National Indigenous History Month is celebrated each June to honour and recognize the unique histories, cultures and contributions of First Nations, Inuit and Métis Peoples in Canada. It is an opportunity for non-Indigenous Canadians to recognize and learn the significant role Indigenous Peoples have played and continue to play in shaping Canada. To commemorate, we have highlighted some titles that explore the history and experiences of Indigenous Peoples:
Truth Telling: Seven Conversations About Indigenous Life in Canada by Michelle Good
An essential reading for those looking to acknowledge the past and understand the way forward. Michelle Good examines a wide range of Indigenous issues framed be her personal experience and knowledge. From racism, broken treaties, and cultural pillaging, to the value of Indigenous lives and the importance of Indigenous literature, this collection reveals facts about Indigenous life in Canada that are both devastating and enlightening. Truth Telling also demonstrates the myths underlying Canadian history and the human cost of colonialism, showing how it continues to underpin modern social institutions in Canada.
Moving the Museum: Indigenous + Canadian Art at the AGO
Lavishly illustrated with more than 100 reproductions, Moving the Museum documents the reopening of the J.S. McLean Centre for Indigenous & Canadian Art with a renewed focus on the AGO’s Indigenous art collection. The featured artists and essayists invite readers to engage with issues of land, water, transformation, and sovereignty and to contemplate the historic and future representation of Indigenous and Canadian art in museums.
Me Tomorrow: Indigenous Views on the Future
In Me Tomorrow, First Nations, Metis and Inuit artists, activists, educators and writers, youth and elders come together to envision Indigenous futures in Canada and around the world. Discussing everything from language renewal to sci-fi, this collection is a powerful and important expression of imagination rooted in social critique, cultural experience, traditional knowledge, activism and the multifaceted experiences of Indigenous people on Turtle Island.
A Minor Chorus by Billy-Ray Belcourt
In Northern Alberta, a queer Indigenous doctoral student steps away from his dissertation to write a novel. He is adrift, caught between his childhood on the reservation and this new life of the urban intelligentsia. This is a haunting, reflective and thought-provoking novel that brings the modern queer and Indigenous experience into sharp relief.
Lastly, we encourage you to take part in CPL’s upcoming Kairos Blanket Exercise on Saturday, June 10 – an intense, interactive virtual workshop that demonstrates the relationship between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people. This program is part of Caledon Public Library’s year-long Indigenous Series.
For those looking for more resources, please visit our Truth and Reconciliation page.
