Great Books Offer a Path Toward Truth and Reconciliation
As the weather warms and thoughts turn to summer, we at The Watershed would like to open up a dialogue about favourite books that address the very big issues arising out of the Truth and Reconciliation process in Canada.
To that end, we offer the beginnings of a Recommended Reading list. All of the books listed below are available in bookstores and libraries around the Lower Mainland.
These titles are just a start – we'd love to hear your recommendations. Please add your favourite Indigenous authors in the comments below.
by Bob Joseph.
An essential guide to understanding the legal document and its repercussion on generations of Indigenous peoples,
by Jody Wilson-Raybould
How can you help advance reconciliation? True Reconciliation is broken down into three core practices—Learn, Understand, and Act.
Also by Jody Wilson-Raybould:
by Thomas King
A critical and personal meditation about what it means to be “Indian” in North America.
by Jesse Wente
A stirring call to arms to put truth over the flawed concept of reconciliation, and to build a new, respectful relationship between the nation of Canada and Indigenous peoples.
by Chelsea Vowel
A smart, approachable look at the history and contemporary issues facing Indigenous peoples in Canada.
Do you have a favourite book by an Indigenous author? The titles listed here all deal with Indigenous Truth and Reconciliation issues, but in a future edition of this column, we'll address fiction by Indigenous authors, too. Feel free to share your favourites in the comments below, or by emailing editor@lionsbaywatershed.ca
My dad gave me the “21 things you may not know about the Indian Act” by Bob Joseph last year. Our family is Métis and the book is an enlightinging read as it plays on the ignorance of our Canadian social studies courses and what we were taught in school as opposed to what we should have been taught. I have a copy if anyone wants to borrow it.