an Assembly of First Nations gathering for his work highlighting the plight of those who were subjected to residential schools.
Indigenous Cinema in the Classroom – National Film Board (ages 6-11)
These short films for younger learners are by Indigenous filmmakers from across Canada and include titles from the Nunavut Animation Lab and the Talespinners, Vistas and Stories from Our Land series.
ImagineNATIVE
imagineNATIVE is the world’s largest presenter of Indigenous screen content. The organization is recognized locally, nationally, and internationally for excellence and innovation in programming and as the global centre for Indigenous media arts.
In Jesus’ Name: Shattering the Silence of St. Anne’s Residential School by Susan Enberg, Director and Producer
A poignant all-Indigenous English and Cree-English collaborative documentary film (42 mins) that breaks long-held silences imposed upon Indigenous children who were interned at the notoriously violent St. Anne’s Residential School in Fort Albany First Nation, Ontario.
Film based on Eden Robinson’s beloved novel of the same name.
National Film Board (NFB) Indigenous Film Collection
Watch hundreds of films by First Nations, Métis, and Inuit filmmakers, and find educator resources.
nîpawistamâsowin: We Will Stand Up A Film By Tasha Hubbard
As Hubbard uncovers the systemic racism that marks the investigation, the trial, and the public response, she also shines a light on the powerful voices of Indigenous women that emerge from the process.
Reel Injun
Peabody and Gemini award-winning Reel Injun takes an entertaining and insightful look at the Hollywood Indian.
Rumble: the Indians Who Rocked the World
Brings to light a profound and missing chapter in the history of music: the Indigenous influence.
Drama television series adapted from Eden Robinson’s 2017 novel Son of a Trickster.
“Truth and Reconciliation Commission final report”, CBC News: The National
The final report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission says Canada must move from apology to action. Click here for the full story: http://www.cbc.ca/1.3365921
Turning Tables
Joshua “Classic Roots” DePerry is an award-winning producer and DJ who is impacting the music community with his fresh sound and meaningful collaborations with diverse artists. This is a movie about Classic Roots.
Where the Spirit Lives
Where the Spirit Lives is a 1989 television film about Indigenous children in Canada being taken from their tribes to attend residential schools for assimilation into majority culture. Buffy Sainte-Marie scored the film.
Mental Health and Sexual Health
Fostering Open eXpression among Youth (FOXY)
A revolutionary program for young women and gender diverse youth that promotes mental and sexual health and healthy relationships across the North.
Health Canada
Weblinks to multiple mental health services available in Canada.
Kids Help Phone
Kids Help Phone is Canada’s only 24/7, national support service. We offer professional counselling, information and referrals and volunteer-led, text-based support to young people in both English and French.
MMIWG2S Family Counselling
Here to support the family members of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls and Two-Spirit People through various counselling services. These services are designed to address the impacts of loss, trauma, and systemic injustice experienced within the family.
Resources Around Me – Kids Help Phone
Kids Help Phone has developed an interactive 24/7 online resource navigation tool named Resources Around Me. This tool allows young people to search from over 19,000 services to find resources in their community such as Counselling and Mental Health Support, Sexual Health Support, Housing Support, Legal Support, Job Help, and more.
A multi-year initiative to engage Indigenous men and boys, to enhance their capacity to both respond and prevent violence against Indigenous women and girls.
We Matter
We Matter is an Indigenous youth-led and nationally registered non-profit organization committed to Indigenous youth support, hope and life promotion.
Additional Indigenous Education Resources
The Assembly of First Nations
An advocacy organization representing First Nations citizens in Canada.
“A space to smudge: How Durham schools are accommodating creed”, Durhamregion.com
The Durham District School Board released a new guide for Accommodating Creed in Schools
Building on the legacy of the NWAC Faceless Doll Project, Native Women’s Association of Canada
NWAC’s Faceless Doll Project is a collection of faceless felt dolls that will be used to create a travelling art exhibit in memory of the more than 600 missing and murdered Aboriginal women and girls in Canada.
First Nations Child & Family Caring Society
The Caring Society stands with First Nations children, youth and families so they have equitable opportunities to grow up safely at home, be healthy, get a good education and be proud of who they are. FN Caring Society has amazing events throughout the year including Have a Heart Day, Spirit Bear.
