Today, September 30, is Canada’s National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, a day when we acknowledge, remember, and lament our country’s failings in its relationships with the Indigenous peoples who have lived on these lands for millennia, and work towards reconciliation — new relationships built on respect, reciprocity, and follow-through on our national commitments as outlined in Treaties, the Calls to Action from the Report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, and the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
Below is a list of resources, both here on the blog and on more official channels I first shared a couple years ago, for those who would appreciate a place to start for how to commemorate the day. But first I’ll highlight some helpful resources I’ve found over the past year.
Books, Fiction
- Moon of the Crusted Snow, by Waubgeshig Rice
- Betty, by Tiffany McDaniel
- The Night Wanderer, by Drew Hayden Taylor
- Bad Cree, by Jessica Johns
- The Theory of Crows, by David A. Robertson
- Prairie Edge, by Conor Kerr
- Indian Burial Ground, by Nick Medina
- Coexistence, by Billy-Ray Belcourt
- Shutter, by Ramona Emerson
- Legendary Frybread Drive-In, Cynthia Leitech Smith, ed.
Books, Nonfiction
- A Steady Brightness of Being, Setphanie and Sara Sinclair, eds.
- Native Nations, by Kathleen DuVal
Books, Children’s
- Treaty Words, by Aimee Craft
- Metis Like Me, by Tasha Hilderman
Video
- Reel Injun (Available on YouTube)
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Internal Resources:
- Empire and Spirit: A series from 2020 that addressed themes related to Christianity’s fraught historical relationship with power and the internal corrective to that found in the Gospel itself
- Setting our Stories Straight: A series from 2021 that explored the ways European imperialism and colonization were couched in Christian language, and then challenged these narratives from within Christianity’s own Scriptures and traditions
- Pathways of Peace: A series from 2022 that sought to learn from Indigenous values and tools, not to appropriate them, but to use them as a mirror by which we might re-examine our own traditions, and if necessary, read them against themselves in order to tell better, more representative and faithful versions of our stories.
Additionally, my (currently dormant) bookish blog contains four annotated reading lists from 2022 on:
- Truth and Reconciliation in Canada
- Indigenous Literature/Fiction
- Indigenous Children’s Literature
- Indigenous Memoir
External Resources:
- Official Government of Canada page for the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation
- Resources for the day from the Anglican Church of Canada
I’ll end this list of resources today with a prayer, written by Indigenous Ministries to accompany the Covenant of 1994:
Creator God,
from you every family in heaven and on earth takes its name.
You have rooted and grounded us in your covenant love,
and empowered us by your Spirit
to speak the truth in love,
and to walk in your way towards justice and wholeness.
Mercifully grant that your people,
journeying together in partnership,
may be strengthened and guided
to help one another
to grow into the full stature of Christ,
who is our light and our life.
Amen.
Matthew Root 