Learn about National Indigenous People Day & National Indigenous History Month
On June 21, engage in new learning about the heritage, diverse cultures and outstanding achievements of First Nations, Inuit and Métis and celebrate in a safe way from home.
Dance
Springtime is Pow Wow time for many Indigenous cultures in Canada. Pow Wows are joyous and beautiful expressions of culture meant to uplift people after the winter. This year, due to the pandemic restrictions, PowWows have gone online
Learn PowWow dancing 101 with Nyla Carpentier of the Tahltan and Kaska First Nations.
The Jingle Dress Dance, popular at Pow wows, is known as a dance of healing.
Film & Documentaries
Everything Indigenous (CBC Gem)
Reel Injun (trailer)
50 Years of Indigenous-Made Cinema in Canada: A Celebration (Article)
NFB library of films about Indigenous Peoples
Reel Canada catalogue of Indigenous Made Films
Shadow of Dumont (trailer)
Rhymes for Young Ghouls (trailer)
Blood Quantum (trailer)
Smoke Signals (trailer)
Stolen Spirits of Haida Gwaii (movie)
Thunderheart (trailer)
Windtalkers (trailer)
Searching For Winnetou (documentary)
Maker of Monsters: The Extraordinary Life of Beau Dick (documentary)
Many of these documentaries and films are free to live streaming through the Capilano University Library using your regular employee login details.
Indigenous Authors
Assiniwi, Bernard (translation by Wayne Grady) – The Beothuk Saga
Bartleman, James – As Long as the Rivers Flow
Boyden, Joseph – The Orenda
Boyden, Joseph – Three Day Road
Boyden, Joseph – Wenjack
Busch, Frank Christopher – Grey Eyes
Daniels, Carol – Bearskin Diary
Dumont, Marilyn – A Really Good Brown Girl
Erdrich, Louise – The Beet Queen
Florence, Melanie – Righting Canada’s Wrongs
Fontaine, Naomi - Kuessipan
Freeman, Mini Aodla – Life Among the Qallunaat
Highway, Tomson – Dry Lips Oughta Move to Kapuskasing
Hill, Greg, Dueker, Chris & Martin, Lee-Ann – Alex Janvier
Joseph, Bob - 21 Things You May Not Know About the Indian Act
Justice, Daniel Heath - Badger
Kinew, Wab – The Reason You Walk
King, Thomas – A Short History of Indians in Canada
King, Thomas – Green Grass, Running Water
King, Thomas – The Inconvenient Indian
Kirkness, Verna J. – Creating Space: My Life and Work in Indigenous Education
Ladner, Kiera L. & Tait, Myra J. – Surviving Canada: Indigenous Peoples Celebrate 150 Years of Betrayal
Lindberg, Tracey – Birdie
Mailhot, Terese Marie – Heart Berries: A Memoir
Nappaaluk, Mitiarjuk (translation by Bernard Saladin D’Anglure) – Sanaaq
Robinson, Eden – Monkey Beach
Robinson, Eden – Son of a Trickster
Tagaq, Tanya – Split Tooth
Talaga, Tanya – Seven Fallen Feathers
Taylor, Drew Hayden – Motorcycles and Sweetgrass
Vermette, Katherena – The Break
Wagamese, Richard – Embers: One Ojibway’s Meditations
Wagamese, Richard – Indian Horse
Wagamese, Richard – Medicine Walk
Watt-Cloutier, Sheila – The Right to be Cold: One Woman’s Story of Protecting Her Culture, The Arctic and the Whole Planet
Whitehead, Joshua – Jonny Appleseed
Yahgulanaas, Michael – A Haida Manga
Yahgulanaas, Michael (Contributions by His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Wangari Maathai) – Flight of the Humminbird: A Parable for the Environment
Music
Explore Canada’s award winning Indigenous composers, music groups, session players, solo artists, and songwriters and listen to some Indigenous Music
Indigenous Humour
Indigenous people love to laugh! Listen to CBC’s Unreserved episode called Stand-up, sketch and satire: The rise of Indigenous comedy.
Two of the many Indigenous comedians: Charlie Hill at the Winnipeg Comedy Fest and Don Burnstick.
Online Museum Collections
Online stories from the Canadian Museum of Human Rights:
Approaching the human rights stories of Indigenous peoples
Picking Up the Pieces: The Making of the Witness Blanket
Dick Patrick: An Indigenous veteran’s fight for inclusion
Childhood denied
Bringing the ancestors home
Podcasts
Native Currents
This Land
Red Man Laughing
Coffee With My Ma
All My Relations
The Jig Is Up
Missing and Murdered: Finding Cleo
Indigenous Training and Learning
There are many options available, including:
Indigenous Canada free course through Coursera (University of Alberta)
Aboriginal Worldviews and Education free course through Coursera (University of Toronto)
Reconciliation Through Indigenous Education free course through EdX (UBC)
Truth and Reconciliation Commission
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission was launched following the Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement to inform all Canadians about what happened in Indian Residential Schools (IRS), and to document the truth of the survivors, families, communities, and all those who were and continue to be personally affected by the IRS experience. Through learning, the TRC hopes to inspire Indigenous peoples and Canadians in building respectful relationships based on mutual understanding. Learn more from the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation.
Submitted by: Communications