Indigenous Studies Portal, University of Saskatchewan Library
The Indigenous Studies Portal (iPortal) is a database of full-text electronic resources such as articles, e-books, theses, government publications, videos, oral histories, and digitized archival documents and photographs. The iPortal content has a primary focus on Indigenous peoples of Canada with a secondary focus on North American materials and beyond.
Indigenous Education K-12 through Lakehead University
Links to various resources for Indigenous education.
Lessons from the Earth & Beyond – Bringing Indigenous Knowledge Systems into the Classroom
This resource aims to bring about important conversations and critical inquiries into the importance of Indigenous knowledge systems. There are units based on all learning stages, from kindergarten to grade 12. Coming from the Catholic Board, the foundation is from the Catholic faith. Each grade level is broken into individual units, lesson plans, video feed, and resources.
Martin Family Initiative
This site provides links to resources focused on improving elementary and secondary school education outcomes for First Nations, Métis Nation, and Inuit students in Canada, by working in full partnership with the Indigenous people of Canada, pertinent governments and the private sector.
Metis Nation
The site focuses on five specific aspects of Metis Nation self-determination: political development; social development, economic development; economic development; and meeting the global challenge of climate change.
National Association of Friendship Centres
The National Association of Friendship Centres (NAFC) is a network of 112 Friendship Centres and Provincial and Territorial Associations (PTAs) from coast-to-coast-to-coast.
North American Indigenous Games
The North American Indigenous Games help us realize the collective potential of our bodies, minds, spirit and of our people – our hopes and dreams – The Spirit Strong, Brave & True.
Office of the Treaty Commissioner Education Resources
The OTC has a number of resources available to groups and individuals looking to learn and educate.
The National Centre for Collaboration in Indigenous Education
Connecting communities with each other to share their stories about Indigenous Education.
United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
The official resolution adopted by the United Nations’ General Assembly on September 13, 2007
Allyship
“Being An Ally” from Pulling Together: A Guide For Curriculum Developers
Biidaaban (The Dawn Comes), CBC Arts
Dear Qallunaat (White People) by Sandra Inutiq, CBC News
Indigenous Canada – MOOC provided by the University of Alberta
How To Be An Ally To Indigenous People by the Indigenous Perspectives Society
Indigenous Allyship: An Overview by the Office of Aboriginal Initiatives, Wilfred Laurier University
Indigenous Allyship Toolkit by Hamilton Niagara Haldimand Brant Indigenous Health Network
Indigenous Ally Toolkit by Montreal Urban Aboriginal Community Strategy NETWORK
Learn what it means to be an ally and disrupt oppressive spaces by educating others on the realities and histories of marginalized people.
In Solidarity by Living Hyphen
In the words of the Anti-Oppression Network, being an ally is “not an identity”—it is a lifelong process of building relationships based on trust, consistency, and accountability with marginalized individuals and/or groups of people. The hope is to make this a living resource.
Resources on Allyship and Solidarity, Unisto’ot’en Heal the people, Heal the Land.
Understanding the ally bill of responsibilities and allyship and solidarity guidelines.
Appropriation and Using the Appropriate Resources
Appropriate Use of Indigenous Content by Asma-na-hi Antoine, Rachel Mason, Roberta Mason, Sophia Palahicky, and Carmen Rodriguez de France
When selecting resources for your curriculum, it is important to incorporate authentic Indigenous resources. But what does it mean to be authentic? And how can such resources be incorporated in a respectful way?
Appropriation by Susan Dion, Ph.D. Associate Professor Indigenous Education and Research, York University
Video by PH. D. Professor Susan Dion speaks about what appropriation means.
Educators Guide using Rumble: The Indians Who Rocked the World to talk about Appropriation
“Truth and Reconciliation in YOUR Classroom” by Dr. Kate Freeman, Shawn McDonald, and Dr. Lindsay Morcom
This informative article talks about what not to do in your classroom, and offers some links to resources.
Book Stores & Publishers
A Different Booklist
An independent, multicultural bookstore.
Goodminds.com
A leading source for purchasing bias-free teaching and educational resources related to Native American, First Nations, Indigenous and Aboriginal studies. GoodMinds.com stocks over 3,000 Indigenous titles from Preschool to Adult.
House of Anansi Publishers
House of Anansi Press was founded in 1967 with a mandate to publish Canadian writers. Check out their amazing collection of Indigenous Authors including Thomas King, Tanya Talaga, Katherena Vermette and more.
