National Day for Truth and Reconciliation (Adult)

Updated June 23, 2026
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Behind Closed Doors : Stories from the Kamloops Indian Residential School
Jack, Agness.
Paper Book
Key Selling Points Powerful first-person accounts Kamloops Residential School became cross-country headline news in May of 2021 with the discovery of the remains of 215 children found buried on the property With more awareness, there has been growing interest in...
Silence to strength : writings and reflections on the sixties scoop
Miskonoodinkwe-Smith, Christine.
Paper Book
From the 1960s through the 1980s the Canadian Children's Aid Society engaged in a large-scale program of removing First Nations children from their families and communities and adopting them out to non-Indigenous families. This systemic abduction of untold thousands of children came to be known...
Ally Is a Verb : A Guide to Reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples
LeMay, Rose.
Paper Book
INSTANT GLOBE & MAIL BESTSELLER TORONTO STAR BESTSELLER BOOKMANAGER INDIE BESTSELLER Your next step on the journey of reconciliation starts here. What can you do to be a better ally for your Indigenous colleagues, community...
52 Ways to Reconcile : How to Walk with Indigenous Peoples on the Path to Healing
Robertson, David A.
Paper Book
From bestselling author of the Misewa Saga series David A. Robertson, this is the essential guide for all Canadians to understand how small and attainable acts towards reconciliation can make an enormous difference in our collective efforts to build a reconciled country. 52...
Indigenous Rights in One Minute : What You Need to Know to Talk Reconciliation
McIvor, Bruce.
Paper Book
Internationally renowned as an expert in Aboriginal law and an advocate for Indigenous rights, Bruce McIvor delivers concise, essential information for Canadians committed to truth and reconciliation. A shortage of trustworthy information continues to frustrate Canadians with best...
Steady Brightness of Being : Truths, Wisdom, and Love from Celebrated Indigenous Voices
Sinclair, Sara.
Paper Book
AN INSTANT NATIONAL BESTSELLER Bringing together voices from across Turtle Island, a groundbreaking collection of letters from Indigenous writers, activists, and thinkers-to their ancestors, to future generations, and to themselves. Drawing on the wisdom and...
Soft As Bones : A Memoir
Sage, Chyana Marie.
Paper Book
INSTANT NATIONAL BESTSELLER A CBC Best Book of 2025 Finalist, Foreword INDIES 2025 Book of the Year A poetic memoir as intricately woven as a dreamcatcher about overcoming the pain of generational trauma with the power of traditional healing In candid...
Who we are : four questions for a life and a nation
Sinclair, Murray
Paper Book
Judge, senator, and activist. Father, grandfather, and friend. This is Murray Sinclair's story-and the story of a nation-in his own words, an oral history that forgoes the trappings of the traditionally written memoir to center Indigenous ways of knowledge and storytelling. As Canada moves...
Reconciliation & Indigenous justice : a search for ways forward
Milward, David Leo
Paper Book
The horrors of the Indian residential schools are by now well-known historical facts, and they have certainly found purchase in the Canadian consciousness in recent years. The history of violence and the struggles of survivors for redress resulted in the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which...
Namwayut : we are all one : a pathway to reconciliation
Joseph, Robert
Paper Book
BC and Yukon Book Prizes, Winner of the Bill Duthie Booksellers' Choice Award, 2023 We all share a common humanity. No matter how long or difficult the path ahead, we are all one. Reconciliation belongs to everyone. In this profound book, Chief Robert...
Di-bayn-di-zi-win to own ourselves : embodying Ojibway-Anishinabe ways
Fontaine, Jerry
Paper Book
A collaboration exploring the importance of the Ojibway-Anishinabe worldview, use of ceremony, and language in living a good life, attaining true reconciliation, and resisting the notions of indigenization and colonialization inherent in Western institutions.Indigenization within the academy...
Truth and reconciliation in Canadian schools
Toulouse, Pamela Rose.
