Indigenous Learnings and Resources

This is a space for me to share resources that I have become familiar with, but by no means is it extensive. I have not included any links or suggestions that I have not explored myself. I have attempted to order the resources in a way that makes sense to me, but some resources may fit into different categories depending on the learnings you are taking from them. Feel free to suggest others that I may have missed, and I will continuously update this page as I further my learning.

Last Update July 2022.

Placing Yourself, Land Acknowledgement, Pronunciation, Reference Guides

• Native-Land.ca
  • An interactive map outlining the traditional territories of Indigenous people across the globe. A useful resource when planning to do a land acknowledgment in an unfamiliar area.
• Pronunciation Guide for Indigenous Communities in BC
  • Or if you have tumblr you can access Bannock and Butter’s pronunciation guide
• Keyboard for Indigenous Language
  • Free fonts and free keyboard layouts that try to cover all of the characters (alphabetical letters/Syllabics) necessary for writing Native languages of North America.
• The Meaning and Purpose of Land Acknowledgement as a Step in Reconciliation (2021)
  • The meaning and purpose of territorial land acknowledgments and their role as a step towards reconciliation with Indigenous people in Canada.
• How To Create an Effective and Personal Land Acknowledgement (2023)
  • A shorter video by Zhaawnong Webb, who encourages land acknowledgements to end with a call to action.
• Unceded Territory: Meaningfully Acknowledging the Coast Salish Peoples (2016)
  • Unceded vs occupied, Coast Salish or Esquimalt and Songhees First Nation. Instructions on how to do a meaningful land acknowledgment.
• Style Guide for Reporting on Indigenous Peoples (2017)
  • Journalists for Human Rights – Indigenous Reporters Program – a general guide and serves as a quick reference.

Indigenous History in Colonial Canada

• Reflections on Truth and Reconciliation with Honourable Murray Sinclair
  • A 30-minute video on the history of colonial Canada and the impacts of the government-imposed residential schools.
• University of Alberta – Indigenous Canada
  • Indigenous Canada is a massive open online course from the Faculty of Native Studies at the University of Alberta. It covers Indigenous histories and contemporary issues in Canada. The course is free, but to get a certificate of completion there is a fee.
• University of British Columbia – Deans Distinguished Lecture: Reconciling History (2021)
  • Dr. Cindy Blackstock speaks to what colonialism is, how it birthed multi-generational inequality and what can be done, including academically, to achieve justice in change-resistant environments.

Podcasts

• All My Relations Podcast
  • A podcast exploring what it means to be an Indigenous person today
• Indigenous Action
  • Strategic communications and direct action support for Indigenous community’s sacred lands defence.
• Media Indigena
  • Sharing stories on complex topics and conversations, from Indigenous perspectives.
• Storykeepers
  • A monthly book club to discuss recent and classic works by Indigenous authors.
• Tabitha Marten on RAIR
  • Dr. Tabitha Robin Martens (Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Land and Food Systems, UBC) discusses Indigenous food systems and sovereignty within the context of ongoing settler colonialism.
• Teachings In The Air
  • An Indigenous health and wellness podcast hosted by Elder Gerry Oldman, to inspire, motivate and empower Indigenous people to be sound in mind, body, and spirit.
• Toasted Sister
  • A podcast exploring traditional Indigenous foodways and knowledge.
• Warrior Life
  • Pamela Palmater shares how to decolonize our minds, bodies and spirits, while at the same time revitalizing our cultures, traditions, laws and practices.
• Unreserved with Rosanna Deerchild
  • A radio show for Indigenous community, culture, and conversation.

