Mini Blog Reading List September 2022

Truth and Reconciliation Day Book Resources at the Museum Shop

How can I support reconciliation? Think about:

1. Do I know any Indigenous people? Have I engaged in meaningful conversation with an Indigenous person about reconciliation?

2. Have I read any books written by an Indigenous author?

3. Can I name the traditional territory I stand on? What does a land acknowledgement mean?

In our work at the Royal Alberta Museum Shop, we work with many Indigenous artists to support their work and show their art to Albertans. We have curated an extensive library of meaningful and interesting Indigenous titles and authors. Here are some of our favorites.

For Children:

Secret Path

By Gord Downie & Jeff Lemire

Secret Path is a ten song digital download album by Gord Downie with a graphic novel by illustrator Jeff Lemire that tells the story of Chanie “Charlie” Wenjack, a twelve-year-old boy who died in flight from the Cecilia Jeffrey Indian Residential School fifty years ago.

Stolen Words

By Melanie Florence

The story of the beautiful relationship between a little girl and her grandfather. When she asks her grandfather how to say something in his language – Cree – he admits that his language was stolen from him when he was a boy.

Treaty Words

By Aimée Craft

The first treaty that was made was between the earth and the sky. It was an agreement to work together. We build all of our treaties on that original treaty.

secret path

stolen words

treaty words

For Adults:

From Bear Rock Mountain

By Antoine Mountain

In this poetic, poignant memoir, Dene artist and social activist Antoine Mountain paints an unforgettable picture of his journey from residential school to art school-and his path to healing. As a celebrated artist and social activist today, Mountain shares this moving, personal story of healing and the reclamation of his Dene identity.

Unsettling the Settler Within

By Paulette Regan

In 2008, Canada established a Truth and Reconciliation Commission to mend the deep rifts between Aboriginal peoples and the settler society that created Canada’s notorious residential school system. Unsettling the Settler Within argues that non-Aboriginal Canadians must undergo their own process of decolonization in order to truly participate in the transformative possibilities of reconciliation.

Unreconciled

By Jesse Wente

A prominent Indigenous voice uncovers the lies and myths that affect relations between white and Indigenous peoples and the power of narrative to emphasize truth over comfort. Part memoir and part manifesto, Unreconciled is a stirring call to arms to put truth over the flawed concept of reconciliation, and to build a new, respectful relationship between the nation of Canada and Indigenous peoples.

bear rock mountain

unsettling the settler within

unreconciled

21 things you may not know about the indian act

The Inconvenient Indian

By Thomas King

In The Inconvenient Indian, Thomas King offers a deeply knowing, darkly funny, unabashed opinionated, and utterly unconventional account of Indian-White relations in North America since initial contact.

21 Things You May Not Know About the Indian Act

By Bob Joseph

Based on a viral article, 21 Things You May Not Know About the Indian Act is the essential guide to understanding the legal document and its repercussion on generations of Indigenous Peoples, written by a leading cultural sensitivity trainer.

Seven Fallen Feathers

By Tanya Talaga

In 1966, 12-year-old Chanie Wenjack froze to death on the railway tracks after running away from residential school. An inquest was called, and four recommendations were made to prevent another tragedy. None of these recommendations were applied.

the inconvenient indian

21 things you may not know about the indian act

seven fallen feathers