Paper Book
In this book, author Pamela Rose Toulouse provides current information, personal insights, authentic resources, interactive strategies and lesson plans that support Indigenous and non-Indigenous learners in the classroom. This book is for all teachers that are looking for ways to...
21 things you may not know about the Indian Act : helping Canadians make reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples a reality
Joseph, Robert (Bob) P. C.
Paper Book
Since its creation in 1876, the Indian Act has dictated and constrained the lives and opportunities of Indigenous Peoples, and is at the root of many enduring stereotypes. Bob Joseph's book comes at a key time in the reconciliation process, when awareness from both Indigenous and non-Indigenous...
Broken circle : the dark legacy of Indian residential schools
Fontaine, Theodore
Paper Book
A new commemorative edition of Theodore Fontaine's powerful, groundbreaking memoir of survival and healing after years of residential school abuse. Originally published in 2010, Broken Circle: The Dark Legacy of Indian Residential Schools chronicles the impact of Theodore Fontaines harrowing...
The fire still burns : life in and after residential school
George, Sam
Paper Book
Sam George's harrowing account of surviving Canada's Indian Residential School system. "My name is Sam George. In spite of everything that happened to me, by the grace of the Creator, I have lived to be an Elder." Set in the Vancouver area...
Nii Ndahlohke: Boys' and Girls' Work at Mount Elgin Industrial School, 1890-1915
McCallum, Mary Jane Logan
Paper Book
This book takes its title from the phrase for "I work" in Lunaape, the traditional language of Munsee Delaware people, and was inspired by the work of the Munsee Delaware Language and History Group. Written for the descendants and communities of children who attended Mount Elgin and intended as a...
The knowing
Talaga, Tanya
Paper Book
#1 NATIONAL BESTSELLER | SHORTLISTED FOR THE TORONTO BOOK AWARD | FINALIST FOR THE SHAUGHNESSY COHEN PRIZE FOR POLITICAL WRITING | SHORTLISTED FOR THE RODERICK HAIG-BROWN REGIONAL PRIZE | WINNER OF THE CRIME WRITERS' OF CANADA BRASS KNUCKLES AWARD | SHORTLISTED FOR THE INDIGENOUS VOICES AWARDS...
Tsqelmucwílc: The Kamloops Indian Residential School―Resistance and a Reckoning
Celia Haig-Brown
Paper Book
In May 2021, the world was shocked by news of the detection of 215 unmarked graves on the grounds of the former Kamloops Indian Residential School (KIRS) in British Columbia, Canada. Ground-penetrating radar confirmed the vestiges of children as young as three on this site of the infamous...
Picking up the pieces : residential school memories and the making of the Witness Blanket
Newman, Carey
Paper Book
"Will educate and enlighten Canadians for generations to come. It's a must-read for anyone seeking to understand Canada's residential-school saga. Most importantly, it's a touchstone of community for those survivors and their families still on the path to healing."--Waubgeshig Rice, journalist...
From Bear Rock Mountain : the life and times of a Dene residential school survivor
Mountain, Antoine
Paper Book
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. In 1949, Antoine Mountain was born on the land near Radelie Koe, Fort Good Hope,...
Inconvenient SkinNayêhtâwan Wasakay
Kwandibens, Nadya
Paper Book
Key Selling Points The author is well known for his anti-bullying poem "To This Day" which has over 24 million views on YouTube. Inconvenient Skin has been nominated for the CODE Burt Award for First Nations, Inuit, and Métis Young Adult Literature.
Kâ-Pî-isi-kiskisiyânthe Way I Remember
Ratt, Solomon
Paper Book
A residential school survivor finds his way back to his language and culture through his family's traditional stories. When reflecting on forces that have shaped his life, Solomon Ratt says his education was interrupted by his schooling. Torn from his family at the age of six,...
