Library and Academic Success: Indigenization at Georgian: Truth and Reconciliation / Residential Schools

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By Mo Thunder Bedard adapted from Georgian's Indigenization Strategy 2022-24

The graphic above is a portion of the complete image created by Mo Thunder Bedard and found in Georgian's Indigenous Strategy, 2022-24. The full image represents an arbour typically situated at the centre of a pow wow dance arena. It provides shelter and cover for the drums, drummers, elders, dignitaries, and master of ceremonies. It is also a focal point for participants. The pow wow spirit and sound flows from the centre hub. Within Georgian's Indigenous Strategy, the arbour represents the work toward relationships, self-determination, and the strategies that will lead to student success.

Truth and Reconciliation Commission

The National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation houses all of the statements, documents, and other materials from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Additional reports, both historical and current can be found here.

Some key documents:

Residential Schools Resources

Indian Horse
Based on the book of the same name. Streamed video and DVD available.
A Knock on the Door by Phil Fontaine (Foreword by); Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada Staff; Aimée Craft (Afterword by)
Call Number: E96.5 .T778
ISBN: 9780887557859
Publication Date: 2015
Available at Barrie, Orillia, Owen Sound, and Midland campuses. "It can start with a knock on the door one morning. It is the local Indian agent, or the parish priest, or, perhaps, a Mounted Police officer." So began the school experience of many Indigenous children in Canada for more than a hundred years, and so begins the history of residential schools prepared by the Truth & Reconciliation Commission of Canada (TRC).
Stolen children: Truth and reconciliation by CBC
Call Number: E96.5 .S735
Publication Date: 2008
DVD. Available at Barrie, Orillia, and Owen Sound

Where are the Children? Healing the Legacy of the Residential Schools
Legacy of Hope Foundation, Aboriginal Healing Foundation & Library and Archives Canada.
This exhibit "attempts to give voice to the untold stories of so many Aboriginal boys and girls who attended residential schools in Canada from 1831 to the 1990's".

Broken Circle by Fontaine, T.
Call Number: E 96.5 F66 2010
ISBN: 9781926613666
Publication Date: 2010
Available at Barrie campus. Theodore (Ted) Fontaine lost his family and freedom just after his seventh birthday, when his parents were forced to leave him at an Indian residential school. In this powerful and poignant memoir, Ted examines the impact of his psychological, emotional and sexual abuse, the loss of his language and culture, and, most important, the loss of his family and community. He goes beyond details of the abuses of Native children to relate a unique understanding of why most residential school survivors have post-traumatic stress disorders and why succeeding generations of First Nations children suffer from this dark chapter in history.
Kahnawà:ke: Factionalism, Traditionalism, and Nationalism in a Mohawk Community by Gerald F. Reid; Gerald Reid
Call Number: e-book
ISBN: 9780803239463
Publication Date: 2004
Today Kahnawà:ke ("at the rapids") is a community of approximately seventy-two hundred Mohawks, located on the south shore of the Saint Lawrence River near Montreal. One of the largest Mohawk communities, it is known in the modern era for its activism--a traditionalist, energetic impulse with a long history. Kahnawà:ke examines the development of traditionalism and nationalism in this Kanien'keká:ka (Mohawk) community from 1870 to 1940. Drawing on primary documents and numerous oral histories, Kahnawà:ke provides a detailed ethnohistory of a major Kanien'keká:ka community at a turbulent and transformative time in its history and the history of the Iroquois Confederacy. Included in this book is a discussion of the Indian day school in the community.

Canadian Residential School and Colonial Institutional Database
This website lists the residential schools and Indian day schools across Canada. Includes a list of resources and other helpful links.

Beyond Truth & Reconciliation

Beyond 94 (CBC News)
"The site provides up-to-date status reports on each call to action, as well as extensive summaries explaining those status reports. It includes in-depth features and short video documentaries that tell some of the community stories behind the calls to action. It also features residential school survivors sharing their experiences." (CBC News)
Teacher's Guide to Beyond 94