Portage and Main Press Publishers
With a reputation for publishing quality educational resources and Indigenous literature, Portage & Main Press remains an independently owned Canadian company.
Theytus Books
Theytus Books is a leading North American publisher of Indigenous voices. Located in Syilx territory on the Penticton Indian Reserve in British Columbia, Theytus Books is proudly First Nations-owned and operated in partnership with the En’owkin Centre.
Wordcraft Circle
Wordcraft Circle of Native Writers and Storytellers was founded in 1992 by Lee Francis III after attending the first Returning the Gift gathering of Native writers and storytellers in Norman, Oklahoma.
Exchange Programs
Experiences Canada
By discovering a new community, young people deepen their knowledge of a second language, become aware of a new culture, remove social barriers, form new friendships, and develop greater self-confidence.
Indigenous Cultural Competency Training
Indigenous Cultural Awareness Training by Bear Standing Tall
Bear Standing Tall & Associates is an Indigenous-owned company providing consultation and corporate training services.
Indigenous Cultural Competency Training by Native Canadian Centre of Toronto
Native Canadian Centre of Toronto (NCCT) offers a wide range of programs and services based on Native cultural traditions and teachings. This training will provide attendees with an overview of Indigenous culture and how the historical and current experiences shape misinformed views of Indigenous people.
Languages
Indigenous Languages: Learning and Teaching Resources
Inuktitut Preschool-5 and Special Education: Language Activities available for download
Inuktut Tusaalanga
Take lessons, learn grammar, dialogues, and glossaries.
Neechee App
An intermediate level Anishinaabe language tool to help you converse and learn Ojibwe.
Première Nation Wolastoqiyik Wahsipekuk
This project was developed from a simple idea: to reconnect the members of the Wolastoqiyik Wahsipekuk community with the language of their ancestors.
Wabanaki Collection, Wabanaki Learning Resources
The Wabanaki Collection connects postsecondary educators, grade school teachers, and the general public with a variety of resources that support enhanced relationships between all the peoples of Eastern Canada and Northeastern United States. The goal of this collection is to provide a way for faculty members and educators to become familiar with Wabanaki worldviews, culture, history and treaty, and enable them to incorporate resources and modules within their courses that will enhance their curricula and provide a more inclusive perspective—with well thought out and respectful resources supporting them!
Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls
Highway of Tears Carrier, Sekani Family Services
With respect and love for the victims of the Highway of Tears, and guided by their communities, we are committed to fulfilling the 33 recommendations from the Highway of Tears Symposium Recommendations Report. We work diligently towards preventing further victimization, supporting the families of the victims, planning for emergencies and supporting the communities’ efforts towards health and vibrancy.
It Starts with Us – Honouring the Lives of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls, Trans and Two-Spirits
The intention of this page is a space for family members to honour the lives of their loved ones through personal stories, photos or other important aspects of someone’s life.
May 5th as a National Day of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Native Women and Girls (American Resource), National Resource Center to Enhance Safety of Native Women and their Children
A congressional resolution to designate May 5th as a National Day of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Native Women and Girls has been introduced.
Reclaiming Power and Place: The Final Report National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls
The National Inquiry’s Final Report reveals that persistent and deliberate human and Indigenous rights violations and abuses are the root cause behind Canada’s staggering rates of violence against Indigenous women, girls and 2SLGBTQQIA people. The two volume report calls for transformative legal and social changes to resolve the crisis that has devastated Indigenous communities across the country.
The National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Woman Timeline and Report
The National Inquiry must look into and report on the systemic causes of all forms of violence against Indigenous women and girls, including sexual violence. We must examine the underlying social, economic, cultural, institutional, and historical causes that contribute to the ongoing violence and particular vulnerabilities of Indigenous women and girls in Canada.
The REDress Project
The REDress Project, focuses around the issue of missing or murdered Aboriginal women across Canada. It is an installation art project based on an aesthetic response to this critical national issue.
News Articles of Interest
Agnes Wenjack , residential school survivor and mom of Chanie Wenjack, dies at 89 by Tanya Talaga
Residential school survivor and mother of Chanie Wenjack.
Mandatory Grade 11 English course only teaches Indigenous books by Amy Dodge
By 2020, all literature taught in mandatory Grade 11 English course will be written by Indigenous authors.