The reason you walk
Kinew, Wab
Paper Book
No Marketing Blurb
Wînipêk: Visions of Canada from an Indigenous Centre
Sinclair, Niigaan
Paper Book
NATIONAL BESTSELLER * Winner of the 2024 Governor General's Literary Award for Nonfiction * Named a Best Book of 2024 by Audible, Spotify, and Winnipeg Free Press * One of CBC's Best Canadian Nonfiction of 2024 From ground zero of this country's most...
True reconciliation : how to be a force for change
Wilson-Raybould, Jody
Paper Book
There is one question Canadians have asked Jody Wilson-Raybould more than any other: What can I do to help advance reconciliation? This has been true from her time as a leader of British Columbia's First Nations, as a Member of Parliament, as Minister of Justice and Attorney General,...
All the quiet places
Isaac, Brian Thomas
Paper Book
Finalist for the 2022 Governor General's Literary Award for Fiction Longlisted for the 2022 Scotiabank Giller Prize Winner of the 2022 Indigenous Voices Awards' Published Prose in English Prize Shortlisted for the 2022 Amazon Canada First Novel Award Longlisted...
Valley of the Birdtail : an Indian reserve, a white town, and the road to reconciliation
Sniderman, Andrew Michael Stobo
Paper Book
THE NATIONAL BESTSELLER Winner - 2023 Stubbendieck Great Plains Distinguished Book Prize Winner - 2023 John W. Dafoe Book Prize Winner - 2023 High Plains Book Award for Indigenous Writer Winner - 2022 Manitoba Historical Society Margaret McWilliams Book Award for Local...
Waiting for the Long Night Moon: Stories
Peters, Amanda
Paper Book
National Bestseller An intimate and personal debut collection of short fiction from the bestselling author of The Berry Pickers. The stories in Waiting for the Long Night Moon explore the Indigenous experience from an astonishingly wide spectrum in time and place--from contact with...
Five little Indians
Good, Michelle
Paper Book
WINNER: Canada Reads 2022 WINNER: Governor General's Literary Award for Fiction WINNER: Amazon First Novel Award WINNER: Kobo Emerging Author Prize  Finalist: Scotiabank Giller Prize Finalist: Atwood Gibson Writers Trust Prize Finalist: BC & Yukon...
Blanket toss under midnight sun : portraits of everyday life in eight Indigenous communities
Seesequasis, Paul
Paper Book
A revelatory portrait of eight Indigenous communities from across North America, shown through never-before-published archival photographs--a gorgeous extension of Paul Seesequasis's popular social media project. In 2015, writer and journalist Paul Seesequasis found himself...
Nishga
Abel, Jordan
Paper Book
WINNER of the Hubert Evans Non-Fiction Prize at the 2022 BC and Yukon Book Prizes From Griffin Poetry Prize winner Jordan Abel comes a groundbreaking, deeply personal, and devastating autobiographical meditation that attempts to address the complicated legacies of Canada's...
Up Ghost River : a chief's journey through the turbulent waters of Native history
Metatawabin, Edmund
Ebook
A powerful, raw yet eloquent memoir from a residential school survivor and former First Nations Chief, Up Ghost River is a necessary step toward our collective healing. In the 1950s, 7-year-old Edmund Metatawabin was separated from his family and placed in one of Canada's...
Canada's Residential Schools : The Final Report Of The Truth And Reconciliation Commission Of Canada
Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada
Ebook
Indigenous Relations : Insights, Tips and Suggestions to Make Reconciliations a Reality
JOSEPH, B. O. B.
Ebook
Truth Telling: Seven Conversations about Indigenous Life in Canada
Good, Michelle
Ebook
#1 NATIONAL BESTSELLER WINNER High Plains Book Award FINALIST for the Writers' Trust Balsillie Prize for Public Policy FINALIST for the Indigenous Voices Award Longlisted for the First Nation Communities READ A bold, provocative collection of essays exploring...
Talk Treaty to Me : Understanding the Basics of Treaties and Land in Canada
Fraser, Crystal Gail.
