Research Guides: TRU Library Book Displays: Orange Shirt Day

On Display at TRU Library's Learning Commons

September 30th is marked as:

Truth and Reconciliation Day, also known as Orange Shirt Day.

We wear orange shirts on this day as a sign of respect and remembrance of the Indigenous children lost to the Canadian Residential Schools, and those who survived with painful memories to bear. The Residential Schools caused generational trauma to Indigenous families all across Canada. We must acknowledge this dark truth in Canadian history, so we can grieve, heal, and reconcile for a better Canadian future.

We picked this selection of e-books to inform and educate about the meaning of Orange Shirt Day and the truth and history of Canadian residential schools.

Listen to a conversation between TRU Chancellor DeDe DeRose and Secwépemc Cultural Advisor Ted Gottfriedson reflecting on the realities of the tragic and sorrow-filled legacy of residential schools.

Cplul'kw'ten

Cplul'kw'ten is a culturally safe space where students can find support from staff, Elders, and an Indigenous Counselor.

Orange Shirt Day

Beyond the Orange Shirt Story: A collection of stories from family and friends of Phyllis Webstad before, during, and after their Residential School experiences by Phyllis Webstad
Call Number: (ebook)
ISBN: 9781989122754
Publication Date: 2021-09-01
"Beyond the Orange Shirt Story is a unique collection of truths, as told by Phyllis Webstad's family and others, that will give readers an up-close look at what life was like before, during, and after their Residential School experiences. In this book, Survivors and Intergenerational Survivors share their stories authentically and in their own words.
Orange Shirt Day: September 30th : Every Child Matters by Orange Shirt Orange Shirt Society; Phyllis Webstad (Editor); Joan Sorley (Editor)
Call Number: (ebook)
ISBN: 9781989122433
Publication Date: 2020-09-01
Orange Shirt Day is observed annually on September 30th to honour Residential School Survivors and their families, and to remember those who did not make it. It was initially envisioned as a way to keep the conversations going about all aspects of Residential Schools in Williams Lake and the Cariboo Region of British Columbia, Canada. It has now expanded into a movement across Canada and beyond.
The Orange Shirt Story by Phyllis Webstad; Brock Nicol (Illustrator); Emma Bullen (Editor)
Call Number: (ebook)
ISBN: 9780993869495
Publication Date: 2018-09-01
When Phyllis Webstad (nee Jack) turned six, she went to the residential school for the first time. On her first day at school, she wore a shiny orange shirt that her Granny had bought for her, but when she got to the school, it was taken away and never returned. This is the true story of Phyllis and her orange shirt. It is also the story of Orange Shirt Day, an important day of remembrance for all Canadians.