Podcasts
All My Relations
All My Relations is a podcast hosted by Matika Wilbur (Swinomish and Tulalip) and Adrienne Keene (Cherokee Nation) to explore our relationships— relationships to land, to our creatural relatives, and to one another. Each episode invites guests to delve into a different topic facing Native peoples today as we keep it real, play games, laugh a lot, and even cry sometimes. We invite you to join us!
Coffee With My Ma (explicit language is used at times)
Coffee with my Ma is a podcast created by actress Kaniehtiio Horn that places the audience at the kitchen table with her and her mom, Kahn-Tineta Horn.
Native Trailblazers
Hosted by Mohawk Journalist, Editor and Public Speaker Vincent Schilling, and CEO of Schilling Media, Inc. Delores Schilling they talk to the best and the brightest, the movers and shakers and of course… Native Trailblazers.
Thunder Bay
The highest homicide and hate crime rates in the country. A mayor charged with extortion. A police chief who faced trial for obstruction of justice. Nine tragic deaths of Indigenous high schoolers.
Understanding The Secret Path
Hosted by Tanya Talaga, “Understanding The Secret Path” explores Gord Downie’s journey that led to the creation of Secret Path and the Gord Downie & Chanie Wenjack Fund. It also explores the upcoming Secret Path Live concert, held Oct. 19, 2019, as well as DWF’s current program.
Unreserved Hosted by Rosanna Deerchild
Unreserved is CBC Radio’s space for the Indigenous community, culture, and conversation. Host Rosanna Deerchild introduces listeners to the storytellers, culture makers and community shakers from across the country. Bonus: the podcast features music by Indigenous artists, as well.
Reconciliation Reports
Canadian Youth Reconciliation Barometer 2019
This study was conducted by the Environics Institute for Survey Research, in partnership with Canadian Roots Exchange (CRE), a national Indigenous-led organization that has been developing innovative and impactful opportunities for Indigenous and non-Indigenous youth since 2009.
Opinions About Aboriginal Issues in Canada 2016
This study was conducted by the Environics Institute for Survey Research, in partnership with the following organizations: Canadians For A New Partnership. The mission of Canadians for a New Partnership is to establish and support a broad-based, inclusive, leadership initiative to engage Canadians in dialogue and relationship building aimed at creating a new partnership between First Peoples and other Canadians.
Reconciliation Canada
Born from the vision of Chief Dr. Robert Joseph, Gwawaenuk Elder, Reconciliation Canada is leading the way in engaging Canadians in dialogue and transformative experiences that revitalize the relationships among Indigenous peoples and all Canadians. Our model for reconciliation engages people in open and honest conversation to understand our diverse histories and experiences.
Towards Reconciliation: Indigenous and Non-Indigenous Perspectives
A study conducted by the Environics Institue for Survey Research, in partnership with the Mowat Centre, Canada West Foundation, Centre D’Analyse Politique Constitution Fédéralisme, Institute for Research on Public Policy, and St. Francis Xavier University Brian Mulroney Institute of Government.
Residential School Resources
Shattering the Silence: The Hidden History of Indian Residential Schools in Saskatchewan Project of Heart eBOOK – Commissioned author Shuana Niessen, published by Faculty of Education, University of Regina
A Project of Heart Saskatchewan eBook Resource for educators.
Indigenous Resources Faculty of Education University of Regina
List of non-fiction, memoir, autobiography, biography, true stories, fiction, youth and children books, poetry, plays, video, ROVER, Resource Links.
Metis Museum
Metis experiences of residential schools by Gabriel Dumont Institute.
“Residential Schools” (Podcast), Historica Canada
“Residential Schools” is a three-part podcast series created by Historica Canada and hosted by Shaneen Robinson-Desjarlais. It aims to commemorate the history and legacy of residential schools, and honour the stories of First Nations, Métis, and Inuit Survivors, their families, and communities.
Starting to Talk: A Guide for Communities on Healing and Reconciliation from the Legacy of Indian Residential Schools by The Sioux Lookout Community Coalition for Healing and Reconciliation c/o the Sioux Lookout Anti-Racism Committee
A Guide for Communities on Healing and Reconciliation from the Legacy of Indian Residential Schools ALSO IN RECOMMENDED READING
They Came for the Children by The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada
Report created by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada. Issued also in French under the title “Ils sont venus pour les enfants”
Treaty Timeline
Saskatchewan has a Treaty history that has led us to the Treaty relationship we have today. The OTC Treaty Timeline is a great way to learn more about that history.
