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Resources
The Devastating Impact of Residential Schools: Listen, Reflect, Learn and Share
Resources for Parents and Kids
Canada’s shameful treatment of Indigenous people exists today alongside many of our accomplishments. At BridgeWay we think it’s time to turn up the volume on actions toward truth and reconciliation. We hope you will take time to listen, reflect, learn and share with others about the devastating impact of residential schools. These conversations are difficult and, in our experience, often produce long-lasting change. Here are some resources to get you started. We hope you will share what you learn.
Trigger Warning: violence and abuse
National Residential Schools Crisis line: 1-866-925-4419
On this page:
- Listen – Books, videos and resources for children and adults to help us know what happened
- Reflect – Questions to help us understand
- Learn – Resources to help us deepen our knowledge and think about what should happen next
- Share – Resources on how to be an ally and talk to our kids and to others
Listen: Books videos and resources for children and adults to help us know what happened
Why should we listen? The more we listen the more we know about what happened. We can be more confident as we teach our children. This starts the ripple effect.
Take a step back and listen to the Indigenous peoples who have put their voices out into the world to share their stories with us. Books, podcasts, films, songs and articles are available at any time – for children and adults! You can gain a variety of perspectives from Indigenous peoples of different ages, experiences, cultures and more.
Here’s a list of resources by Indigenous creators to get you started. When you find more, please share them with us on social media or via [email protected].
Picture Books About Residential Schools
Stolen Words by Melanie Florence:
- I Am Not a Number by Jenny Kay Dupuis
- Phyllis’s Orange Shirt by Phyllis Webstad
- When I Was Eight by Christy Jordan-Fenton & Margaret Pokiak-Fenton
- Not My Girl by Christy Jordan-Fenton & Margaret Pokiak-Fenton (about Not My Girl)
- When We Were Alone by David A. Robertson
Books for Adults to Learn More About Residential Schools
- 48 books by Indigenous writers to read to understand residential schools
- Indian Horse by Richard Wagamese: is the sixth novel by Ojibwe author Richard Wagamese. Set in Northern Ontario in the late 1950s and early 1960s, it follows protagonist Saul Indian Horse as he uses his extraordinary talent for ice hockey to try and escape his traumatic residential school experience
- Seven Fallen Feathers by Tanya Talaga
- 5 Little Indians by Michelle Good
Don’t forget to check your local library for these books and more:
Videos About Residential Schools
Stolen Children – Residential School Survivors Speak Out:
Trigger Warning: violence, abuse, sexual assault, suicide
- Speaking Our Truth – A Journey of Reconciliation: In an interview, Monique Gray Smith discusses the importance of speaking the truth about the devastating impact of residential schools on Indigenous culture and identity. Her book, Speaking Our Truth, shares the stories of survivors, their families, and allies. Smith emphasizes that the truth, no matter how difficult, must be spoken in order for there to be reconciliation and healing for generations to come.
Podcasts About Residential Schools and Colonization
- Residential Schools – Historica Canada Podcast
- The Secret Life of Canada (S2 E19: The Indian Act) – CBC Podcasts
- Telling Our Twisted Histories – CBC Podcasts
- Stolen Season 2: Surviving St. Michael’s
Reflect: Questions to help us understand
We reflect in order to learn something. It can be very challenging because it involves revealing our anxiety, ignorance, errors and weaknesses. Reflecting helps us determine what we will do differently in the future.
Reflection can look different to everyone. When introducing and talking to children about Indigenous history and cultures, help them reflect by asking questions. Try asking yourself these questions too.
- What did you hear? What did you see? (to ask kids)
- Was this information new to you?
- Where can I find more information?
- How can I explain Indigenous history in a way that’s developmentally appropriate for my child?
- What do the pictures in the books represent? How can I find out more? (when reading a book with children)
- Am I doing my part? Is there more I could do?
Learn: Resources to help us deepen our knowledge and think about what should happen next
Start to look into those questions you’ve asked yourself. Can you find these answers online? Are there more perspectives you could find?
Dig deeper into Indigenous history and culture – find out more about the animals on the Anishinaabe totem pole (from Sometimes I Feel Like a Fox by Danielle Daniel) and why they are represented. Read more about the racism and oppression Indigenous peoples still experience today and how that’s impacted their culture and identity. Find ways (big or small) that you can start to make meaningful change.
Remember – it’s okay not to have all the answers. Be open to learning, applying what you’ve learned and then helping others to learn too.
About residential Schools:
- Surviving The Kamloops Indian Residential Schools
- History of Residential Schools
- Orange Shirt Day
- Crimes against children at residential school: The truth about St. Anne’s – The Fifth Estate
- Lessons Learned: Survivor Perspectives
About Truth & Reconciliation
- The National Centre for Truth & Reconciliation the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation is an archive of the complete history and legacy of Canada’s residential school system. The Centre contains all of the residential school survivor testimony, archival documents and other materials collected between 2009 and 2015.
About Indigenous Rights, Cultures, and History
- Blackstock gears up for latest Federal Court fight to end ‘human rights tragedy’ against First Nations kids
- Our Women and Girls are Sacred
“After decades of mothers, daughters, grandmothers, aunties, and cousins calling for an end to violence against Indigenous women, the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls was established in 2016. The mandate of the National Inquiry is to report on the systemic causes of all forms of violence against Indigenous women and girls, including sexual violence. This includes issues like sexual assault, child abuse, domestic violence, bullying and harassment, suicide, and self-harm.”
(The National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, 2018
- Free course on Indigenous History in Canada
- United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
- 21 Things You May Not Know About the Indian Act by Bob Joseph
Share: Resources on how to be an ally and talk to our kids and to others
We hope you explore this content and share what you’ve learned with others. That’s how change is going to happen. When you’re sharing with your kids, be intentional. You know your child best – some of this material is distressing, choose the content that is manageable for your child.
Talking to Kids About Residential Schools
In this video author Monique Gray Smith discusses how to talk with children about residential schools, the importance of educating ourselves and sharing that education with our children. She talks about how these conversations will create meaningful change for the future and provides books and resources in this video as well:
How to be an ally to Indigenous People in Canada
What does it mean to be an ally? How can we be allies? Isabel DeRoy-Olson asks Larissa Crawford and Cindy Blackstock all about what it means to them to be an ally to Indigenous peoples:
We will continue to add to this page as we find more resources. Please share any you find with us on social media or via [email protected].
National Residential Schools Crisis line: 1-866-925-4419
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