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Speaking our truth: a journey of reconciliation
By Monique Gray Smith. 2017
Canada's relationship with its Indigenous people has suffered as a result of both the residential school system and the lack…
of understanding of the historical and current impact of those schools. Healing and repairing that relationship requires education, awareness and increased understanding of the legacy and the impacts still being felt by Survivors and their families. Guided by Indigenous author Monique Gray Smith, readers will learn about the lives of Survivors and listen to allies who are putting the findings of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission into action. For senior high readers. 2017.
I am not a number
By Kathy Kacer, Jenny Kay Dupuis. 2016
Based on the life of Jenny Kay Dupuis' own grandmother, a young First Nations girl who was sent to a…
residential school. When eight-year-old Irene is removed from her First Nations family to live in a residential school she is confused, frightened, and terribly homesick. She tries to remember who she is and where she came from despite the efforts of the nuns to force her to do otherwise. Grades 3-6. Winner of the 2018 Silver Birch Express Honour Book Award. Winner of the 2018 Hackmatack Award for non-fiction. Winner of the 2018 Red Cedar Information Book Award. 2016.
Fatty legs: a true story
By Christy Jordan-Fenton, Margaret Pokiak-Fenton. 2010
Taunted and humiliated by Raven, the unkind nun in charge of the young Inuit girls at her residential school, Margaret…
is willing to endure almost anything as long as she can learn to read. The unpleasant chores don’t daunt her, but the teasing of other students and the unfair punishments do. When she is the only girl forced to wear ugly red stockings, however, Margaret has enough, and fights back. Followed by “A stranger at home” (DC41414). Grades 3-6. 2010.
As long as the rivers flow
By Oskiniko Larry Loyie, Connie Brissenden. 2005
It is Larry Loyie's last summer before entering residential school, a time of learning and adventure. He cares for an…
abandoned baby owl, watches his grandmother make winter moccasins, helps the family prepare for a hunting and gathering trip. But soon, a truck comes to forcibly take Lawrence and his siblings away to their new school, which would try to erase their traditional language and culture. Grades 3-6. 2002.
A stranger at home: a true story
By Christy Jordan-Fenton, Margaret Pokiak-Fenton. 2011
10-year-old Margaret Pokiak can hardly contain her excitement - it's been two years since her parents delivered her to the…
school run by the dark-cloaked nuns and brothers. But Margaret soon realizes that she's an outsider in the Arctic - she's forgotten the language and stories of her people, and she can't even stomach the food her mother prepares. As she struggles to reclaim her way of life, she discovers how important it is to remain true to the ways of her people - and to herself. Sequel to "Fatty legs". Grades 4-7. 2011.
These are my words: the residential school diary of Violet Pesheens (Dear Canada)
By Ruby Slipperjack. 2016
Twelve-year-old Violet Pesheens is taken away to Residential School in 1966. The diary recounts her experiences of travelling there, the…
first day, and first months, focusing on the everyday life she experiences--the school routine, battles with Cree girls, being quarantined over Christmas, getting home at Easter and reuniting with her family. When the time comes to gather at the train station for the trip back to the residential school, her mother looks her in the eye and asks, "Do you want to go back, or come with us to the trapline?" Violet knows the choice she must make. Grades 4-7. 2016.
Stolen words
By Gabrielle Grimard, Melanie Florence. 2017
Explores the intergenerational impact of Canada's residential school system that separated Indigenous children from their families. The story recognizes the…
pain of those whose culture and language were taken from them, how that pain is passed down and shared through generations, and how healing can also be shared. "Stolen Words" captures the beautiful, healing relationship between a little girl and her grandfather. When she asks him how to say something in his language - Cree - her grandpa admits that his words were stolen from him when he was a boy. The little girl then sets out to help her grandfather regain his language. Grades K-3 and older readers. 2017.
When we were alone
By David Robertson, Julie Flett. 2016
When a young girl helps tend to her grandmother's garden, she begins to notice things that make her curious. Why…
does her grandmother have long, braided hair and beautifully coloured clothing? Why does she speak another language and spend so much time with her family? As she asks her grandmother about these things, she is told about life in a residential school a long time ago, where all of these things were taken away. Winner of the 2017 McNally Robinson Books for Young People Awards (younger). Grades K-3 and older readers. 2016.