NATIONAL BESTSELLER AN EASY-TO-READ AND ESSENTIAL GUIDE TO TREATIES, INDIGENOUS SOVEREIGNTY, AND LAND FOR ALL CANADIANS Treaties cover much of Canada. Some were established thousands of years ago, with Land and animals, and others date back to the time...
Small Ceremonies : A Novel
Edwards, Kyle.
Paper Book
Part coming-of-age novel, part searing examination of a community finding itself, Small Ceremonies is a tantalizing and heartbreaking debut. "I fear for our friendship, for the day it will end, wondering when that day will be . . ." Tomahawk Shields (a...
Medicine walk
Wagamese, Richard
Paper Book
"One of the finest novels of the year." (Vancouver Sun) By the celebrated author of Canada Reads finalist Indian Horse, this is an unforgettable journey of a father and son, set in dramatic landscape of the BC Interior. For male and female readers equally, for readers of Joseph...
Decolonization and me : conversations about healing a nation and ourselves
McLeod, Kristy
Paper Book
This book invites readers to step into a space of reflection on your personal relationship with truth, reconciliation, and Orange Shirt Day. Written in response to the increase of residential school denialism, Phyllis Webstad and Kristy McLeod have collaborated to create a...
Wild People Quiet : A Novel
Gereaux, Tara.
Paper Book
NATIONAL BESTSELLER A taut, exquisitely rendered story exploring the repercussions of a woman's decision to hide her Métis identity while living in a small, predominantly white prairie town in the 1940s, for readers of The Berry Pickers, Tommy Orange, and The...
When the pine needles fall : Indigenous acts of resistance
Gabriel, Katsi'tsakwas Ellen
Paper Book
One of CBC Books Best Canadian Nonfiction Books of 2024 There have been many things written about Canada's violent siege of Kanehsatà:ke and Kahnawà:ke in the summer of 1990, but When the Pine Needles Fall: Indigenous Acts of Resistance is the first book from the perspective of Katsi...
Beautiful beautiful
Reid, Brandon
Paper Book
Imbued with passion, creativity and insight, Brandon Reid's debut novel is a wonderfully creative coming-of-age story exploring indigeneity, masculinity and cultural tradition. Twelve-year-old Derik Mormin travels with his father and a family friend to Bella Bella for his grandfather's...
The education of Augie Merasty : a residential school memoir
Merasty, Joseph Auguste
Paper Book
The Education of Augie Merasty offers a courageous and intimate chronicle of life in a residential school. Now a retired fisherman and trapper, Joseph A. (Augie) Merasty was one of an estimated 150,000 First Nations, Inuit, and Metis children who were...
Becoming a matriarch : a memoir
Knott, Helen
Paper Book
#1 NATIONAL BESTSELLER Co-winner of the 2024 George Ryga Award for Social Awareness in Literature * Winner of the Jim Deva Prize for Writing That Provokes (part of the BC and Yukon Book Prizes) * Shortlisted for the 2024 Hubert Evans Non-Fiction Prize * Finalist for...
You Are the Medicine : 13 Moons of Indigenous Wisdom, Ancestral Connection, and Animal Spirit Guidance
Frost, Asha.
Paper Book
Indigenous Medicine Woman Asha Frost invites readers to learn the healing medicine of the 13 Ojibway moons and the spirit animals that will guide their wisdom journey. The Medicine you have been searching for lives within you. Follow the path of the 13 Ojibwe Moons with Animal...
Beyond the rink : behind the images of residential school hockey
Giancarlo, Alexandra
Paper Book
Teammates, champions, Survivors In 1951, after winning the Thunder Bay district championship, the Sioux Lookout Black Hawks hockey team from Pelican Lake Indian Residential School embarked on a whirlwind promotional tour through Ottawa and Toronto. They were accompanied by a professional...
The boy from Buzwah : a life in Indian education
King, Cecil O.
