Truth and Reconciliation Resources

• The Secret Life of Canada (CBC): A podcast about the country you know and the stories you don't. Join hosts Leah-Simone Bowen and Falen Johnson as they reveal the beautiful, terrible and weird histories of this land. Some episodes of interest:
  • Shanawdithit – Looking into the history of the Beothuk, the Indigenous people of Newfoundland
  • The Indian Act
  • Bay Blanket
  • Crash Course on Friendship Centres
• The Mounties Always Get Their Land
  • Part 1
  • Part 2
• Unreserved is the radio space for Indigenous voices — our cousins, our aunties, our elders, our heroes. Rosanna Deerchild guides us on the path to better understand our shared story. Together, we learn and unlearn, laugh and become gentler in all our relations. Some episodes of interest:
  • Retelling history from Indigenous perspectives
  • What it means to be an elder
  • How Indigenous architects are resisting colonial legacies and reshaping spaces
  • What does it mean to give land back to Indigenous communities?
• All My Relations: Discussions from the hosts around what it means to be Indigenous with super-smart and relatable experts to join them on topics like Native American mascots, Indigenous food and feeding the spirit, sexuality, and whether DNA test results should be linked to identity. Some episodes of interest:
  • Indigiqueer
  • Native Appropriations
  • The Border Crossed Us
  • Protect Indigenous Women
• Henceforward: Mutually respectful conversations about the relationship between Indigenous and Black people in Canada, touching on topics like reparations, Black Lives Matter, reconciliation, and gentrification. Some episodes of interest:
  • Black Indigenous Identity in Canada
  • Multiculturalism: A Performative Distraction
  • Reconciliation?
• Telling Our Twisted Histories: Words connect us. Words hurt us. Indigenous histories have been twisted by centuries of colonization. Host Kaniehti:io Horn brings us together to decolonize our minds– one word, one concept, one story at a time. Some episodes of interest:
  • Reconciliation
  • Discovery
  • School
• Missing and Murdered: Finding Cleo
  • Where is Cleo? Taken by child welfare workers in the 1970’s and adopted in the U.S., the young Cree girl’s family believes she was raped and murdered while hitchhiking back home to Saskatchewan. CBC news investigative reporter Connie Walker joins the search to find out what really happened to Cleo.

Senator Murray Sinclair, Chair of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada

• Senator Murray Sinclair on reconciliation.
• Senator Murray Sinclair on how Canadians can work toward reconciliation.

Every Child Matters: Reconcilitation – Act One & Two

• Act One
• Act Two

Documentary: nîpawistamâsowin: We Will Stand Up

• On August 9, 2016, a young Cree man named Colten Boushie died from a gunshot to the back of his head after entering Gerald Stanley’s rural property with his friends. The jury’s subsequent acquittal of Stanley captured international attention, raising questions about racism embedded within Canada’s legal system and propelling Colten’s family to national and international stages in their pursuit of justice. Sensitively directed by Tasha Hubbard, nîpawistamâsowin: We Will Stand Up weaves a profound narrative encompassing the filmmaker’s own adoption, the stark history of colonialism on the Prairies, and a vision of a future where Indigenous children can live safely on their homelands.

Documentary: Highway of Tears

• Highway of Tears is about the missing or murdered women along a 724 kilometer stretch of highway in northern British Columbia. You can rent the film here.

Documentary: We Know the Truth: Stories to Inspire Reconciliation

• A CBC Manitoba documentary that recasts Canada's history and future through the empowerment of Indigenous people. Meet Indigenous people who are telling the true history of Canada and residential schools and creating change on their own terms. Reflect with residential school survivors and be inspired by those who are working hard to keep their culture and languages alive.

Namwayut: we are all one. Truth and reconciliation in Canada

• Chief Robert Joseph shares his experience as a residential school survivor and the importance of truth and reconciliation in Canada in this documentary.

Making the invisible visible | Chief Gail Sparrow | TEDxVancouver

• Former Musqueam Chief Gail Sparrow challenges us all to rethink the discovery of Vancouver and confront the legacy of Canada's colonial systems. This thought-provoking talk offers a guide on how each of us can actively participate in reconciliation and bring visibility to those who feel invisible.

Chanie Wenjack Heritage Minute

• The story of Chanie "Charlie" Wenjack, whose death sparked the first inquest into the treatment of Indigenous children in Canadian residential schools. 

"Savage" Short Film

• On a summer day in the 1950s, a native girl watches the countryside go by from the backseat of a car. A woman at her kitchen table sings a lullaby in her Cree language. When the girl arrives at her destination, she undergoes a transformation that will turn the woman’s gentle voice into a howl of anger and pain. In a place like this, there aren’t many chances to be a kid. But, when no one’s watching… Watch "Savage" here.

• Indigenous Residential School Survivors Society
• Urban Native Youth Association
• Spirit of the Children Society
• Vancouver Aboriginal Friendship Centre Society
• True North Aid
• Reconciliation Canada
• On Canada Project: Settlers Take Action
• Indigenous Gift Guide for Shopping Local

Langara Library: Self-study for Reconciliation

• This section highlights non-fiction, fiction, and creative non-fiction works, primarily by Indigenous authors, to help build cross-cultural awareness and understanding.  

• Langara Library: Resources for Learning About Canada's Residential School System

• Please note that the resources on this guide include survivor testimony and textual and visual depictions of psychological, physical, and sexual abuse. Please see the top of this page for information on support services.

Langara Library Reading List

• A curated list by the Langara Library about truth and reconcilitation. 

• Graphic History Collective: Remember | Resist | Redraw

• A Radical History Poster Project featuring works by artists and writers offering alternative perspectives on well-known historical events, and highlighting histories of Indigenous peoples, women, workers, and the historically oppressed people that are often overlooked or marginalized in mainstream historical accounts. 

First Peoples: A Guide for Newcomers

• This guide introduces newcomers to three important topics: who are Aboriginal people (or First Peoples) in Vancouver and Canada; a brief overview of the relationship between the Government of Canada and First Peoples; and current initiatives and ways for newcomers to learn more about Aboriginal people in the community.

First Peoples’ Map of BC

• This map can be used to view Indigenous language regions, artists and artworks, place names and community landmarks. You can hear the pronunciation of language names, greetings, places and more. All of the 34 languages Indigenous to what is now called British Columbia are represented.

Vancouver Public Library: Indigenous Peoples in Canada Resource Guide

• This guide is intended to help you find resources on First Nations, Inuit, and Métis people and issues in B.C. and Canada, with a particular focus on Indigenous peoples in British Columbia.

Beyond 94

• This website that monitors progress on the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's 94 Calls to Action.

A Reconciliation Reading List

• 15 must read books on the path to reconciliation.

National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation Reports

• Read the TRC 94 Calls to Action as well other reports from the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation.

United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP)

• Report
• Fact Sheet