Shi-shi-etko
By Nicola I Campbell, Kim LaFave. 2005
Shi-shi-etko just has four days until she will have to leave her family and everything she knows to attend residential…
school. She spends her last precious days at home treasuring and appreciating the beauty of her world — the dancing sunlight, the tall grass, each shiny rock, the tadpoles in the creek, her grandfather’s paddle song. Grades K-3. 2005.
The Train
By Jodie Callaghan. 2020
Ashley meets her great-uncle by the old train tracks near their community in Nova Scotia. Ashley sees his sadness, and…
Uncle tells her of the day years ago when he and the other children from their community were told to board the train before being taken to residential school where their lives were changed forever. They weren't allowed to speak Mi'gmaq and were punished if they did. There was no one to give them love and hugs and comfort. Uncle also tells Ashley how happy she and her sister make him. They are what give him hope. Ashley promises to wait with her uncle by the train tracks, in remembrance of what was lost.
The Orange Shirt Story: The True Story of Orange Shirt Day
By Phyllis Webstad. 2018
When Phyllis Webstad (nee Jack) turned six, she went to the residential school for the first time. On her first…
day at school, she wore a shiny orange shirt that her Granny had bought for her, but when she got to the school, it was taken away from her and never returned. This is the true story of Phyllis and her orange shirt. It is also the story of Orange Shirt Day (an important day of remembrance for First Nations and non First Nations Canadians).
When i was eight
By Christy Jordan-Fenton, Margaret-Olemaun Pokiak-Fenton. 2021
Bestselling memoir Fatty Legs for younger readers. Olemaun is eight and knows a lot of things. But she does not…
know how to read. Ignoring her father's warnings, she travels far from her Arctic home to the outsiders' school to learn. The nuns at the school call her Margaret. They cut off her long hair and force her to do menial chores, but she remains undaunted. Her tenacity draws the attention of a black-cloaked nun who tries to break her spirit at every turn. But the young girl is more determined than ever to learn how to read. Based on the true story of Margaret Pokiak-Fenton, and complemented by stunning illustrations, When I Was Eight makes the bestselling Fatty Legs accessible to younger readers. Now they, too, can meet this remarkable girl who reminds us what power we hold when we can read
Muinji'j Asks Why: The Story of the Mi'kmaq and the Shubenacadie Residential School
By Shanika MacEachern, Breighlynn MacEachern. 2022
An educational and heartfelt retelling of the story of the Mi'kmaq and their traditional lands, Mi'kma'ki, for young readers, focused…
on the generational traumas of the Indian Residential School System."The story of the Mi'kmaw people is one that very few truly know, Ladybug. Even fewer understand what happened at the residential schools. It is a hard story to tell, but you must know the truth. Sit and I will tell you the story."When seven-year-old Muinji'j comes home from school one day, her Nana and Papa can tell right away that she's upset. Her teacher has been speaking about the residential schools. Unlike most of her fellow students, Muinji'j has always known about the residential schools. But what she doesn't understand is why the schools existed and why children would have died there. Nana and Papa take Muinji'j aside and tell her the whole story, from the beginning. They help her understand all of the decisions that were made for the Mi'kmaq, not with the Mi'kmaq, and how those decisions hurt her people. They tell her the story of her people before their traditional ways were made illegal, before they were separated and sent to reservations, before their words, their beliefs, and eventually, their children, were taken from them. A poignant, honest, and necessary book featuring brilliant artwork from Mi'kmaw artist Zeta Paul and words inspired by Muinji'j MacEachern's true story, Muinji'j Asks Why will inspire conversation, understanding, and allyship for readers of all ages.
My Name Is Seepeetza
By Shirley Sterling. 1992
An honest, inside look at life in an Indian residential school in the 1950s, and how one indomitable young spirit…
survived it. At six years old, Seepeetza is taken from her happy family life on Joyaska Ranch to live as a boarder at the Kalamak Indian Residential School. Life at the school is not easy, but Seepeetza still manages to find some bright spots. Always, thoughts of home make her school life bearable. Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.4.2 Determine the main idea of a text and explain how it is supported by key details; summarize the text. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.5.1 Quote accurately from a text when explaining what the text says explicitly and when drawing inferences from the text. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.6.6 Determine an author's point of view or purpose in a text and explain how it is conveyed in the text.