Resources 

 

What relationships and responsibilities do we share and carry on Indigenous lands?

 

To expand your understanding of the recorded, roundtable conversations, we invite and encourage you to explore the resources collected here. We recommend that residents, visitors, and guests on lək̓ʷəŋən lands view this powerful recording of the City of Victoria’s first Reconciliation Dialogue. Support and community groups may want to consider reaching out to local Elders, knowledge keepers, community liaisons, and/or educators to build respectful, relational, and place-based foundations for learning.  

To help you navigate these resources made available on local Indigenous histories, cultures, and initiatives, we offer the following questions for your personal reflection:

 

  • On whose lands do you live, work, and play?
  • How did you arrive on these territories?
  • What names and practices maintain and express Indigenous relationships with these territories?
  • What are the local histories of treaty, settlement, and colonization? How did settlement impact Indigenous peoples’ communities and relationships to the land?

Below is a list of resources and information that you can access to further cultivate your knowledge of the conversations that have taken place during the roundtables. Where possible, we have included links where you can access electronic versions of book resources through the UVic library. 

 

 

Local Community Resources:

  • VNFC Bruce Parisian Library | Found at the Native Friendship Centre, this public library offers a wide selection of Indigenous works for all ages and interests. It is home to over 4600 works! 
  • Victoria Reconciliation Dialogues | From the website: “Guided by members of Lekwungen Nations and the City Family, Mayor Lisa Helps, members of City Council and special guests, the conversations seek to build the community’s knowledge and understanding of Reconciliation – what it is, why it is needed, and why community conversations about Reconciliation are important.” These conversations took place over the web and you can view archived versions through the following link:  Recording of Victoria Reconciliation Dialogues
  • W̱SÁNEĆ Leadership Council | The W̱SÁNEĆ Leadership Council offers a wide selection of resources for settlers and newcomers to learn more about the history, language, and culture of the The W̱SÁNEĆ people. The resources on this page are very accessible for all learners.

  • Perpetual Salish: Coast Salish Art in the Classroom | You will find at this site Coast Salish territories maps in addition to a resource centre of cross-cultural lesson plans for students and teacher.  

Web Resources and Podcasts: 

  • Native-land.ca | This map is an educational resource that provides Indigenous place names and territories. This project and digital map is organized by the not-for-profit organization, Native Land Digital, which is governed by an Indigenous board of directors. 
  • First Peoples: A Guide for Newcomers | From the guide: “The Guide was based on comprehensive research of various topics identified by the Dialogues Steering Committee. It draws on contemporary academic, First Nations and community sources. A Working Group made up of First Nations and community members provided advice and resources. Members of the group discussed how the Guide could best meet the needs of newcomers and enhance newcomers’ understanding of Aboriginal people in Vancouver and Canada”
  • First Peoples’ Map of B.C. | From the website: “British Columbia is home to 204 First Nations communities and an amazing diversity of Indigenous languages; approximately 50% of the First Peoples’ languages of Canada are spoken in B.C. To access information on all the First Nations languages and communities in B.C., use the search bar at the top of the page or click on any of the tabs below.” 
  • British Columbia Assembly of First Nations Interactive Map 
  • Songhees Nation | This resources provides an overview of the Songhees Nation, including territorial maps as well as community and cultural initiatives. 
  • University of Victoria’s Territory Acknowledgement | This is UVic’s land acknowledgement that proceeds events that take place on campus. This acknowledgement was prepared in consultation with local Indigenous communities. 
  • Challenging Racist British Columbia: 150 Years and Counting | (from their website) This is “a new open-access, multi-media resource that documents how this recent cycle of anti-racist activism is part of a broader history of Indigenous, Black and other racialized communities challenging white supremacy for over 150 years – particularly since 1871 when BC joined Canada. Co-authored by activists & scholars from diverse communities, this resource will assist anti-racist educators, teachers, scholars, and policymakers in piercing the silences that too often have let racism fester in communities, corporations, and governments.”
  • Talking Reconcili-Action | (from their website) “In July 2019, three student volunteers with the BC Heritage Fairs Society interviewed four members of the W̱SÁNEĆ First Nation on Vancouver Island: an Elder, two artists and a language revitalization teacher. They then created short videos that addressed specific topics related to the Truth and Reconciliation Report and on the W̱SÁNEĆ people. On this website, you’ll find links to the videos the alumni created, a slideshow of pictures from our interviews, and finally, a detailed teacher’s guide with lesson plans for student led “Reconcili-Action” projects.”
  • Telling our Twisted Histories | Host Kaniehti:io Horn guides listeners of all kinds to decolonize theirs minds and their vocabulary one word at a time through histories and knowledges from Indigenous speakers. This podcast is very accessible. 
  • MediaINDIGENA: interactive indigenous insight | This podcast offers perspectives from Indigenous communities and persons on a variety of topics from water to food to cannabis to current events. 
  • All My Relations | (from their website) “On each episode hosts Matika Wilbur (Tulalip and Swinomish) and Adrienne Keene (Cherokee Nation), delve into a different topic facing Native peoples today, bringing in guests from all over Indian Country to offer perspectives and stories. We dive deep, play some games, laugh a lot, cry sometimes, and hope that you’ll join us on this journey together.”

Historical and Educational Resources: 

  • Building Bridges: By Building Understanding Through Current Events | An educator’s resource that provides lesson plans to create classroom conversations around building better relationships between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples. This kit of lesson plans, tools, and strategies is indispensable for both educators and learners. 
  • Full Circle: First Nations, Métis, Inuit Ways of Knowing | This resources was developed by the Ontario Secondary School Teacher’s Federation by Métis and First Nations educators and educators who work with Indigenous students. Further to providing lesson plans for all subjects (English, social studies, sciences, etc.), this resource offers a lot of background knowledge for putting Indigenous ways of knowing into their local contexts. 
  • As We Have Always Done: Indigenous Freedom Through Radical Resistance by Michi Saagiig Nishnaabeg scholar, artists, and writer Leanne Betasamosake Simpson | This critical work engages with decolonization, land back, and histories of Canadian settler colonialism from Nishnabaabeg intellectual practices. You can learn more about Simpson and their important workby clicking this link
  • Why Indigenous Literatures Matter by Colorado-born Canadian citizen of the Cherokee Nation/ ᏣᎳᎩᎯ ᎠᏰᎵ Daniel Heath Justice | In this work, Justice explores four key questions through a survey of Indigenous literatures and stories: (from the back of the book) “How do we learn to be human? How do we become good relatives? How do we become good ancestors? How do we learn to live together?” You can learn more about Justice and his work as a scholar and writerby clicking here.
  • This Place: 150 Years Retold | This collection of graphic shorts by Indigenous artists and writers from across Turtle Island retells the history of this place known as Canada through the perspective of Indigenous persons and communities. It recounts key events since the confederation of Canada, offering a comprehensive account of the history of this place. 
  • Undoing Border Imperialism by Harsha Walia | This work sets out to describe the global forces that bring newcomers to the lands of Indigenous peoples and provides a critical language for building grassroots organizations and solidarities between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples. You can learn more about Harsha Walia here .

Creative Works in English: 

  • Monkey Beach by member of the Haisla and Heiltsuk First Nations Eden Robinson. 
  • The Marrow Thieves by Cherie Dimaline of Georgian Bay Métis Nation in Canada. 
  • Jonny Appleseed by Two-Spirit, Oji-nêhiyaw member of Peguis First Nation (Treaty 1) writer, poet, and scholar Joshua Whitehead.