We wanted to share some books that we've found educational and that have impacted our perspectives on Indigenous/Settler relations, systemic racism, and the Christian Church in a Canadian context. Inner Hope does not necessarily share all of the viewpoints expressed in the works below, but we feel they contain much important knowledge and ideas worth reflecting on.
HISTORY OF INDIGENOUS/SETTLER RELATIONS
Helpful texts for understanding the implications of Canadian Government policies that impact all of us today
- The Inconvenient Indian: A Curious Account of Native People in North America - Thomas King (2012)
A National Crime: The Canadian Government and the Residential School System, 1879 to 1986 - John Milloy (1999)
"Using previously unreleased government documents accessed during his work for the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples, A National Crime was one of the first comprehensive studies of the history of residential schools, and it remains a powerful indictment of the racist and colonial policies that inspired and sustained them. A National Crime convincingly argues that, rather than bringing Indigenous children into what its planners called “the circle of civilization,” the schools more often provided an inferior education in an atmosphere of neglect, disease, and abuse." (From University of Manitoba Press)
"Using previously unreleased government documents accessed during his work for the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples, A National Crime was one of the first comprehensive studies of the history of residential schools, and it remains a powerful indictment of the racist and colonial policies that inspired and sustained them. A National Crime convincingly argues that, rather than bringing Indigenous children into what its planners called “the circle of civilization,” the schools more often provided an inferior education in an atmosphere of neglect, disease, and abuse." (From University of Manitoba Press)
Final Report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission: Honouring the Truth, Reconciling for the Future - Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada (2015)
The ebook and other resources can be found on the TRC website.
The ebook and other resources can be found on the TRC website.
The Dispossessed: Life and Death in Native Canada - Geoffrey York (1999)
"The Dispossessed is an examination of the modern day stirrings of rebellion in a people physically and culturally dislocated by North American settlers. Geoffrey York's acclaimed work spent 48 weeks on the Globe and Mail's best-sellers list as the country awoke to its astute observations and opinions.
With a new chapter examining more recent events involving Canada's native population, The Dispossessed is still as relevant as ever." (From Google Books; Published by McArthur & Company)
"The Dispossessed is an examination of the modern day stirrings of rebellion in a people physically and culturally dislocated by North American settlers. Geoffrey York's acclaimed work spent 48 weeks on the Globe and Mail's best-sellers list as the country awoke to its astute observations and opinions.
With a new chapter examining more recent events involving Canada's native population, The Dispossessed is still as relevant as ever." (From Google Books; Published by McArthur & Company)
MEMOIRS
Indigenous writers share their stories (*Some explicit content and language)
The Reason You Walk: A Memoir - Wab Kinew (2017)
"A moving father-son reconciliation told by a charismatic First Nations broadcaster, musician, and activist.
Invoking hope, healing and forgiveness, The Reason You Walk is a poignant story of a towering but damaged father and his son as they embark on a journey to repair their family bond. By turns lighthearted and solemn, Kinew gives us an inspiring vision for family and cross-cultural reconciliation, and a wider conversation about the future of aboriginal peoples." (From Penguin Random House)
"A moving father-son reconciliation told by a charismatic First Nations broadcaster, musician, and activist.
Invoking hope, healing and forgiveness, The Reason You Walk is a poignant story of a towering but damaged father and his son as they embark on a journey to repair their family bond. By turns lighthearted and solemn, Kinew gives us an inspiring vision for family and cross-cultural reconciliation, and a wider conversation about the future of aboriginal peoples." (From Penguin Random House)
They called me Number One: Secrets and Survival at an Indian Residential School - Bev Sellars (2013)
"Like thousands of Aboriginal children in Canada, and elsewhere in the colonized world, Xatsu'll chief Bev Sellars spent part of her childhood as a student in a church-run residential school...
In this frank and poignant memoir of her years at St. Joseph's Mission, Sellars breaks her silence about the residential school's lasting effects on her and her family—from substance abuse to suicide attempts—and eloquently articulates her own path to healing. Number One comes at a time of recognition—by governments and society at large—that only through knowing the truth about these past injustices can we begin to redress them." (From Talonbooks)
"Like thousands of Aboriginal children in Canada, and elsewhere in the colonized world, Xatsu'll chief Bev Sellars spent part of her childhood as a student in a church-run residential school...
