Resources for National Day for Truth & Reconciliation

September 30th is the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.

We recognize that Truth and Reconciliation is not contained to one day; it is an ongoing practice. Today and every day, we consider our responsibility as Treaty people.

Below, please find an incomplete and evolving list of resources in recognition of Truth and Reconciliation.

The resources below explore a difficult history of the violent colonization and genocide of Indigenous peoples. This is not a distant history. It continues to adversely impact Indigenous communities today. The ripple of that impact will be felt for generations.

We invite you to please listen, learn, unlearn, reflect, and, when you are ready, take action.

Questions? Have a resource you’d like to see added to this list? Please reach out: hello@fringetheatre.ca.

LEARN:

INDIGENOUS THEATRE, FESTIVALS, AND EVENTS:

2025 Events

Local

Beyond

TAKE ACTION:

Consider: Do you know what your elected representative’s stances are on Truth and Reconciliation? Take some time from your day to do some research. List of Representatives by Jurisdiction:
- Federal
- Provincial
- Municipal
  - Consider further action: write a letter or two to make your views known if they differ from your representative’s.
Canadian Land Governance Must Respect Indigenous Rights
Canadian Women’s Foundation – Read & Take Action

INTERACT:

WATCH:

LISTEN:

READ:

Non-Fiction:
- 21 Things You May Not Know About the Indian Act: Helping Canadians Make Reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples a Reality by Bob Joseph
- The Inconvenient Indian: A Curious Account of Native People in North America by Thomas King
- Me Artsy: An Exploration of Contemporary Native Arts by Drew Hayden Taylor
- Medicine Shows by Yyelle Nolans
- Seven Fallen Feathers: Racism, Death, and Hard Truths in a Northern City by Tanya Talaga
- The Reason You Walk by Web Kinew
- In My Own Moccasins by Helen Knott
- They Called Me Number One: Secrets and Survival at an Indian Residential School by Bev Sellars
Fiction (Graphic Novel):
- Pemmican Wars (A Girl Called Echo #1) by Katherena Vermette & Scott B. Henderson
- This Place: 150 Years Retold by 11 Different Authors & 11 Different Illustrators
Fiction (Children):
- Phyllis’s Orange Shirt by Phyllis Webstad & Brock Nicol
- I Am Not a Number by Jenny Kay Dupuis
- Shi-shi-etko by Nicola I. Campbell & Kim LaFave
Fiction (Young Adult):
- The Marrow Thieves by Cherie Dimaline
- Dear Canada: These Are My Words: The Residential School Diary of Violet Pesheens by Ruby Slipperjack
Fiction (Adult):
- Five Little Indians by Michelle Good
- Indian Horse by Richard Wagamese
- Porcupines and China Dolls by Robert Arthur Alexie
Plays:
- After the Fire by Matthew MacKenzie
- Almighty Voice and His Wife by Daniel David Moses
- Annie Mae’s Movement by Yvette Nolan
- The Art of War by Yvette Nolan
- Bears by Matthew MacKenzie
- Children of God by Corey Payette
- Coy Wolf by Colin Wolf
- Death of a Chief by Nolan and Kennedy Cathy Mackinnon
- Dreary and Izzy by Tara Beagan
- Dry Lips Oughta Move to Kapuskasing by Thomson Highway
- Everything I Couldn’t Tell You by Jeff D’Hondt
- First Métis Man of Odesa by Matthew MacKenzie & Mariya Khomutova
- Frozen River (nîkwatin sîpiy) by Michaela Washburn, Joelle Peters & Carrie Costello
- God and the Indian by Drew Hayden Taylor
- The Herd by Kenneth T. Williams
- The Hours that Remain by Keith Barker
- This is How We Got Here by Keith Barker
- Huff by Cliff Cardinal
- Inspiration Point by John Garfield Barlow
- In Spirit by Tara Beagan
- Indian Act: Residential School Plays (Anthology) by Donna-Michelle St. Bernard
- Indian Arm by Hiro Kanagawa
- Niizh by Joelle Peters
- The Particulars by Matthew MacKenzie
- Reasonable Doubt by Joel Bernbaum, Lancelot Knight & Yvette Nolan
- Staging Coyote’s Dream Volume 1, 2 & 3 by Monique Mojica & Ric Knowles
- Stitch by Cliff Cardinal
- Tales of an Urban Indian by Darrell Dennis
- There is Violence and There is Righteous Violence and There is Death or, The Born Again Crow by Caleigh Crow
- This is How We Got Here by Keith Barker
- Th’owxiya by Joseph A. Dandurand
- Thunderstick by Kenneth T. Williams
- Too Good to be True by Cliff Cardinal
- The Trickster of Third Avenue East by Darrell Dennis
- The Unnatural and Accidental Women by Marie Clements
- The Unplugging by Yvette Nolan
- Where the Blood Mixes by Kevin Loring
- William Shakespeare’s As You Like It, A Radical Retelling by Cliff Cardinal
- Women of the Fur Trade by Frances Koncan
Academic:
- Dancing on Our Turtle’s Back by Leanne Simpson
- As We Have Always Done: Indigenous Freedom Through Radical Resistance by Leanne Simpson
- Red Alert by Daniel R. Wildcat
- Performing Indigeneity: New Essays on Canadian Theatre Volume 6 by Yvette Nolan and Ric Knowles
- Transforming Our Practices: Indigenous Art, Pedagogies, and Philosophies by Ballengee Morris & Kryssi Staikidis
Poetry:
- Islands of Decolonial Love by Leanne Simpson
- NDN Coping Mechanisms by Billy-Ray Belcourt
- This Accident of Being Lost by Leanne Simpson
- Yellow Medicine Poetry Anthologies by Various

SUPPORT:

The National Indian Residential School Crisis Line provides 24-hour crisis support to former Indian Residential School students and their families toll-free at 1-866-925-4419.
Individuals impacted by the issue of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls are encouraged to contact the MMIWG Crisis Line toll-free at 1-844-413-6649.
First Nations, Inuit and Métis seeking immediate emotional support can contact the Hope for Wellness Help Line toll-free at 1-855-242-3310, or by online chat at hopeforwellness.ca.

Resources for National Day for Truth & Reconciliation

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