Today is the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation

September 30, 2022

On this National Day for Truth and Reconciliation (and on any day), please take some time to learn about Truth and Reconciliation by exploring some of the many resources out there.

A gentle reminder that reconciliation is about more than wearing an orange shirt. Do some reading, listen to Indigenous voices, learn about the Land Back movement, engage in conversations with family and friends, and encourage our government to restore Indigenous jurisdiction and authority over those so called Crown lands:

Land Back: Indigenous Perspectives | The Agenda interview with Pamela Palmater and Riley Yesno (March 28, 2022)
Land Back: A Yellowhead Institute Red Paper (2019)
Land Reparations & Indigenous Solidarity Toolkit compiled by US-based Resource Generation Land Reparations Group (2018)

Reports and calls to action:

Calls to Action Accountability: A 2021 Status Update on Reconciliation, special report by the Yellowhead Institute (2021)
NWAC ’s Action Plan to End the Attack Against Indigenous Women, Girls, and Gender-Diverse People (2021)
Reconciliation with Indigenous Women: Changing the story of MMIWG, a report from ONWA (2020)
Reclaiming Power and Place: The Final Report of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (2019)
Métis Perspectives of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls and LGBTQ2S+ People, a report from Les Femmes Michif Otipemisiwak/Women of the Métis Nation (2019)
MMIWG2SLGBTQQIA+ National Action Plan, Final Report by the 2SLGBTQQIA+ Sub-Working Group
TRC’s Principles of Reconciliation and Calls to Action (2021)
Reports from The Standing Senate Committee on Indigenous Peoples:
- Make it stop! Ending the remaining discrimination in Indian registration “Ongoing discrimination in the registration provisions of the Indian Act remains and continues to affect First Nations women and their descendants.”
- Not Enough: All Words and No Action on MMIWG
- The Scars that We Carry: Forced and Coerced Sterilization of Persons in Canada – Part II. “The federal government should compensate and apologize to all people who were subjected to forced and coerced sterilization.”

Articles, essays, videos, podcasts, other resources:

Indigenous Ally Toolkit (2019) by the Montreal Indigenous Community Network
4Rs Youth Movement is a youth-driven initiative that was launched to change the country by changing relationships between Indigenous and non-Indigenous young people.
Auntie Up! is a celebration of Indigenous women talking about the important stuff. Listen to the podcast or watch the interviews by Creative Makwa.
Kanehsatake: 270 Years of Resistance (1993), a landmark documentary by Alanis Obomsawin. (See also: Considering Kanehsatake, Thirty Years Later by Marg McPhail)
We need a better understanding of race, ‘status’ and indigeneity in Canada (Celeste Pedri-Spade, The Conversation, August 7, 2022)
Writing Myself into Existence: An Essay on the Erasure of Black Indigenous Identity in Canadian Education (Etanda Arden, Abolition & Solidarity Brief, Yellowhead Institute, January 28, 2021)
Indigenous people pay taxes: Demythologizing the Indian Act tax exemption (Bradley Bryan, The Conversation, August 23, 2022)
Zaagi’diwin Inakinogewin | Love Law: A Policy Note For Protecting Two-Spirit, Non-Binary & Trans Indigenous Peoples (Fallon Simard, Gender & Generational Justice Brief, Yellowhead Institute, August 2, 2022)
Shaking It Off: Papal Apologies and Narratives of Exceptionalism in Canada (Patty Krawec, Gender & Generational Justice Brief, Yellowhead Institute, July 28, 2022)
Stolen: Surviving St. Michael’s is a podcast by investigative journalist Connie Walker about her family’s experience of the residential school system
The Story of Orange Shirt Day and Phyllis (Jack) Webstad’s story in her own words via the Orange Shirt Society
The Orange Path: Resources for Learning
Indian Residential School Survivors Society (IRSSS) provides counselling and 24/7 crisis support to those who are impacted by residential school experiences: 1-800-721-0066
Walking with Our Sisters: A Commemorative Art Installation for the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women of Canada and the United States (7 year project: 2012-2019).
Oshdeebeganwin – (Oshdee – cross your heart, Begaa-win – written agreement), talking treaties with Michele Solomon, Nicole Richmond, and Gene Nowegejick shares an Anishinaabe perspective of the Robinson-Superior Treaty of 1850. Watch a recording by Thunder Bay Art Gallery here.
(Dis)placed: Indigenous Youth and the Child Welfare System (2017), directed by Melisa Brittain featuring the perspectives of Indigenous youth and First Nations child advocate Cindy Blackstock.
Seven Fallen Feathers: Racism, Death, and Hard Truths in a Northern City (2017) by Tanya Talaga