Residential Schools and Truth and Reconciliation

Arts of engagement : taking aesthetic action in and beyond the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada by Dylan Robinson (Editor); Keavy Martin (Editor)
Call Number: (ebook)
ISBN: 9781771121705
Publication Date: 2016-07-15
Arts of Engagement focuses on the role that music, film, visual art, and Indigenous cultural practices play in and beyond Canada's Truth and Reconciliation Commission on Indian Residential Schools. Contributors here examine the impact of aesthetic and sensory experience in residential school history, at TRC national and community events, and in artwork and exhibitions not affiliated with the TRC.
Behind Closed Doors: Stories from the Kamloops Indian Residential School: Revised Edition by Agness Jack (Editor)
Call Number: (ebook)
ISBN: 9781894778411
Publication Date: 2006-11-01
Behind Closed Doors: Stories from the Kamloops Indian Residential School is about healing. Thirty-two individuals who attended the Kamloops school came forward to tell their stories as par of their personal healing journeys. They agreed to share their stories in the form of a book so their families and communities could learn and understand what happened behind the closed doors of the Kamloops Indian Residential School (KIRS), and so all Canadians could know the truth about residential schools so that history is never repeated.
Canada's Residential Schools: The History, Part 1, Origins to 1939 : The Final Report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, Volume I by Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada
Call Number: (ebook)
ISBN: 9780773546493
Publication Date: 2015-12-09
Between 1867 and 2000, the Canadian government sent over 150,000 Aboriginal children to residential schools across the country. Government officials and missionaries agreed that in order to “civilize and Christianize” Aboriginal children, it was necessary to separate them from their parents and their home communities. For children, life in these schools was lonely and alien. Discipline was harsh, and daily life was highly regimented. Aboriginal languages and cultures were denigrated and suppressed. The product of over six years of research, the Commission's final report outlines the history and legacy of the schools, and charts a pathway towards reconciliation.
Canada's Residential Schools: The History, Part 2, 1939 to 2000 : The Final Report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, Volume I by Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada
Call Number: (ebook)
ISBN: 9780773546516
Publication Date: 2015-12-09
The product of over six years of research, the Commission's final report outlines the history and legacy of the schools, and charts a pathway towards reconciliation. Canada's Residential Schools: The History, Part 2, 1939 to 2000 carries the story of the residential school system from the end of the Great Depression to the closing of the last remaining schools in the late 1990s. It demonstrates that the underfunding and unsafe living conditions that characterized the early history of the schools continued into an era of unprecedented growth and prosperity for most Canadians.
Did You See Us?: Reunion, Remembrance, and Reclamation at an Urban Indian Residential School by Andrew Woolford (Editor); Survivors of the Assiniboia Indian Residential School
Call Number: (ebook)
ISBN: 9780887559075
Publication Date: 2021-03-19
Did You See Us? offers a glimpse of Assiniboia that is not available in the archival records. It connects readers with a specific residential school and illustrates that residential schools were often complex spaces where forced assimilation and Indigenous resilience co-existed. These recollections of Assiniboia at times diverge, but together exhibit Survivor resilience and the strength of the relationships that bond them to this day.
Fragments of Truth: Residential Schools and the Challenge of Reconciliation in Canada by Naomi Angel; Dylan Robinson (Editor); Jamie Berthe (Editor)
Call Number: (ebook)
ISBN: 9781478015932
Publication Date: 2022-10-28
In 2008, the Canadian government established a Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) to review the history of the residential school system, a brutal colonial project that killed and injured many Indigenous children and left a legacy of trauma and pain. In Fragments of Truth Naomi Angel analyzes the visual culture of reconciliation and memory in relation to this complex and painful history.
A Knock on the Door: The Essential History of Residential Schools From the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, Edited and Abridged by Phil Fontaine (Foreword by); Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada; Aimée Craft (Afterword by)
Call Number: (ebook)
ISBN: 9780887557859
Publication Date: 2015-12-18
“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). Between 2008 and 2015, the TRC provided opportunities for individuals, families, and communities to share their experiences of residential schools and released several reports based on 7000 survivor statements and five million documents from government, churches, and schools, as well as a solid grounding in secondary sources.
Knowing the Past, Facing the Future: Indigenous Education in Canada by Sheila Carr-Stewart (Editor)
Call Number: (ebook)
ISBN: 9780774880343
Publication Date: 2019-11-15
Knowing the Past, Facing the Future offers a sweeping account of Indigenous education in Canada, from the first treaty promises and the failure of government-run schools to illuminating discussions of what needs to change now to work toward reconciliation.
Picking Up the Pieces : Residential School Memories and the Making of the Witness Blanket by Carey Newman; Kirstie Hudson
Call Number: (ebook)
ISBN: 9781459819955
Publication Date: 2019-09-10
Waubgeshig Rice, journalist and author of Moon of the Crusted Snow Picking Up the Pieces tells the story of the making of the Witness Blanket, a living work of art conceived and created by Indigenous artist Carey Newman. It includes hundreds of items collected from residential schools across Canada, everything from bricks, photos and letters to hockey skates, dolls and braids. Every object tells a story
Residential schools and reconciliation : Canada confronts its history by J.R. Miller
Call Number: (ebook)
ISBN: 9781487514839
Publication Date: 2017
n Residential Schools and Reconciliation, award winning author J.R. Miller tackles and explains these institutional responses to Canada's residential school legacy. Analysing archival material and interviews with former students, politicians, bureaucrats, church officials, and the Chief Commissioner of the TRC, Miller reveals a major obstacle to achieving reconciliation--the inability of Canadians at large to overcome their flawed, overly positive understanding of their country's history.
Truth and reconciliation [electronic resource] : the legacy of residential schools in Canada by Written, edited and directed by Matt Lemay ; Motion graphics, Shauna Kennedy ; Music by Mustapio : Algonquin Dancer, Josee Bourgeois.
Call Number: (streaming video)
ISBN: 9532931001
Publication Date: 2016
This program examines the history, legacy and current impacts of the Residential School experience in Canada. From the establishment of the early Residential Schools to the work of the Trusth and Reconciliation Commission, this film shines a light into this dark chapter of Canadian history. Written and directed by multiple award winning Métis filmmaker Matt LeMay, this poignant documentary features interviews with Phil Fontaine, Shawn Atleo, Dr. Marie Wilson, Dr. Mike Degagne, and Martha Marsden.
Tsqelmucwílc : The Kamloops Indian Residential School―Resistance and a Reckoning by Celia Haig-Brown
Call Number: (ebook)
ISBN: 9781551529066
Publication Date: 2022
In May 2021, the world was shocked by the news of the detection of 215 unmarked graves on the grounds of the former Kamloops Indian Residential School (KIRS) in British Columbia. The egregious abuses suffered at residential schools everywhere created a multi-generational legacy of trauma for those who survived and, as the 2021 discoveries confirmed, death for too many.