In this frank and poignant memoir of her years at St. Joseph's Mission, Sellars breaks her silence about the residential school's lasting effects on her and her family—from substance abuse to suicide attempts—and eloquently articulates her own path to healing. Number One comes at a time of recognition—by governments and society at large—that only through knowing the truth about these past injustices can we begin to redress them." (From Talonbooks)
From the Ashes - Jesse Thistle (2019)
"In this extraordinary and inspiring debut memoir, Jesse Thistle, once a high school dropout and now a rising Indigenous scholar, chronicles his life on the streets and how he overcame trauma and addiction to discover the truth about who he is...Jesse Thistle writes honestly and fearlessly about his painful past, the abuse he endured, and how he uncovered the truth about his parents. Through sheer perseverance and education—and newfound love—he found his way back into the circle of his Indigenous culture and family." (From Simon & Schuster)
"In this extraordinary and inspiring debut memoir, Jesse Thistle, once a high school dropout and now a rising Indigenous scholar, chronicles his life on the streets and how he overcame trauma and addiction to discover the truth about who he is...Jesse Thistle writes honestly and fearlessly about his painful past, the abuse he endured, and how he uncovered the truth about his parents. Through sheer perseverance and education—and newfound love—he found his way back into the circle of his Indigenous culture and family." (From Simon & Schuster)
One Native Life - Richard Wagamese (2008)
"In One Native Life, Wagamese looks back down the road he has travelled in reclaiming his identity and talks about the things he has learned as a human being, a man and an Ojibway in his fifty-two years...
Free of rhetoric and anger despite the horrors he has faced, Wagamese’s prose resonates with a peace that has come from acceptance. Acceptance is an Aboriginal principle, and he has come to see that we are all neighbours here. One Native Life is his tribute to the people, the places and the events that have allowed him to stand in the sunshine and celebrate being alive." (From Douglas & McIntyre)
"In One Native Life, Wagamese looks back down the road he has travelled in reclaiming his identity and talks about the things he has learned as a human being, a man and an Ojibway in his fifty-two years...
Free of rhetoric and anger despite the horrors he has faced, Wagamese’s prose resonates with a peace that has come from acceptance. Acceptance is an Aboriginal principle, and he has come to see that we are all neighbours here. One Native Life is his tribute to the people, the places and the events that have allowed him to stand in the sunshine and celebrate being alive." (From Douglas & McIntyre)
ADDICTION AND RECOVERY
Books that help in understanding the roots of addiction and the hope of recovery.
Recovering: From Brokenness and Addiction to Blessedness and Community - Aaron White (2020).
"Addressing a major public-health crisis, this book provides a theologically rich commentary on the challenge of addiction and the long road to recovery.
Written by a minister with extensive experience working with people who struggle with addictions, Recovering helps pastors and ministers-in-training understand the roots and realities of our universal human struggle with addictions and attachments while showing that together we have great hope for freedom, wholeness, and recovery. Readers will learn how to create and foster a Beatitude Community, the kind of environment Jesus prescribed for his people, to help people struggling with addiction and those who love them resist and heal from the brokenness of our world." (From Baker Publishing Group)
"Addressing a major public-health crisis, this book provides a theologically rich commentary on the challenge of addiction and the long road to recovery.
Written by a minister with extensive experience working with people who struggle with addictions, Recovering helps pastors and ministers-in-training understand the roots and realities of our universal human struggle with addictions and attachments while showing that together we have great hope for freedom, wholeness, and recovery. Readers will learn how to create and foster a Beatitude Community, the kind of environment Jesus prescribed for his people, to help people struggling with addiction and those who love them resist and heal from the brokenness of our world." (From Baker Publishing Group)
RACISM AND TRAGEDY: lONG-FORM jOURNALISM
Exposing the effects of systemic racism in Canada (*Heavy issues and content)
The Highway of Tears: A True Story of Racism, Indifference and the Pursuit of Justice for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls - Jessica McDiarmid (2019)
"For decades, Indigenous women and girls have gone missing or been found murdered along an isolated stretch of highway in northwestern British Columbia. The highway is known as the Highway of Tears, and it has come to symbolize a national crisis.
Journalist Jessica McDiarmid investigates the devastating effect these tragedies have had on the families of the victims and their communities, and how systemic racism and indifference have created a climate where Indigenous women and girls are over-policed, yet under-protected...
Highway of Tears is a powerful story about our ongoing failure to provide justice for missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls, and a testament to their families and communities' unwavering determination to find it." (From Penguin Random House)
"For decades, Indigenous women and girls have gone missing or been found murdered along an isolated stretch of highway in northwestern British Columbia. The highway is known as the Highway of Tears, and it has come to symbolize a national crisis.
Journalist Jessica McDiarmid investigates the devastating effect these tragedies have had on the families of the victims and their communities, and how systemic racism and indifference have created a climate where Indigenous women and girls are over-policed, yet under-protected...
Highway of Tears is a powerful story about our ongoing failure to provide justice for missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls, and a testament to their families and communities' unwavering determination to find it." (From Penguin Random House)
7 Fallen Feathers: Racism, Death, and Hard Truths in a Northern City - Tanya Talaga (2017)
"The shocking true story covered by the Guardian and the New York Times of the seven young Indigenous students who were found dead in a northern Ontario City.
Using a sweeping narrative focusing on the lives of the students, award-winning investigative journalist Tanya Talaga delves into the history of this small northern city that has come to manifest Canada’s long struggle with human rights violations against Indigenous communities." (From House of Anansi Press)
"The shocking true story covered by the Guardian and the New York Times of the seven young Indigenous students who were found dead in a northern Ontario City.
