Today marks the beginning of Truth and Reconciliation Week across Canada in honour of the survivors of residential schools and the children who never returned home.
Students in the Maple Ridge – Pitt Meadows School District will spend the week learning more about this history, through books, virtual events, and discussions.
Here is a list of resources and events being shared in the district to help people on their learning journey.
Live Events:
- September 30: Memorial Peace Park, Maple Ridge (10 a.m. to 2 p.m.)
- Come together in the spirit of reconciliation and hope for generations of children to come. The event will include shirt painting, drummers, bannock, community art pieces, activity tents, and an Elders’ hospitality ten.
- October 1: McMillan Island Park, Fort Langley (10 a.m. to 3 p.m.)
- Kwantlen First Nation presents the first annual Salmon and Cranberry Harvest Celebration. The event will include vendors, cranberry bannock, cranberry frybread, and Salish drummers. Entrance is by donation and the celebrations will take place outdoors rain or shine.
Virtual Events:
- September 30: Every Child Matters: Reconciliation through Education
- Designed for students in Grades 5 through 12, this virtual event provides an opportunity to learn first hand from Residential School Survivors, Elders, Knowledge Keepers, artists and leaders from nations and cultures across the country. Educators can select the events they wish to livestream for their students and download free educational resources.
- Throughout the week: National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation
- Select from the options listed on the website and register to participate in Truth and Reconciliation Week 2022.
Books:
Elementary:
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- Amik Loves School, by Katherena Vermette
- When We Were Alone, by David Alexander Robertson (Quand on etait seul [FR])
- The Orange Shirt Story, by Phyllis Webstad (L’histoire du chandail orange [FR])
- Neekna and Chemai, by Jeannette C Armstrong
- As Long as the River Flows, by Larry Loyle (Tant que couleront les rivieres [FR])
- I Am Not a Number, by Jenny Kay Dupuis and Kathey Kacer (Je ne suis pas un numéro [FR])
- The Secret of the Dance, by Andrea Spalding
- I Lost My Talk, by Rita Joe
- Kookum’s Red Shoes, by Peter Eyvindsin
- Stolen Words, by Melanie Florence (Les mots volés [FR])
- Shi-shi-etko, by Nicola Campbell
- Shin-chi’s Canoe, by Nicola Campbell (La pirogue de Shin-chi [FR])
- When I was Eight, by Christy Jordan-Fenton
- Not My Girl, by Christy Jordan-Fenton
Middle Grades/Young Adult:
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- A Stranger at Home, by Christy Jordan-Fenton (Etrângère chez moi [FR])
- Fatty Legs, by Christy Jordan-Fenton (Les bas de pensionnat: une histoire vraie [FR])
- No Time to Say Goodbye: Children’s Stories of Kuper Island Residential School, by Sylvia Olsen
- My Name is Seepeetza, by Shirley Sterling
- Righting Canada’s Wrongs: Residential Schools, by Melanie Florence
- Residential Schools, With the Words and Images of Survivors, by Larry Loyle, Wayne K. Spear, Constance Brissenden
- Speaking Our Truth: A Journey of Reconciliation, by Monique Gray Smith
- Sugar Falls: A Residential School Story, by David Alexander Robertson
- 7 Generations: A Plains Cree Saga, by David Alexander Robertson (7 Générations : Réunit Pierre et Cicatrices [FR])
- This Place: 150 Years Retold, by David Alexander Robertson
- UNeducation, Vol 1: A Residential School Graphic Novel (PG), by Jason Eaglespeaker
Secondary/Adult:
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- Broken Circle, by Theodore Fontaine
- Finding My Talk: How 14 Canadian Native Women Reclaimed Their Lives After Residential School, by Agnes Grant (non-Indigenous Editor)
- From Bear Rock Mountain: Life and Times of a Dené Residential School Survivor, by Antoine Mountain
- Indian Horse, by Richard Wagamese
- Kiss of the Fur Queen, by Tomson Highway
- 500 Years of Resistance Comic Book, by Gord Hill
- Mamaskatch, by Darrel J. McLeod
- The Education of Augie Merasty, by Joseph Auguste Merasty
- They Called Me Number One, by Bev Sellars
- UNeducation, Vol 1: Residential School Graphic Novel (Uncut), by Jason Eaglespeaker
- Unsettling the Settler Within, by Paulette Reagan
- Resistance and Renewal: Surviving the Indian Residential Schools, by Celia Haig-Brown
We also have Residential School Kits available based on the FNESC: Residential School Resource
With thanks to Rose Pillay for this extensive list of resources: Orange Shirt Day
Online Resources:
- Stolen Lives: The Indigenous Peoples of Canada and the Indian Residential Schools.
- Book is attached as a PDF.
- National Film Board
- National Truth and Reconciliation Week 2022
- Project of Heart:
- Interactive resource that includes films, images, documents and much more.
- The Manitoba Teachers Society- Orange Shirt Day Lesson Plans:
- A variety of lessons offered in both French and English for Kindergarten to Grade 12.
- Gladys We Never Knew:
- Interactive resources.
- Orange Shirt Day Activities
- This PDF suggests videos, stories, whole school, and grade activities.
- Resource and Lesson Guide from North Vancouver School District
- A phenomenal list curated by NVSD42 with lesson ideas and resources connected to the new BC curriculum from K-12
- Stained Glass Window in Parliament
- This art activity commemorates the legacy of residential schools.
- Thomas King Massey Lecture Series:
- Discusses the ongoing impact of colonialism on Indigenous communities through the use of story.
- Residential School Research Project
Don’t forget to wear your Orange Shirts on September 30th!