Treaty Essential Learnings: We Are All Treaty People.
Where are the Children? – Legacy of Hope Foundation
The resilience of Indigenous people is evident in efforts to address the effects of unresolved trauma, thereby conferring upon future generations a renewed legacy of peace, strength, and well-being on this interactive website.
“Why our kids need to learn about residential schools”, Today’s Parent
This article talks about how to talk about Canada’s cultural genocide and residential schools with kids today, as well as the effective ways teachers are finding to do so.
Treaties & Land Claims
Alberta Treaty Education in the Classroom (video format)
An introduction to Treaties – A Complilation of Online Resources by EFTO
British Columbia Treaty Education K-12 (videos and game)
Moccasin Idenifier Project
Significant cultural historic sites and the ancestral presence of First Nations, Metis and Indigenous Communities.
“Treaties and Comprehensive Land Claims in Canada” by Experiences Canada
English and French learning tool intended to engage communities to learn about treaties and land claims in Canada. Map of treaties and land claims across Canada.
Treaties and the Treaty Relationship Educational Package (available in french)
Treaties in Canada Education Guide and Worksheets
Treaty Lesson Plans
Treaty lesson plans available for classroom use, taken from soon to be released Kwayaciiwin Integrated Curriculum Lessons.
We Are All Treaty People by Maurice Switzer
Maurice Switzer is involved in a number of public education initiatives by including Indigenous perspectives as a commissioner on the Ontario Human Rights Commission, as well as his contributions on education of treaty relationships in Canada and their contemporary implications through the use of wampum belts. By utilizing the wampum belts as an educational tool, decolonized approaches are taken to develop a holistic understanding of the treaties and providing a framework for educators to facilitate treaty education in the classroom.
Alberta
Indigenous Knowledge and Science Curriculum Grades 7-10
“Tracking Change in the Classroom is excited to bring together educators from schools across the Mackenzie River Basin and beyond to educate young people about the health of the river system, according to an Indigenous knowledge framework.”
British Columbia
BCGEU guide to First Nations acknowledgement, protocol & terminology
Reconciliation depends on each of us, both Indigenous and non-Indigenous, working to make it happen. Each person will have their own contribution to make in their own way. This document reviews protocols, acknowledgement and protocols explained.
BC Indigenous Education Policies
Indigenous Foundations First Nations Studies Program, University of British Columbia
An information resource on key topics relating to the histories, politics, and cultures of the Indigenous peoples of Canada. This website was developed to support students in their studies, and to provide instructors, researchers, and the broader public with a place to begin exploring topics that relate to Aboriginal peoples, cultures, and histories.
Indigenous Wisdom: Protocols Guide by Step Up BC
Cultural protocols are crucial in the diverse First Nation communities and Aboriginal organizations throughout British Columbia. Respect is a universal indigenous value and how relationships are initiated and maintained is crucial to engaging Aboriginal peoples and groups.
Indigenous perspectives in the classroom
A project to support and build upon a regional dialogue that would ldead to further strategies and clear commitments from all educators. The projects includes four other school districts to host focus sessions on Aboriginal Worldviews and Perspectives in the Classroom.
Continuing Our Learning Journey modules
Indigenous education resources are being developed to support the redesigned K-12 curriculum. The intent of these materials is to help further incorporate Indigenous knowledge and perspectives into B.C. classrooms.
Indigenous Education Resources Inventory (guides, ebooks, videos etc)
The intent of these materials is to help further incorporate Indigenous knowledge and perspectives into B.C. classrooms.
Aboriginal Curriculum Integration Project
The Aboriginal Curriculum Integration Project is committed to honoring the values, cultures and perspectives of British Columbia’s Aboriginal people. The knowledge derived from local Aboriginal experts will be valued and utilized respectfully.
Manitoba
Creating Racism-Free Schools through Critical/Courageous Conversations on Race Manitoba Education and Training
This support document is aimed at promoting school divisions, schools, teachers, parents, and students to undertake critical and courageous conversations on racism to create inclusive and equitable classrooms and schools for First Nation, Métis, Inuit and all students. The document helps to inform and encourage educators, describes the levels and effects of racism, acknowledges history, stimulates dialogue through critical and courageous conversations and contributes to the TRC’s Call to Action.
