Indigenous resources

In the wake of the awful discoveries of unmarked graves in residential schools, more and more Canadians want to learn the truth about the destruction of the cultures and languages of Indigenous Peoples in Canada, and the theft of their lands.

I have created a new resources page with links to websites where you can learn more about Indigenous culture and issues, and identified the key resources to get started on your learning journey.

If you only have time to interact with a few things on this list, check out the ones with a star next to them.🌟

Global

Victoria Tauli-Corpuz, the UN’s Special Rapporteur for indigenous peoples, points out that indigenous land contains 80% of the world’s biodiversity, but local people are criminalised for their efforts to preserve it.

United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
What Conservation Efforts Can Learn from Indigenous Communities – UN Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES)
The State of the World’s Indigenous People UN report (2021)
Decolonial Atlas is a must if you like maps and history
Learn more about territories and land acknowledgments
IIFB – International Indigenous Forum on Biodiversity
Survival International
Cultural Survival
UN photo album – Indigenous Peoples

Canada

“Indigenous peoples quickly found themselves living in an evershrinking bubble. Under the new dominion paradigm imported from Europe, Indigenous peoples no longer had the right to self-determine. The Indian Act imposed vast restrictions on nearly all aspects of the lives of First Nations peoples, while both Métis and Inuit communities underwent oppression, relocation, dispossession, and subjugation. Ever-increasing policies restricted social practices, including the right to ceremony, the right to determine who is and who is not a member of the community, and, most fundamentally, the right to land.” – Ry Moran

Online resources

150 acts of reconciliation. 🌟
Here is a spreadsheet to track your own progress with the 150 Acts
University of Alberta free online course: Indigenous Canada 🌟
Indigenous Issues Primers – Chelsea Vowel. Fantastic set of resources on all aspects of Indigenous culture and issues.
Decolonial Atlas is a must if you like maps and history
Learn more about Indigenous territories and land acknowledgments.
Indian Residential Schools, “A National Crime” – Presentation
About The Indian Act
Yellowhead Institute which has a number of great resources on the concept of land back.
Do you live near a residential school? (CBC interactive) 🌟
APTN News – Aboriginal People’s Television News 🌟 [iPhone app] [Android app] – keep up with current affairs relating to Indigenous Peoples
Russ Diabo – Find out about Russell Diabo’s work as a First Nations policy analyst, history of resistance, and decades of advocacy.
The First Nations, Métis & Inuit Education Association of Ontario (resources for teachers)
CBC Indigenous
CBC Unreserved podcast

Reports

The Story of A National Crime (1922, Peter Henderson-Bryce)
Truth and Reconciliation Commission Calls to Action (2015)
Spirit Bear’s Guide to the TRC Calls to Action (child-friendly language)
Other reports from the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation
MMIWG National Inquiry Summary [MMIWG Final report]

Books

INDIGENOUS WRITES: A Guide to First Nations, Métis & Inuit Issues in Canada by Chelsea Vowel 🌟
Suffer the Little Children: Genocide, Indigenous Nations and the Canadian State, by Tamara Starblanket
21 things you didn’t know about the Indian Act, by Bob Joseph
Clearing the Plains, by James Daschuk
Unsettling Canada by Art Manuel
The Reconciliation Manifesto by Art Manuel
The Inconvenient Indian by Thomas King
Seven Fallen Feathers by Tanya Talaga

Donate

Indigenous Residential School Survivors Society 🌟
First Nations Child and Family Caring Society 🌟
Orange Shirt Society
Woodland Cultural Centre, which is next door to the Mohawk residential school in Brantford, Ontario. You can order an orange shirt from there and all the proceeds go to the Save the Evidence campaign (which aims to preserve the residential school to prevent genocide denial).