Books

• A Mind Spread Out On The Ground – Alicia Elliott (2019)
  • Essays following themes of this Haudenosaunee woman’s life – including abuse, mental health, racism, love, poverty and oppression. One of my favourite reads of all time.
• Braiding Sweetgrass, Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants – Robin Wall Kimmer (2015)
  • Robin, a Botanist, reminds us that plants are our greatest teachers.
• Dancing On Our Turtles Back – Leanne Simpson (2011)
  • Through Dancing on Our Turtle’s Back: Stories of Nishnaabeg Re-Creation, Resurgence, and a New Emergence, Leanne asserts reconciliation must be grounded in political resurgence and must support the regeneration of Indigenous languages, oral cultures, and traditions of governance.
• Inconvenient Indian – Thomas King (2013)
  • Exploring ‘what it means to be Indian’ through old stories about historical events and figures, ‘Indians’ in film and pop culture, and the ever-shifting laws and treaties on Native peoples and lands.
• Indian Horse – R. Wagamese (2012)
  • Telling the story of Saul Indian Horse, a First Nations boy from Ontario who survives the residential school system and becomes a talented ice hockey player.
• Indigenous Writes: A Guide to First Nations, Metis, and Inuit Issues in Canada – C. Vowel (2016)
  • Including topics like the Delgamuukw decision, Sixties Scoop, Bill C-31, Blood Quantum, Appropriation, Two-Spirit, Tsilhqot’in, Status, TRC, FNPOA, Pass and Permit, Treaties, Terra nullius.
• My Conversations with Canadians – Lee Maracle (2017)
  • In both essay and conversation form, Lee Maracle answers important questions, in her direct way, around citizenship, segregation, labour, law, prejudice, and reconciliation.
• Spirits of Our Whaling Ancestors – Charlotte Cote (2010)
  • A valuable perspective on the issues surrounding Indigenous whaling, past and present. Whaling had important social, economic, and ritual functions that have been at the core of Makah and Nuu-chah-nulth societies throughout their histories.
• Tsawalk – A Nuu-chah-nulth World View – Richard Atleo (2005)
  • Richard Atleo, or Umeek, developed the theory of “Tsawalk,” meaning “one,” that views the nature of existence as an integrated and orderly whole, recognizing the intrinsic relationship between the physical and spiritual.
• Whose Land Is It Anyway? A Manual for Decolonization (PDF) (2017)
  • Edited by P. McFarlane & N. Schabus. Inspired by a 2016 speaking tour by Arthur Manuel, described as the Nelson Mandela of Canada, and essays from renowned Indigenous writers Taiaiake Alfred, Glen Coulthard, Russell Diabo, Beverly Jacobs, Melina Laboucan-Massimo, Kanahus Manuel, Jeffrey McNeil-Seymour, Pamela Palmater, Shiri Pasternak, Nicole Schabus, Senator Murray Sinclair, and Sharon Venne.

Essential Readings On The Historical and Ongoing Acts of Colonization, and How To Decolonize

• The Truth and Reconciliation Commission Final Reports (2015)
  • The results of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s efforts to collect statements from survivors.
• In Plain Sight: Addressing Indigenous-specific Racism and Discrimination in B.C. Health Care (2020)
  • In response to accusations of a “Price is Right” game allegedly being played in some B.C. emergency departments. The resulting review unearthed the racism and discrimination still embedded in B.C’s healthcare system.
• Report of the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples (RCAP) (1996)
  • Examines the relationships between the government and Indigenous Canadians and between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Canadians and advised the government on their findings.
• Reclaiming Power and Place: The Final Report of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls
  • Reveals the deliberate human and Indigenous rights violations and abuses that are the root cause behind Canada’s staggering rates of violence against Indigenous women, girls and 2SLGBTQQIA people, and calls for transformative legal and social changes to resolve the crisis that has devastated Indigenous communities across the country.
• First Peoples, Second Class Treatment: The role of racism in the health and well-being of Indigenous peoples in Canada
  • Explores and examines the ways in which racism fundamentally contributes to the alarming disparities in health between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples.
• United Nations Declaration of Rights Of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP)
  • A universal framework of minimum standards for the survival, dignity and well-being of the indigenous peoples of the world.
• Whose Land Is It Anyways – A Decolonization Handbook (2017)
  • Supported by the British Columbia Federation of Post-Secondary Educators (FPSE), this free handbook brings together some of the most important Indigenous academics, activists and allies to explore the impacts of colonization on Indigenous peoples and to look at paths toward decolonization that can right those wrongs and may, some day, lead us toward true reconciliation.

