LibGuides: Native Studies: Indigenous Peoples of Canada: Residential Schools

Databases

Indigenous Studies Portal (iPortal)
Browse through information about residential schools by selecting Education, then Residential Schools.

More Databases

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Quick Picks

Historical Overview

A National Crime: The Canadian Government and the Residential School System, 1879 to 1986 (book)
Shingwauk's Vision: A History of Native Residential Schools (book)

Survivors' Stories

Survivors Speak: A Report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada (report)
NCTR Statements and Videos (video)
The Education of Augie Merasty (book and ebook)
My Decade at Old Sun, My Lifetime of Hell (book and ebook)
They Called Me Number One: Secrets and Survival at an Indian Residential School (book and ebook)

Websites

Residential School Locations
Residential schools in Canada, available as a list or map.
Photos of Residential Schools in Manitoba
View historical photos of residential schools in Manitoba, or across Canada, from Library and Archives Canada.
Statement of Apology to Former Students of Indian Residential Schools

TRC and the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation

The National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation is the permanent home of statements, documents, and other materials created during the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada.

The NCTR website also provides resources for research on residential schools. Look through the Reports page to find the full text of many recent and historical reports. You can find important documents on the Reading, Literature, Records, and Documents page.

Reports

Books and Ebooks

This Benevolent Experiment by Andrew Woolford
Call Number: E96 .W66 2015
Publication Date: 2015
Andrew Woolford analyzes the formulation of the "Indian problem" as a policy concern in the United States and Canada and examines how the "solution" of Indigenous boarding schools was implemented in Manitoba and New Mexico. The genocidal project inherent in these boarding schools, however, did not unfold in either nation without diversion, resistance, and unintended consequences. This Benevolent Experiment offers a multilayered, comparative analysis of Indigenous boarding schools in the United States and Canada.
A National Crime by John S. Milloy
Call Number: E 96.5 M55 1999. Also available as ebook
Publication Date: 1999
Using previously unreleased government documents, historian John S. Milloy provides a full picture of the history and reality of the residential school system.
The Circle Game: Shadows and Substance in the Indian Residential School Experience in Canada
Call Number: E 96.5 C57 2006
Publication Date: 2006
The authors of this book argue that existing accounts of Residential Schools in various Canadian and Aboriginal media systematically obscure and misinform about the facts and their interpretation; that, rather than undoing the harm done by Indian Residential Schools, present day accounts maintain and extend the abominable era.
Shingwauk's Vision: A History of Native Residential Schools by J. R. Miller
Call Number: E 96.5 M54 1996. Also available as ebook
Publication Date: 1996
In this first comprehensive history of these institutions, J.R. Miller explores the motives of all three agents in the story. He looks at the separate experiences and agendas of the government officials who authorized the schools, the missionaries who taught in them, and the students who attended them. Based on extensive interviews as well as archival research, Miller's history is particularly rich in Native accounts of the school system.
Co-winner of the 1996 Saskatchewan Book Award for nonfiction. Winner of the 1996 John Wesley Dafoe Foundation competition for Distinguished Writing by Canadians. Named an 'Outstanding Book on the subject of human rights in North America' by the Gustavus Myer Center for the Study of Human Rights in North America.
Shattered Spirits in the Land of the Little Sticks by Herman Michell
Call Number: E96.5 .M53 2015
Publication Date: 2015
Shattered Spirits in the Land of the Little Sticks traces the impacts of residential school experiences within the life of a male survivor of Woodland Cree heritage. Dr Michell also places these experiences within the context of residential schools and colonization in Canada, and describes the lasting impact of Residential school abuse at the family and community levels.

Want to find more books? Not sure how? Watch this captioned video tutorial, or read the text version.

Documentaries and Videos

We Were Children
This feature film tells the story of residential schools through the eyes of two young children.
Where Are the Children? Healing the Legacy of the Residential Schools
The Legacy of Hope Foundation created this documentary as an educational resource about residential schools.
Second Stories: It Had to Be Done
This 22 minute long National Film Board film tells the story of two survivors of residential school, who returned as adults to work in the school they had attended.