Violet Pesheens is struggling to adjust to her new life at residential School. She misses her Grandma; she has run-ins with Cree girls; at her “white” school, everyone just stares; and everything she brought has been taken from her, including her name—she is now just a number. But worst of all, she has a fear. A fear of forgetting the things she treasures most: her Anishnabe language; the names of those she knew before; and her traditional customs. A fear of forgetting who she was. Her notebook is the one place she can record all of her worries, and heartbreaks, and memories. And maybe, just maybe there will be hope at the end of the tunnel. Drawing from her own experiences at Residential School, Ruby Slipperjack creates a brave, yet heartbreaking heroine in Violet, and lets young readers understand the effects of settler colonialism. * Shortlisted, RedCedar Award (BC Young Readers’ Choice 2018; Commended, Best Books for Kids and teens, Canadian Children’s Book Centre, Starred Selection, 2017; Commended, TD Summer Reading Club, 2017; Commended, CBC Best Books of the year, 2016

Contains materials that support students building background knowledge, accessing prior knowledge, generating questions, makding preductions and exploring vocabulary related to Residential Schools through Donna Klockers’ books. Designed specifically to help teachers accommodate struggling readers.

A story of how a little girl loses her spirit and identity during her time at Residential School.

In 2010-2011 the Legacy of Hope Foundation began developing an education program targeted to Canadian youth aged 11-18. This program is designed to support educators and administrators in raising awareness and teaching about the history and legacy of residential schools – effectively providing practical tools that can be implemented in classrooms. These products come in response to demands from educators for complete in-class resources, and serve as an entry point to both the subject matter and to existing resources currently available at wherearethechildren.ca The curriculum packages are comprised of videos including Survivor testimonials, a Teacher’s Guide with six customizable Lesson Plans (12-24 hrs of activities), teacher resources and extension activities.

This graphic novel is unique in its composition. It comes in two versions, a PG Version and an Uncut version. The two versions are essentially identical, but the Uncut version has additional details that are more gritty, including a chapter titled “The Cycle”, which charts the impacts of sexual abuse at the hands of a residential school priest on an Indigenous man. This graphic novel contains a complete story depicting the realities of the residential school experience; however, it includes newspaper clippings and select quotations which add depth and context to the story. While the facts and the concepts in the story make it easily accessible to readers of a young age, the PG Version is recommended for teens in grades 8 to 10, and the Uncut Version to teens in grades 11 and up due to the mature subject matter and the graphic depictions of violence and sexual abuse. This book, in both versions, includes a formal “Foreword” and a “Preface” that help situate this work in relation to large political movements.

Tim Giago weaves memoir, commentary, reflection and poetry together to boldly illustrate his often-horrific experiences as a child at a residential school run by the Catholic Church. Through his words, the experience of one child becomes a metaphor for the experience of many who were literally ripped from their tribal roots and torn from their families for nine months of the year in order to be molded to fit into colonial society. Dramatic and intensely moving black-and-white illustrations by Giago’s daughter Denise illuminate the text.

Long a leading figure in American literature, N. Scott Momaday is perhaps best known for his Pulitzer Prize-winning House Made of Dawn and his celebration of his Kiowa ancestry, The Way to Rainy Mountain. Momaday has also made his mark in theater through two plays and a screenplay. Published here for the first time, they display his signature talent for interweaving oral and literary traditions.
The Indolent Boys recounts the 1891 tragedy of runaways from the Kiowa Boarding School who froze to death while trying to return to their families. The play explores the consequences, for Indigenous students and their white teachers, of the federal program to “kill the Indian and save the Man.” A joyous counterpoint to this tragedy, Children of the Sun is a short children’s play that explains the people’s relationship to the sun. The Moon in Two Windows, a screenplay set in the early 1900s, centers on the children of defeated Native tribes, who are forced into assimilation at Carlisle, Pennsylvania, where the U.S. government established the first off-reservation boarding school.
Belonging with the best of Momaday’s classic writing, these plays are works of a mature craftsman that preserve the mythic and cultural tradition of unique tribal communities in the face of an increasingly homogeneous society.

A personal and inspiring story about a young Métis woman with a history of abuse who triumphed over a harsh start in life. Josie Penny’s life as part of a loving Métis family in an isolated corner of Labrador changed dramatically when she was taken away to a residential school. Abused by the students, Josie became increasingly angry and isolated from her family and community as she grew into her teens. At seventeen she left for Goose Bay to make her fortune and start her own life. On the Goose is the story of how Josie came to terms with her feelings of helplessness and isolation as she began to understand why she could not feel or express love. Josie Penny’s memoir is an inspiring true story of how love and hard work helped one woman triumph over adversity.