Reading and discussing stories can help us deepen our collective understanding of the harms of colonization and inform the actions we can all take together to lead us toward reconciliation.
Highlighting Indigenous Voices
Selkirk Reads! aims to highlight Indigenous authors, voices and stories to help lead us toward greater understanding, truth and reconciliation.
Selkirk Reads! 2026
Selkirk Reads 2026! focuses on works connected to the Indian Day Schools in Canada exhibit created by the Legacy of Hope Foundation, which will be on display at Selkirk College this fall for students and employees.
Selkirk College champions will host one discussion circle on these selected works and speak about them at an event in October. Stay tuned for more information about how to join a discussion circle!
Selected Works
Book
- What We Learned: Two Generations Reflect on Tsimshian Education and the Day Schools by Helen Raptis, with members of the Tsimshian Nation
Podcast
- The Legacy of Hope Foundation and Roots and Hoots Presents – A Federal Indian Day School Series Podcast with Survivor Conrad Saulis (eight-part series)
Article
- "'[T]he Teacher that Cannot Understand their Language Should Not Be Allowed': Colonialism, Resistance, and Female Mi’kmaw Teachers in New Brunswick Day Schools, 1900–1923" by Martha E. Wall, Journal of the Canadian Historical Association
Additional works related to Indian day schools in Canada
Browse resources about Indian day schools in Canada to explore independently.
Books
- Lessons in Legitimacy: Colonialism, Capitalism and the Rise of State Schooling in British Columbia by Sean Carleton
- Spirit of the Grassroots People: Seeking Justice for Indigenous Survivors of Canada's Colonial Education System by Raymond Mason, edited by Jackson Pind and Theodore Michael Christou
- Students by Day: Colonialism and Resistance at the Curve Lake Indian Day School by Jackson Pind
Articles
- "Canada’s Indian Day Schools: The Case of Massett, Haida Gwaii, 1909–1924" by Alan L. Hayes, Wycliffe College at the University of Toronto
- "Silencing Voices: Indigenous Day Schools and the Education Section of Hawthorn's 1958 Report for British Columbia" by Stefan Dollinger, Veronika Larsen and Emilie Jones, British Journal of Canadian Studies
- "'The New Generation' Cooperative Education at the Day School on Dalles 38C Indian Reserve, 1890-1910" by Brittany Luby and Kathryn Labelle, Ontario History
- "Part of that Whole System': Maritime Day and Residential Schooling and Federal Culpability" by Martha Walls, St. Francis Xavier University
- "'True to my own noble race': Six Nations Women Teachers at Grand River in the Early Twentieth Century" by Alison Norman, Ontario History
Websites
Resources and Reading Lists
Deepen your learning with curated materials from past Selkirk Reads! Explore book lists by genre alongside resources and events related to truth and reconciliation.