Downloadable resources (books)
Indigenous Education Resources
First Nations Education Toolkit
Teacher’s Guide to promote and enhance First Nations student success by preparing and collecting relevant resources for schools, teachers, facilitators, and other community stakeholders.
Middle years Health Education From a First Nations Perspective: Video Series and Lesson Guide
(MFNERC) provides the province’s leading education, administration, technology, language and culture services to First Nations schools in Manitoba.
Native Studies Documents (K-4, 5-8, S1-S4)
To support the incorporation of Aboriginal Perspectives, the Aboriginal Education Directorate, through the Aboriginal Education and Training Framework has established goals that are based on the premise that school environments inclusive of Aboriginal knowledge and perspectives will improve student success and completion rates, increase employability skills and reduce transiency.
Non-profit organization
MICEC is a provincial, non-profit, charitable and educational organization that works to promote awareness and understanding of Indigenous cultures for all Manitobans. The main space features a large display area with hundreds of artifacts and works of art. A mezzanine level houses more than 11,000 books and a unique children’s reading area.
New Brunswick
New Brunswick’s Aboriginal People’s Youth Council
New Brunswick Aboriginal Peoples Council supports and empower youth through our Youth Council whose mission is to represent, promote, advocate, empower, protect and educate, off-reserve ; and further, to encourage unity and the growth of the emotional, physical, mental and spiritual well being of oneself, family and community.
Wabanaki Learning Resources (resources include videos for various topics)
The Wabanaki Collection connects postsecondary educators, grade school teachers, and the general public with a variety of resources that support enhanced relationships between all the peoples of Eastern Canada and Northeastern United States. The goal of this collection is to provide a way for faculty members and educators to become familiar with Wabanaki worldviews, culture, history and treaty, and enable them to incorporate resources and modules within their courses that will enhance their curricula and provide a more inclusive perspective—with well thought out and respectful resources supporting them!
Newfoundland & Labrador
Annual Aboriginal Arts and Stories Art Contest
The Aboriginal Arts & Stories contest provides an opportunity for Indigenous youth to explore the heritage, society and politics of Indigenous civilizations in Canada by reflecting on the meaningful cultural elements of their lives.
Indigenous Resources
Pearson Canada is committed to honouring the histories, cultures, worldviews, and knowledge of Indigenous Peoples of Canada.
Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami
The National Representational Organization Protecting and Advancing the Rights and Interests of Inuit in Canada.
List of Indigenous organizations and governments
K-3 Math Books
Available in English and French, to buy
Literature K-8
Available in English and French, to buy
National Inuit Youth Council
The National Inuit Youth Council (NIYC) was established by the Inuit Tapirisat of Canada, now known as Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami (ITK) in 1993 to provide guidance and input into issues of interest for Inuit youth in Canada. Each NIYC representative is tasked with voicing the concerns and ideas of Inuit youth from their respective regions, with the elected President serving as the National voice of Inuit youth.
Truth and Reconciliation Online Lesson Plans (sign in and then click on “Teacher resources”)
Imagineaction is a teacher platform with the goal of encouraging a student-driven social action movement. Funding opportunities for school-community social action projects tied to the Imagineaction themes.
Northwest Territories
Indigenous Languages and Education Secretariat (Key documents include a Languages Curriculum draft)
In 2014, the GNWT has established the Indigenous Languages and Education Secretariat (ILES) within the Department of Education, Culture and Employment (ECE) to enhance the protection, revitalization and strengthening of Indigenous languages throughout the NWT.
Language Resources
NWT Literacy Council helps NWT communities build their capacity to support literacy and essential skills programs.
Dene Kede & Inuuqatigiit Curricula
To respect the worldview and language of the land of the Indigenous people, the Department of Education, Culture, and Employment created two curricula: Dene Kede and Inuuqatigit. School staff are expected to bring attention to the Indigenous Worldview in all of their teachings.
Dene Kede K-6
Dene Kede K-6 Teacher Manual
Dene Kede 7
Dene Kede 8
Dene Kede 9
Stories
Inuuqatiglit K-12
Nova Scotia
Decolonization Learning Journey Series
The Community Sector Council of Nova Scotia recognizes the existence of Anti-Indigenous Racism in Mi’kma’ki and its deep historical roots. We commit to working in solidarity with our Mi’kmaq colleagues, partners, and collaborators, to speak out against this form of racism and to help the nonprofit and voluntary sector in the province implement the TRC recommendations, decolonize their organizations and work collectively for meaningful social change to address the underlying and entrenched systemic issues.