Documentaries

• CBCDocs – My Auntie survived residential school. I need to gather her stories before she’s gone. (2020)
  • With a pandemic threatening to take our elders, Sarain Fox gathers stories from her auntie and matriarch, Mary Bell, who hold the family’s history: the legacy, the trauma, the truth.
• Deeply Rooted – Decolonize Your Plate
  • Colonization and assimilation took away customs and traditional foods from both Native and immigrant communities. Now, local farmers and chefs are bringing back traditional cuisines.
• Deeply Rooted – Whats In A Name?
  • Much of our natural landscape still bears the evidence of colonization in the names. Some of our most beloved places, such as Mount Rainier, serve as reminders of injustices committed against indigenous communities.
• Freedom Road (2019)
  • A five-part documentary series that tells the inspiring story of Shoal Lake 40 Anishinabe First Nation and their battle to build a road, after their community was forcibly relocated and cut off from the mainland over 100 years ago.
• Honourable Senator Murray Sinclair – We Will Never Forget
  • “We will never forget.” A short clip by Murray Sinclair, who served as chairman of the Indian Residential Schools Truth and Reconciliation Commission from 2009 to 2015.
• Is The Grown At War With Us (2000)
  • A feature-like documentary on Mi’kmaq fishing rights.
• Kanesatake: 270 Years of Resistance (1993)
  • In July 1990, a dispute over a proposed golf course to be built on Kanien’kéhaka (Mohawk) lands set the stage for a historic confrontation that would grab international headlines.
• Nuu-chah-nulth Short Docs
• Robin Wall Kimmerer – Honorable Harvest
  • Author of Braiding Sweetgrass – in this short 3 minute video, she shares the teaching of the honourable harvest

Movies

• Beans (2021)
  • The experience of the Oka Crisis through the eyes of a child, inspired by the director Tracey Deer’s lived experience.
• Monkey Beach (2020)
  • A supernatural mystery storyline, based in Northern BC – Kitimat – Hailsa Nation
• Indian Horse (2017)
  • The story of Saul who is taken away from his family and cultural heritage to a school where he proves his mettle through sport.

Social and Environmental Justice Groups and Organizations To Follow and Support

• Idle No More
• Indigenous Action
• Land Back – Yellowhead Institute
• Tiny House Warriors
• Unistoten Camp

Indigenous Food Systems, Food Sovereignty and Decolonizing Diets

• The History of Food in Canada Is the History of Colonialism – The Walrus (2019)
  • “Indigenous food sovereignty was decimated by design: the separation of people from their historic food systems and land is not a side effect of colonialism but a function of it.”
• Food and Agricultural Organizations of the United Nations –  Indigenous Peoples’ Food Systems (2021)
  • Insights on sustainability and resilience from the front line of climate change
• Jared Qwustenuxun Williams
  • Follow Qwustenuxun, chef to the Elders and food sovereignty leader, at the Patron or on Facebook.
• Responsibilities and reflections: Indigenous food, culture, and relationships – Tabitha Martens (2018)
  • Tabitha Martens shares that it is not only our right to practice our culture – we have a responsibility to practice our culture. We have a responsibility to protect the land.
• For Michigan’s Indigenous residents, decolonized food is medicine that decreases health disparities
  • A short article on what decolonized diets can look like for Indigenous Peoples.

Nutrition Resources and Recipes

• Traditional Food Guide and Supporting Resources: Mashkikiwan Miijim – Food is Medicine
  • A food guide from an Anishinaabe perspective, highlighting the importance of traditional food for health, inclusive of knowledge keepers, connection to land, language and environment.
• Foundations of an Indigenous Food System Model (NāTIFS, Sean Sherman the Sioux Chef)
  • This diagram shows the foundations of an Indigenous food system model, from North American Traditional Indigenous Food Systems (NāTIFS), an organization founded by the Sioux Chef, Sean Shermam
• Indigenous Aquaculture Recipe Zine
  • This zine features first foods and coastal recipes from IA network’s friends and partners, including my herring roe on kelp recipe.

