Learning Resource Guide: for Truth and Reconciliation

Today is National Day for Truth and Reconciliation and Orange Shirt Day. Please join us in taking pause to honour Indigenous lands and people.

Today we wear orange to acknowledge the tragic loss of lives due to the residential school system, a dark reminder of the injustice Indigenous Nations across Canada have faced and continue to face today.

As we move forward together, let us all recognize the inter-generational impacts of this part of Canada’s not-so-distant history and the responsibility we all have in being part of reconciliation.

Thank you to Phyllis Webstad for her courage in sharing her story and in founding Orange Shirt Day, an organization that actively works to bring awareness to the harm residential schools had on the Indigenous Community.

In our bio you’ll find a link to resources so you can deepen your own learning and understanding of this part of Canada’s history.

We hope you’ll join us in this learning and in wearing orange today because #everychildmatters.

We invite you to review other incredible resources to become more educated and aware of the impact of the Residential School system in Canada on Indigenous Peoples.

Resources:

Truth and Reconciliation Week: Online event

The programming will feature short videos created by Indigenous storytellers, followed by conversations with Elders, Knowledge Keepers, Survivors, and the children of Survivors of residential schools.

Elaine Alec: Self-Determination A Pathway to Healing

1.5 hour session where Elaine will share stories and thoughts on shifting our perspectives to support decolonization and self-determination.

Tk’emlúps Drum for the Children

Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc calls on people worldwide to drum simultaneously for the missing children of Indian Residential Schools for the first Canadian National Day of Truth and Reconciliation, this September 30 at 2:15 pm Pacific time.

Land Acknowledgement Workshop

Discover ways to learn about the nations that have cared for the land since time immemorial. Identify a pathway forward to create transformative and actionable Land Acknowledgement.

More events from Indigenous Tourism BC

Places to Donate

Orange Shirt Society

This organization works to support Indian Residential School Reconciliation and help create awareness of the individual, family, and community inter-generational impacts of Indian Residential Schools through Orange Shirt Society activities. They are also dedicated to creating awareness that “Every Child Matters”.

Indian Residential School Survivors Society

A provincial organization that provides services to Residential School Survivors.

Pacific Association of First Nations Women (PAFNW)

At Pacific Association of First Nations Women (PAFNW) we envision a matriarchal community where all Indigenous women in BC are safe and respected with a sense of belonging and connection to cultural traditions.

Atira Women’s Resource Society

Atira Women’s Resource Society is a not-for-profit organization committed to the work of ending violence against women.

Downtown Eastside Women’s Center

DEWC provides a safe space within the Downtown Eastside exclusively for self-identified women and their children.

The Vancouver Native Housing Society

Vancouver Native Housing Society’s mandate is to provide safe, secure and affordable housing.

Vancouver Aboriginal Transformative Justice Services Society

The Vancouver Aboriginal Transformative Justice Service Society (VATJSS) is a non-profit agency that provides justice, homelessness and crime prevention services to Indigenous people within the Metro-Vancouver area.

Vancouver Aboriginal Friendship Centre Society

Since 1963, the Vancouver Aboriginal Friendship Centre Society (VAFCS) has been meeting the needs of aboriginal people making a transition to the urban Vancouver community.

Vancouver Aboriginal Health Society

Urban Native Youth Association

Vancouver Aboriginal Child & Family Services Society – HQ and Family Preservation

Learn

This is a list of resources you can use to widen your understanding of Indigenous People’s experience in the history of this nation we call Canada.

Films about Residential Schools in Canada

A beautiful and extensive collection of films (short and long) showing the truth and history of residential schools in Canada.

Vancouver Public Library Indigenous Reading List: Truth & Recognition

A guide for readers seeking more knowledge about reconciliation and Indigenous cultures. The works consider the broader context, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, stories and memoirs, and local viewpoints.

Canada’s History Resources

Honouring the Truth, Reconciling for the Future; Summary of the Final Report of the Truth & Reconciliation Commission of Canada.

Reclaiming Power and Place

The final report of the national inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls.

#MMIW

Sheila North Wilson explains the creation of the hashtag #MMIW (Missing Murdered Indigenous Women).

Red Women Rising – Indigenous Women Survivors in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside

This report is comprehensive and compelling, based in direct input from over a hundred Indigenous women on the layers of colonial gendered violence that they have faced since birth.

Lifting Families Up – Supporting families of the MMIWG

Dedicated to ending violence against Indigenous women. This organization supports the families, inter-generational survivors and all those who contribute their time and talents to support Indigenous women.