About this guide
Indigenous communities and residential school survivors have, for many years, provided testimonies and spoken truths about Canada's Indian residential school system. In 2012 the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada published the interim report, They Came for the Children: Canada, Aboriginal Peoples, and Residential Schools. In 2015, as volume 4 of the final report, Canada's Residential Schools: Missing Children and Unmarked Burials, was published.
Canadians have known about the atrocities of Canada's residential school system for a long time. It is time to listen, learn, and take action. In honour of both the children who did not survive, as well those who did, take some time today for learning as an act of reconciliation.
For additional resources related to residential schools and the Sixties Scoop, visit the IST: Indigenous Studies: Residential Schools, IST Indigenous Studies: Sixties Scoop, and IST: Indigenous Studies Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls, & Two-Spirit (MMIWG2S) guides.
Caution: Many of the resources in this guide contain discussions or scenes of violence or representations of trauma which may be painful for readers/viewers – please exercise care.
If you need help: The KUU-US Crisis Line Society provides 24-hour phone support for Indigenous people in BC. The KUU-US Crisis Line can be reached toll-free at 1-800-588-8717. Individuals can also call the Youth Line at 250-723-2040 or the Adult Line at 250-723-4050.
The Indian Residential School Crisis Line 1-866-925-4419 is available 24-hours a day for anyone experiencing pain or distress as a result of their or a loved one's residential school experience.
Camosun students can access help from the Counselling Centre. For resources related to emergency and after hours support, on-campus support, and other information, visit the Counselling Centre Resources webpage.
Streaming Media
Written and directed by Alanis Obomsawin National Film Board of Canada, 2021 Running time: 29 minutes
*Authentic Indigenous Voices
Written and directed by Jules Arita Koostachin
National Film Board of Canada, 2023
Running time: 1 hour, 20 minutes
*Authentic Indigenous Voices
Written and directed by Alanis Obomsawin
National Film Board of Canada, 2016
Running time: 2 hours, 42 minutes
*Authentic Indigenous Voices
Directed by Tasha Hubbard
National Film Board of Canada. 2016
Running time: 1 hour, 19 minutes
*Authentic Indigenous Voices
Written and directed by Janine Windolph
National Film Board of Canada, 2019
Running time: 11 minutes
*Authentic Indigenous Voices
Written and directed by Peter Campbell & Christine Welsh
Gumboot Productions, 1997
Running time: 44 minutes
Also on DVD – call number: E 96.6 K83 K83 1997
*Authentic Indigenous Voices
Writen and directed by Angela McLeod
National Film Board of Canada, 2019
Running time: 12 minutes
*Authentic Indigenous Voices
Written and directed by Jay Cardinal Villeneuve
National Film Board of Canada, 2017
Running time: 13 minutes
*Authentic Indigenous Voices
Written and directed by Alanis Obomsawin
National Film Board of Canada, 2017
Running time: 1 hour, 36 minutes
*Authentic Indigenous Voices
Directed by Jeff Barnaby
National Film Board of Canada, 2015
Running time: 5 minutes
*Authentic Indigenous Voices
Written and directed by Alanis Obomsawin
National Film Board of Canada, 1971
Running time: 13 minutes
*Authentic Indigenous Voices
Directed by Dinae Robinson
National Film Board of Canada, 2022
Running time: 1 hour, 22 minutes
* Authentic Indigenous Voices
AIV icon
Look for the icon or words, "Authentic Indigenous Voices," in guides, on book spines, and in displays to find Indigenous-created content.
To find out more, visit the Authentic Indigenous Voices page on the Indigenizing Citations at Camosun guide.
Orange Shirt Day
Orange Shirt Day (September 30) is an annual event where Indigenous and non-Indigenous people come together to honour residential school survivors, those students who did not survive, their families and communities, and to reflect on the far-reaching impacts of Canada's Indian residential school system. Beginning in 2021, September 30 has also been recognized in Canada as the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.
The residential school system era began in the early 1870’s, continuing through to 1996, when the last school closed. More than 150,000 Indigenous, Métis and Inuit children attended residential school. Orange Shirt Day takes place in early autumn to acknowledge the time of year children when were removed from their families and forced to attend residential schools.
Orange Shirt Day began in 2013, in Williams Lake, BC. Phyllis Webstad (Northern Secwépemc, Stswecem’c Xgat’tem First Nation), a survivor of the St. Joseph Mission Residential School in William's Lake, told the story of her experience including the orange shirt that was stripped from her on her first day at the school at age six.
Phyllis's story has inspired people to take part in anti-bullying and anti-racism initiatives across Canada, and to learn about and acknowledge the reality of Canada's colonial history. Visit the orangeshirtday.org website to learn about Phyllis's story in her own words.
Survivor stories
Tsqelmucwílc the Kamloops Indian Residential School – Resistance and a Reckoning
by
E Nâtamukw Miyeyimuwin: Residential School Recovery Stories of the James Bay Cree, Volume 1
by
Further reading
Amanda Peters, 2024
Call number: PS 8631 E8183 W35 2024
* Authentic Indigenous Voices
Tanya Talaga, 2024
On order – Coming Soon!
*Authentic Indigenous Voices
Shirley Sterling, afterword by Tomson Highway, 2022
On order – coming soon!
*Authentic Indigenous Voices
Allyson D. Stevenson, 2021
Call number: HV 875.7 C2 S74 2021
* Authentic Indigenous Voices
Raymond Mason, Jackson Pind & Theodore Michael Christou, 2020
E-book
*Authentic Indigenous Voices
Charlotte Coté, 2021
Call number: E 99 N85 C67 2022
*Authentic Indigenous Voices
Rebecca Thomas, 2020
Call number: PS 8639 H5875 I2 2020
*Authentic Indigenous Voices
Jordin Tootoo with Stephen Brunt, 2023
Call number: GV 848.5 T66 A3 2022
*Authentic Indigenous Voices
Sean Carleton, 2022
Call number: LA 418 B8 C37 2022
Michelle Good, 2023
Call number: E 78 C2 G66 2023
*Authentic Indigenous Voices
Eli Baxter, 2021
E-book
* Authentic Indigenous Voices
Kluane First Nation, 2023
Call number: E 99 T92 L48 2023
*Authentic Indigenous Voices
Niigaan Sinclair, 2024
Call number: E 78 C2 S55 2024
*Authentic Indigenous Voices
Chief Robert Joseph | KWINKWINXWALIGEDZI WAKAS, 2022
Call number: E 78.C2 J678 2022
*Authentic Indigenous Voices
Sam George, as told to Jill Yonit Goldberg, Liam Belson, Dylan MacPhee, and Tanis Wilson, 2023
Call number: E 96.6 S173 G46 2023
*Authentic Indigenous Voices
Resources for young people
Amik Loves School: A Story of Wisdom
by
Orange Shirt Day founder Phyllis Webstad answers kids’ questions.
CBC Kids News, September 25, 2023.
*Authentic Indigenous Voices
Art & reconciliation
Fragments of Truth: Residential Schools and the Challenge of Reconciliation in Canada
by
Online resources