Cultural Safety Learnings and Racism in Healthcare

• National Indigenous Cultural Safety Webinar Series
  • The national webinar series provides an opportunity to share knowledge, experiences, and perspectives in support of collective efforts to strengthen Indigenous cultural safety across sectors.
• San’yas Cultural Safety Training
  • Cultural safety training, designed to increase understanding of Indigenous people, increase self-awareness and strengthen skills for any person working directly or indirectly with Indigenous people. Available for free for PHSA employees.
• In Plain Sight: Addressing Indigenous-specific Racism and Discrimination in B.C. Health Care (2020)
  • In response to accusations of a “Price is Right” game allegedly being played in some B.C. emergency departments. The resulting review unearthed the racism and discrimination still embedded in B.C’s healthcare system.
• First Peoples, Second Class Treatment: The role of racism in the health and well-being of Indigenous peoples in Canada
  • Explores and examines the ways in which racism fundamentally contributes to the alarming disparities in health between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples.
• Indigenous Health Equity: Examining Racism as an Indigenous Social Determinant of Health
  • A National Indigenous Cultural Safety Learning Series webinar with Dr. Marcia Anderson and Dr. Elizabeth McGibbon (2017)
• Connecting Indigenous Cultural Safety and Addressing Racism in the Health Care System
  • UBC Learning Circle Session with Harley Eagle, Indigenous Cultural Safety consultant, building the connection between Indigenous Cultural Safety and addressing systemic racism, while identifying some possible ways forward
• Out of the Darkness and into the Light
  • Dr. Ian Mosby and Dr. Treena Wasonti:io Delormier for the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation / Canadian Nutrition Society webinar, on nutrition experiments conducted on unknowing children at the Indian Residential Schools across the country (2021).
• The dark history of Canada’s Food Guide: How experiments on Indigenous children shaped nutrition policy
  • A CBC Unreserved Podcast episode (2021) and one page article on how nutrition experiments conducted at Indian Residential Schools are directly connected to Canada’s Food Guide.
• Cultural Safety: Respect and Dignity in Relationships
  • A 5 minute animated video introducing cultural safety and related concepts, by Northern Health Indigenous Health, (2017).
• Critical Race Theory and its implications for Indigenous Cultural Safety
  • National Indigenous Cultural Safety Learning Series webinar with Dr. Verna St. Denis (2017).
• National Indigenous Cultural Safety Webinars Videos
  • Webinars by Charlotte Loppie, Maria Campbell, Cindy Blackstock, and more.
• Health Care Experiences of Indigenous people with type 2 diabetes in Canada
  • Infographic of the results from this Canadian Medical Association Journal article (2017)

Health Care and Wellness Resources and Learnings for Working in Indigenous Communities

• UBC Learning Circle
  • Decolonizing Wellness: Indigenous Women’s Perspective on Healthcare
• First Peoples, Second Class Treatment: The role of racism in the health and well-being of Indigenous peoples in Canada
  • Explores and examines the ways in which racism fundamentally contributes to the alarming disparities in health between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples.
• Sacred and Strong: Upholding our Matriarchal Roles
  • Report about the Health and Wellness Journeys of BC First Nations Women and Girls. Compiled by the First Nations Health Authority (FNHA) and the BC Office of the Provincial Health Officer (2021).
• Community-based study aims to decolonize Canadian Food Guide
  • Taylor Wilson’s research examines the scope and limitations of the most recent Canadian food guide and the opportu­nity to decolonize it. University of Winnipeg (2020).
• Out of the Darkness and into the Light
  • Dr. Ian Mosby and Dr. Treena Wasonti:io Delormier for the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation / Canadian Nutrition Society webinar, on nutrition experiments conducted on unknowing children at the Indian Residential Schools across the country (2021).
• The dark history of Canada’s Food Guide: How experiments on Indigenous children shaped nutrition policy
  • A CBC Unreserved Podcast episode (2021) and one page article on how nutrition experiments conducted at Indian Residential Schools are directly connected to Canada’s Food Guide.
• Nourish: The Food is our Medicine Learning Journey
  • A 4-part self-paced, reflective online course developed by the Nourish team with many partners. This Food is Our Medicine is designed to introduce health care professionals and leaders to new and different ways of understanding the complex relationships between Indigenous foodways, reconciliation, healing and health care.