Isabella Johnson

Prepared by Isabella Johnson

This blog post deals with topics which may cause trauma to readers due to its troubling subject matter. Anyone experiencing pain or distress as a result of their residential school experience can access the 24-hour, toll-free and confidential National Indian Residential School Crisis Line at 1-866-925-4419. Mental health support for Indigenous peoples across Canada is available at the toll-free Help Line 1-855-242-3310 or using the chatbox at hopeforwellness.ca

With the ongoing discovery of hundreds of unmarked graves across Canada, we have prepared the below resources to help local electeds further the 94 Calls to Action presented by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in 2018.

Resources on the Truth and Reconciliation Commission:

• Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada
  • Honouring the Truth, Reconciling for the Future – Summary of the final report of the Truth and Reconciliation of Canada.
  • What We Have Learned – Principles of Truth and Reconciliation
  • The Survivors Speak
  • Truth and Reconciliation: Calls To Action
  • Canada’s Residential Schools: Missing Children and Unmarked Burials
• National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation
• Beyond 94 – Truth and Reconciliation in Canada (CBC)
• Truth and Reconciliation – City of Vancouver
• Truth and Reconciliation Commission Calls to Action – Government of BC
• Reconciliation Canada
• Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples
• Indigenous Foundations, UBC

Resources on Residential Schools

• Indian Residential School History and Dialogue Centre, UBC
• Indian Residential School Survivors Society (IRSSS)

Resources on MMIWG

National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls

Resources on UNDRIP / DRIPA

UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples

City of Vancouver’s UNDRIP Strategy

Resources on In Plain Sight

In Plain Sight – Independent Review of Indigenous Specific Racism in B.C. Health Care (November 2020)

Resources on Child Welfare Agreement

Federal government, AFN reach $20B final settlement on First Nations child welfare agreement

Statements from Indigenous Communities:

• Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc Statement on Kamloops Indian Residential School
• Statement from the Office of the Chief, Kukpi7 Rosanne Casimir, Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc
• How to support Tḱemlúps te Secwepemc
• ʔaq̓am Statement on Discovery of Unmarked Graves
• Congress of Aboriginal Peoples Statement: Unmarked graves found in Penelakut Tribal territory in BC
• First Nations leaders on the discovery of hundreds of unmarked graves at Saskatchewan residential school

Resources on Grave Detection:

• Canadian Archeological Association – Recommended Pathway for Locating Unmarked Graves Around Residential Schools
• Remote Sensing and Grave Detection
• Resources for Indigenous Communities Considering Investigating Unmarked Graves

Resources from Indigenous Voices:

• We were Children – In this feature film, the profound impact of the Canadian government’s residential school system is conveyed through the eyes of two children who were forced to face hardships beyond their years. 
• Canadian Shame: A History of Residential Schools, Ginger Gosnell-Myers of Nisga’a and Kwakwaka’wakw heritage
• The decades-long battle to achieve fairness for Indigenous kids in Canada from Indigenous children’s advocate Cindy Blackstock
• Wawahte – Stories of Indian Residential School Survivors
• The National Campus and Community Radio Association – Resonating Reconciliation Documentaries
• #IndigenousReads
• The Indigenous Storyteller in Residence, VPL

And further articles on the findings and the steps required to act on the Truth and Reconciliation Calls to Action:

• B.C. proposes legislative changes to give Indigenous communities power over their own child welfare system
• Truth and Reconciliation: A living history, The Tyee
• Canada must face its deep systemic racism against Indigenous people, The Globe & Mail
• Why Canada and Genocide Belong in the Same Sentence, The Tyee
• The Indigenous children who died at Canada’s residential schools, The Guardian
• Indigenous People Advance a Dramatic Goal: Reversing Colonialism, The New York Times
• With Discovery of Unmarked Graves, Canada’s Indigenous Seek Reckoning, The New York Times
• To Break Residential Schools’ Dark Legacy, Understand Why, The Tyee
• From truth to reconciliation: How to move forward with the TRC’s calls to action, Global News
• How Canada Created a Crisis in Indigenous Child Welfare, The Tyee
• The path to accountability for Canada’s residential school graves, Al Jazeera
• Canada’s Coming Crisis with Indigenous Peoples, The Tyee

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