Videos, movies, podcasts, audiobooks
Activities (museums, nature walks, recipes)
Recordings of live sessions (Elder Margaret Poulette-Residential School Survivor)
The Mi’kmawey Debert Cultural Centre
Dedicated to sharing, protecting and exploring the stories and lives of our earliest ancestors and those who have come after them in Mi’kma’ki.
Nova Scotia Department of Education and Early Childhood Development Treaty Education Framework for Curriculum Development
This document was created as a result of the commitments made by the Nova Scotia Department of Education and Early Childhood Development to include the language, history, and culture of Acadians, African Nova Scotians, Gaels and Mi’kmaq, including Treaty Education, in the grade primary to 12 curriculum.
Publications from Mount St Vincent University (some hard copy books, some available for download)
Resources providing information on the Mi’kmaq of Nova Scotia
You will find a variety of resources that will provide you more information about the Mi’kmaq and other Aboriginal people in Nova Scotia and Canada.
Treaty Education
Treaty Education creates opportunities for Nova Scotians to learn about the Mi’kmaq, their inherent Aboriginal and Treaty rights, and our shared history. It promotes an understanding of the Peace and Friendship treaties as historical and living documents. Mi’kmaq and provincial government officials are working together to develop specific Treaty Education programs and services for the education system, the provincial civil service and the broader public. These programs and services highlight the contributions of the Mi’kmaq. They help explain how the Treaties were significant building blocks for Nova Scotia and Canada and how we have all benefited from them.
Nunangat
This Arctic homeland of the Inuit in Canada consists of four northern Canadian regions called the Inuvialuit Settlement Region, the Canadian territory of Nunavut, Nunavik in northern Quebec and Nunatsiavut of Newfoundland and Labrador.
Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami
The National Representational Organization Protecting and Advancing the Rights and Interests of Inuit in Canada.
Nunavik Mental Health Resource Guide
Life can be challenging for all of us. If you or someone you know is feeling overwhelmed, please use this guide to find out where to get support in your area.
Project Aliana
Project Aliana is the youth-led, collaborative initiative between Y4Y Quebec and youth leaders of Nunavik to contribute to the wellbeing of young indigenous people through civic engagement.
Nunavut
Approved Curriculum and Teaching Resources
Included in this document are grade-specific lists of teaching resources that are approved for use in Nunavut by the Department of Education.
Inhabit Education (resources include websites, apps, and books)
Inhabit Education Books is a Nunavut-based educational publishing company with a mandate to provide educators and parents with educational resources that are infused with authentic Northern perspectives, ways of life, and imagery. Its publishing initiative always considers stories and information in an educational context. All of their publications are developed by a team of Northern educators and language experts.
Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami
The National Representational Organization Protecting and Advancing the Rights and Interests of Inuit in Canada.
Inuit Wellbeing and Language and Culture Centre
Learn the Inuit Language
Take lessons, learn grammar, dialogues, and a glossary.
Nunavik Mental Health Resource Guide
Life can be challenging for all of us. If you or someone you know is feeling overwhelmed, please use this guide to find out where to get support in your area.
Preschool-5 and Special Education: Language Activities available for download
The Residential School System in Canada: Understanding the Past-Seeking Reconciliation-Building Hope for Tomorrow (Teacher’s guide, PDF)
The information and activities in this Guide will give teachers and students the resources they need to examine the histories, memories, and impacts of the Canadian residential school system
Ontario
Anishinabek Educational Resources
The Anishinabek Nation provides resources for teachers on Treaties, Ipperwash, Nation to Nation relations, Residential Schools, Anishinabek Peoples and more.
Chiefs of Ontario
An advocacy forum and secretariat for collective decision-making and action for Ontario’s First Nations communities.
The First Nations, Métis & Inuit Education Association of Ontario
This group supports and helps all educators understand issues related to First Nation, Métis and Inuit Peoples in Canada as well as offer strategies for teaching this content to all learners.