Using a sweeping narrative focusing on the lives of the students, award-winning investigative journalist Tanya Talaga delves into the history of this small northern city that has come to manifest Canada’s long struggle with human rights violations against Indigenous communities." (From House of Anansi Press)
INDIGENOUS PEOPLES AND THE cHRISTIAN CHURCH
Christian Faith perspectives on Indigenous/Settler relations
Buffalo Shout, Salmon Cry: Conversations on Creation, Land Justice, and Life Together - edited by Steve Heinrichs (2013)
"Showcasing a variety of voices both traditional and Christian, native and non-native "Buffalo Shout, Salmon Cry" offers up alternative histories, radical theologies, and poetic, life-giving memories that can unsettle our souls and work toward reconciliation.
This book is intended for all who are interested in healing historical wounds of racism, stolen land, and cultural exploitation. Essays on land use, creation, history, and faith appear among poems and reflections by people across ethnic and religious divides. The writers do not always agree in fact, some are bound to raise readers' defenses. But they represent the hard truths that we must hear before reconciliation can come." (From CommonWord; Published by Herald Press)
"Showcasing a variety of voices both traditional and Christian, native and non-native "Buffalo Shout, Salmon Cry" offers up alternative histories, radical theologies, and poetic, life-giving memories that can unsettle our souls and work toward reconciliation.
This book is intended for all who are interested in healing historical wounds of racism, stolen land, and cultural exploitation. Essays on land use, creation, history, and faith appear among poems and reflections by people across ethnic and religious divides. The writers do not always agree in fact, some are bound to raise readers' defenses. But they represent the hard truths that we must hear before reconciliation can come." (From CommonWord; Published by Herald Press)
Wrongs to Rights: How Churches can Engage the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples - edited by Steve Heinrichs (2016)
"In Wrongs to Rights, over 40 authors from diverse backgrounds – Indigenous and Settler, Christian and Traditional – wrestle with the meaning of the Declaration for the Church. With a firm hold on past and present colonialism, the authors tackle key questions that the Declaration and the TRC’s call to “adopt and comply” raises: What are its potential implications? How does it connect to Scripture? Can it facilitate genuine decolonization, or is “rights talk” another form of imperialism? And what about real life relationships? Can the Declaration be lived out – collectively and personally – on the ground?" (From CommonWord; Published by Mennonite Church Canada)
"In Wrongs to Rights, over 40 authors from diverse backgrounds – Indigenous and Settler, Christian and Traditional – wrestle with the meaning of the Declaration for the Church. With a firm hold on past and present colonialism, the authors tackle key questions that the Declaration and the TRC’s call to “adopt and comply” raises: What are its potential implications? How does it connect to Scripture? Can it facilitate genuine decolonization, or is “rights talk” another form of imperialism? And what about real life relationships? Can the Declaration be lived out – collectively and personally – on the ground?" (From CommonWord; Published by Mennonite Church Canada)
Unsettling the Word: Biblical Experiments in Decolonization - edited by Steve Heinrichs (2019)
In Unsettling the Word, over 60 Indigenous and Settler authors come together to wrestle with the Scriptures, re-reading and re-imagining the ancient text for the sake of reparative futures.
Created by Mennonite Church Canada’s Indigenous-Settler Relations program, Unsettling the Word is intended to nurture courageous conversations with the Bible, our current settler colonial contexts, and the Church’s call to costly peacemaking." (From CommonWord; Published by Mennonite Church Canada)
In Unsettling the Word, over 60 Indigenous and Settler authors come together to wrestle with the Scriptures, re-reading and re-imagining the ancient text for the sake of reparative futures.
Created by Mennonite Church Canada’s Indigenous-Settler Relations program, Unsettling the Word is intended to nurture courageous conversations with the Bible, our current settler colonial contexts, and the Church’s call to costly peacemaking." (From CommonWord; Published by Mennonite Church Canada)
One Church, Many Tribes - Richard Twiss (2000)
"In this captivating chronicle of the Native American story, Richard Twiss of the Rosebud Lakota/Sioux sifts through myth and legend to reveal God's strategy for the nation's host people.
With wit, wisdom and passion, Twiss shows God's desire to use the cultures of First Nations peoples--in all their mystery, color and beauty--to break through to those involved in New Age mysticism, Eastern religions, even Islam.
One Church, Many Tribes is a rallying cry for the Church to work as one so that the lost may learn to walk in life with beauty, along the path of the Waymaker." (From Baker Publishing Group)
"In this captivating chronicle of the Native American story, Richard Twiss of the Rosebud Lakota/Sioux sifts through myth and legend to reveal God's strategy for the nation's host people.
With wit, wisdom and passion, Twiss shows God's desire to use the cultures of First Nations peoples--in all their mystery, color and beauty--to break through to those involved in New Age mysticism, Eastern religions, even Islam.
One Church, Many Tribes is a rallying cry for the Church to work as one so that the lost may learn to walk in life with beauty, along the path of the Waymaker." (From Baker Publishing Group)
RSS Feed