September 30th is National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. Known amongst Indigenous and grassroots organizations as Orange Shirt Day, it honours and upholds Survivors and intergenerational Survivors of the Indian residential school system, while commemorating those who never returned home.
This year, UBC English Language & Literatures partnered with X̱wi7x̱wa Library to spotlight 10 texts written by local Indigenous Authors. Curated by Information Services Librarian Karleen Delaurier-Lyle (Berens River First Nation, MB) and Public Services Librarian Stephanie Hohn (Red River Métis – Little Shell Band, & mixed settler, Montana, USA), this booklist is an invitation to engage meaningfully with reconciliation by centering Indigenous experiences and perspectives.
Visit the X̱wi7x̱wa Library to find these books and other texts by Indigenous writers and thinkers.
Not a UBC-affiliated community member? UBC Libraries offer Aboriginal Community Borrower cards at no cost. For more ways to observe Orange Shirt Day at UBC, visit the Indian Residential School History and Dialogue Centre website.
For Survivors
Walking the Healing Road : a Journey for Survivors of the Residential School Experience from Survival to Facilitating Healing in Yourself, your Family and your Community
Gerry Oleman (St’at’imc), for the BC Provincial Residential School Project
Librarian’s Note:
“A support group self-help book created by survivors, for survivors, with guidance for individuals and group facilitators. Beginning with acknowledgement of the grief and need for healing survivors and their families have, this resource walks with survivors on their healing journey and offers specific steps and guidance for those who would like to develop a support group in their own communities.”
Namwayut – We are All One : a Pathway to Reconciliation
Chief Robert Joseph (Kwakwaka’wakw)
Librarian’s Note:
“Authored by the hereditary chief of the Gwawaenuk People, this is the life story of Chief Robert Joseph, from his eleven year childhood experience at St. Michaels Indian Residential School to his current leadership in reconciliation and peacemaking. Readers are invited to follow Joseph’s healing journey and find inspiration in how survivors can transform life experiences to influence global relationship building.”
Survivor Testimonies
Indian Residential Schools : the Nuu-chah-nulth Experience : Report of the Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council Indian Residential School Study, 1992-1994
Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council
Librarian’s Note:
“A series of Nuu-chah-nulth survivor accounts offers a powerful and disturbing look into the abuse students faced in residential schools across B.C. The weight of the narrative is occasionally lightened by moments of resistance, including a successful organized student riot recounted by an Alberni IRS survivor.”
The Good, the Bad and the Innocent : the Tragic Reality behind Residential Schools, an Albert Etzerza Story
Albert Etzerza (Tahltan/Tlingit)
Librarian’s Note:
“An account of the first Indigenous person to take the Church and Canadian government to court over the abuses experienced in the residential school system related in a straight-foward and accessible style. Compiled by survivor Albert Etzerza and his sons, this memoir details Albert’s experiences at the Lower Post IRS through a combination of prose, poetry, and family photographs.”
For Young Readers
Orange Shirt Day, September 30th
Orange Shirt Society
Edited and approved by Phyllis Webstad (Northern Secwepemc) & Joan Sorley (settler)
Librarian’s Note:
“An accessible history of the Orange Shirt movement and IRS history for young readers. With ample guided reflection opportunities, a glossary of terms, and included sources at the end of each chapter, this book is a vital resource for parents and educators who want to teach children about the residential school system & reconciliation efforts in Canada.”
Shi-shi-etko
Nicola I. Campbell (Nłeʔkepmx, Syilx, and Métis)
Librarian’s Note:
“Suitable for ages 4 to 7, this is a story of a young girl who will soon be forced to leave her family and home for residential school. But before she is taken Shi-shi-etko visits her family members, spends time in her favorite places at home, and receives traditional songs and teachings to carry her through the year.”
This title is also available in French language and DVD format. Educators and caregivers can also use the online learning guide from Groundwood Study Guides. For older audiences, the sequel, Shin-chi’s Canoe is also available at Xwi7xwa Library.
Fiction/Art
Talker’s Town ; and, The Girl who Swam Forever : Two Plays
Nelson Gray (settler) and Marie Clements (Métis)
Librarian’s Note:
“These two one-act plays about an Indigenous girl who escapes from residential school explore the same characters and events from alternative perspectives. Nelson Gray voices an non-Indigenous adolescent boy who has contact with the girl in Talker’s Town, while Vancouver playwright Marie Clements’s The Girl Who Swam Forever takes us inside escapee Roberta Bob as she undergoes a magical transformation and communes with the spirit of her grandmother in the form of a sturgeon.”
Reckoning: an Article 11 Work
Tara Beagan (ntlakapamux & irish “canadian”) and Andy Moro
Librarian’s Note:
“Three plays recommended for grades 11 and up. Reckoning was created as a response to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and presents three experiences of the aftermath of the TRC process. Witness is the story of a non-Indigenous person of colour who is asked to witness and confront survivor testimonies as a TRC Commissioner. Daughter follows a first date between the daughter of a teacher accused of child abuse and the person who survived her father. Survivor is about a survivor’s deathly decision at the conclusion of the ineffectiveness of the reconciliation process.”
For Canadians & Newcomers
Tsqelmucwílc: the Kamloops Indian Residential School – Resistance and a Reckoning
Celia Haig-Brown (Euro-Canadian), Garry Gottfriedson (Secwepemc), Randy Fred (Nuu-Chah-Nulth Elder), and Kamloops Indian Residential School survivors
Librarian’s Note:
“Tsqelmucwílc (pronounced cha-CAL-mux-weel) is a Secwepemc phrase that loosely translates to English as “We return to being human again” and was published a year after the discovery of 215 unmarked graves at Kamloops Indian Residential School (KIRS). Tsqelmucwílc is based on the book Resistance and Renewal (1988), the first Canadian publication on residential school history. It includes the original text, first-hand memories from 13 KIRS survivors and their children, and essays from survivors Garry Gottfriedson and Elder Randy Fred.”
Price Paid : The Fight for First Nations Survival
Chief Bev Sellars (Xat’sull)
Librarian’s Note:
“From the author that brought us They Called me Number One, the Price Paid teaches readers about myths, misconceptions, and the truth from her own perspective. Based on a presentation she once delivered to treaty-makers, politicians, policymakers, and educators this book expands key historical concepts to comprehensively cover: Indigenous contributions to the world, conflict between settlers and Indigenous Nations, and the impact these histories have had on current legal systems imposed on current traditional governance structures and everyday Indigenous experiences.”
About the Librarians
Karleen Delaurier-Lyle (she/her) is an Information Services Librarian at Xwi7xwa Library. She is from the Berens River First Nation in Manitoba.
Stephanie Hohn (she/her) is a Public Services Librarian at Xwi7xwa Library. She is Red River Métis (Little Shell Band) and mixed settler, from Montana, USA.