Full Circle: First Nations, Métis, Inuit Ways of Thinking
This project is the culmination of work done over the past two and a half years by 13 members of OSSTF/FEESO, most of whom are First Nation or Métis, or work extensively with Aboriginal students. The lessons are designed to be implemented in a range of courses, such as civics, history, social sciences, English, geography, business, careers, physical education and science. The resource has been produced as a PDF file on CD with an accompanying video on DVD. Although the lessons are intended for use with high school curricula, the video and activity sheet may be of use to all Federation members who work with students.
Haudenosaunee Confederacy
Through generations of attempted assimilation, the nations of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy have held fast to their cultures and traditions. An excellent resource for students and teachers alike, this website shares cultural information in historical and contemporary contexts through the eyes of the Haudenosaunee.
Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation
The Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation is a thriving and vibrant community, bursting with people reaching for their roots as well as the future as they prepare to teach the next 7 generations its history and culture.
Nishnawbe Aski Nation
NAN is a political territorial organization representing 49 First Nation communities within northern Ontario with the total population of membership (on and off-reserve) estimated around 45,000 people.
Resources for and about Aboriginal Education Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto
Lesson plans from the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto
Infusing Indigenous Perspectives in K-12 Teaching University of Toronto OISE
This guide is designed to help Initial Teacher Education students find Indigenous education resources. Inspired by OISE’s Deepening the Knowledge project, the guide aims to help teachers infuse more Indigenous content into their practice. This guide includes information on how to find books, movies, music, activities and lesson plans as well as links to further online resources.
PEI
Creating an Inclusive School Climate for Aboriginal Learners, A Resource Guide for Teachers
The guide is intended to provide educators with general knowledge of Mi’kmaq culture, traditions and spirituality and assist in integrating Aboriginal perspectives into new and existing curricula in all subject areas from Kindergarden to High School.
First Nation Elementary and Secondary Education Discussion Guide
The discussion guide focuses on possible approaches to First Nation education legislation.
University of Prince Edward Island Library Mi’kmaq Research Guide
University of Prince Edward Island Library Truth and Reconciliation
Quebec
Education for Reconciliation
LEARN works with schools, communities, and organizations in Quebec to put useful resources in the hands of educators. Their goal is to be more inclusive of Indigenous histories and to foster bonds between communities.
French books (available for purchase)
Strong Nations is an Indigenous owned and operated online Book and Gift store, as well as a Publishing house. All of the resources they create are made in Canada.
Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami
The National Representational Organization Protecting and Advancing the Rights and Interests of Inuit in Canada.
Paths to Reconciliation
An interactive map available in French accompanied by residential school survivor stories
Saskatchewan
Frist Nations, Métis, and Inuit Resources for Math, Languages, Music, Perspectives, and more
Indigenous Studies Portal, University of Saskatchewan Library
The Indigenous Studies Portal (iPortal) is a database of full-text electronic resources such as articles, e-books, theses, government publications, videos, oral histories, and digitized archival documents and photographs. The iPortal content has a primary focus on Indigenous peoples of Canada with a secondary focus on North American materials and beyond.
Shattering the Silence: The Hidden History of Indian Residential Schools in Saskatchewan Project of Heart eBOOK – Commissioned author Shuana Niessen, published by Faculty of Education, University of Regina
A Project of Heart Saskatchewan eBook Resource for educators.
Disclaimer
By using the Legacy Schools toolkit, reconciliACTION Guidebook, and resources provided, you acknowledge the materials referenced herein as linked sites provided solely for your convenience. These sites may have their own privacy policy and terms and conditions that are not governed by the Gord Downie & Chanie Wenjack Fund (DWF). DWF is not responsible for the privacy practices and/or the content of any linked sites or their subsidiaries and/or affiliates. DWF makes no representations or warranties as to the accuracy or any other aspect of the information contained on the linked sites, including the resources made available. DWF therefore disclaims all liability and responsibility for the availability of information, content, accuracy, products, or services found on third party sites which are linked from or to this website. The existence of a link from the website to any third-party site does not constitute an endorsement or approval by DWF of the linked site or any goods, services or information provided through such linked sites.
Inspired by Chanie’s story and Gord’s call to build a better Canada, the Gord Downie & Chanie Wenjack Fund aims to build cultural understanding and create a path toward reconciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples. Our goal is to improve the lives of Indigenous people by building awareness, education, and connections between all Canadians.
Phone: 1-844-944-4545
E-mail: staff@downiewenjack.ca
Address:
PO BOX 749
OHSWEKEN, ON
N0A1M0