Paper Book
Cecil King's remarkable memoir, from humble beginnings on a reservation to his unparalleled legacy to ensure Indian Control of Indian Education in Canada. "Through my eyes, my community was creative, innovative and self-sufficient. In this remote northern traditional First Nation...
The serviceberry : abundance and reciprocity in the natural world
Kimmerer, Robin Wall
Paper Book
An Instant New York Times Bestseller From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Braiding Sweetgrass, a bold and inspiring vision for how to orient our lives around gratitude, reciprocity, and community, based on the lessons of the natural world....
"A national crime" : the Canadian government and the residential school system, 1879 to 1986
Milloy, John Sheridan
Paper Book
With the conclusion of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, more Canadians than ever are aware of the ugly history of Canada's residential schools. Nearly twenty years before, UMP published John S. Milloy's A National Crime, a groundbreaking history of the schools that exposed...
Unsettling the settler within : Indian residential schools, truth telling, and reconciliation in Canada
Regan, Paulette
Paper Book
In 2008 the Canadian government apologized to the victims of the notorious Indian residential school system, and established a Truth and Reconciliation Commission whose goal was to mend the deep rifts between Aboriginal peoples and the settler society that engineered the system. Unsettling...
Echo Maker : Craig Macdonald and the Lives That Produced One of Canada's Most Significant Historical Maps
Raffan, James.
Paper Book
In an example of truth and reconciliation put into practice, Craig Macdonald spent decades creating a unique map of Temagami, developed through trust and experience, in partnership with the Teme-Augama Anishnabai. James Raffan's biography of Craig Macdonald and how the Historical Map of...
On Dismantling Settler Colonialism : An Insider's Perspective on Reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples
Olthuis, John.
Paper Book
On Dismantling Settler Colonialism challenges conventional approaches to reconciliation, urging Canadians to move away from the notion of assimilation - where Indigenous peoples are expected to conform to the values and structures of settler colonial society. Instead, this book advocates for a...
Still ruffling feathers : let us put our minds together
Wuttunee, Wanda A.
Revisiting the political activism of WIC Wuttunee William (Bill) Wuttunee was a trailblazing lawyer, a courageous native rights activist; and one of the architects of the process for the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. His 1971 book, Ruffled Feathers: Indians in Canadian Society,...
In this together : fifteen stories of truth & reconciliation
Metcalfe-Chenail, Danielle.
Paper Book
The release of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's (TRC) findings and recommendations in the spring of 2015 was an immensely important day for the people of Canada. It marked the hopeful beginning of change--a change of thinking, a change of opinion, a change in understanding. But how do...
Every Story Is a Call to Action
Robertson, David A.
Paper Book
In Every Story Is a Call to Action, David A. Robertson explores the role of Indigenous stories in stitching together a new understanding of Canada and nurturing a collective experience that helps create lasting social change. He emphasizes the vital and ongoing role of young people in the...
Leave Our Bones Where They Lay
Johnston, Aviaq
Paper Book
Every solstice, Jupi--just as his father did before him, and his before him--must make a nearly impossible pilgrimage to light an oil lamp at the base of a remote cliff. There he must wait for Kipik, an ancient being who has bound Jupi's family to a mammoth task: share a story every visit that...
Beaver Hills Forever: A Métis Poetic Novella
Kerr, Conor
Paper Book
Conor Kerr's 2024 novel Prairie Edge was a finalist for both the Giller Prize and the Atwood Gibson Writers' Trust of Canada Fiction Prize. His latest book, Beaver Hills Forever, takes a riotous, uncompromising look at the intertwined lives of four characters, each an abstract expression of the few...
The first few feet in a world of wolves : a novel
Mainprize, Scott
Paper Book
The First Few Feet in a World of Wolves chronicles the fictionalization of the year the author spent teaching in Aupaluk (a remote Inuit community on the Ungava Coast of Nunavik). The second outlines, and explores, the history of oppression experienced by the more than five hundred Indigenous...

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