September 30 is National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, also known as Orange Shirt Day, across Canada. The day honours the families, children, and communities whose lives were forever changed by the Residential School System, and serves as a reminder of the enduring legacies of these schools and their ongoing impacts on Indigenous peoples in Canada today. Indigenous peoples, families, and communities across Canada continue to grapple with the profound and lasting ramifications of the Residential School System. Orange Shirt Day draws its name from the experience of Phyllis Webstad on her first day at a residential school. The orange shirt has come to symbolize the loss of language, culture, and identity that she and so many others experienced in these institutions. This day calls each one of us to learn the truths, and to strive to “put things right” (University of Regina’s Indigenous Engagement Strategic Plan, 2022-2025). As Cadmus Delorme recently said, none of us created residential schools, but we have inherited their legacy and are each responsible for the actions necessary to work with and toward reconciliation. Part of our responsibility is to seek out ways to learn and grow in our commitments.

The CTRC has compiled a list of resources to support you in your learning journey.   

For Orange Shirt Day, the Orange Shirt Society urges that you listen to Phyllis Webstad’s story, the origin of Orange Shirt Day. The Orange Shirt Society also has created video resources about residential schools for classrooms, as well as curated print resources. 

The National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation has handpicked resources for educators, sorted by grade. 

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission has published its Calls to Action.

The University of Regina has released its Indigenous Engagement Strategic Plan.

The Stranger is a video of the first chapter of the multi-media project The Secret Path by Gord Downie, detailing the true story of a young boy trying to return home from a residential school. The story is recommended for grades 10-12. 

YouthREX has resources focusing on supporting educators, youth, and Indigenous Youth, in various mediums such as videos, podcasts, and written resources.  

The Saskatchewan Teachers’ Federation has compiled a list of resources on residential schools in Canada.

Shattering the Silence is a free ebook created for educators by Project Heart about the history and legacy of residential schools in Saskatchewan. 

Canada’s National Historical Society offers a treaty educational package with lessons for multiple grade levels on the meaning, history, and legacy of treaties in Canada.

Historica Canada offers Indigenous history teaching kits for free, applicable to multiple grade levels.

Voices From Here is a video series and lesson plan about Indigenous history in Canada, tackling a variety of important topics such as residential schools and treaties. 

EXCITING OPPORTUNITY!

In partnership with the Saskatchewan Teachers’ Federation Professional Learning, the CTRC is offering a microcertificate in trauma-sensitive pedagogies and practices! See the images below to learn more!

As the rallies and counter-rallies take place across the country today, the Child Trauma Research Centre strongly encourages a reconsideration of the “Use of Preferred First Name and Pronouns by Students” policy. The Saskatchewan Advocate For Children and Youth recently released their comprehensive evaluation entitled Review of Ministry of Education Policy – Use of Preferred First Name and Pronouns for Students, which has identified multiple potential infringements on the fundamental rights of children. Local, national, and international experts and researchers offer much to consider in relation to the real and unintentional harms experienced by 2SLGBTQIA+ children and youth, and can provide the research and evidence-based tools supporting a primary focus on safeguarding children at all times. We encourage active engagement with this evidence-based literature and lived expertise as a means of emboldening our commitments to supporting children and youth. 

Below we have gathered a list of resources and references on the subject to support you in your learning journey.

The Saskatchewan Advocate for Children and Youth Review of Ministry of Education Policy – Use of Preferred First Name and Pronouns for Students.

Egale is a Canadian-based advocacy group that works to advance the rights of the 2SLGBTQIA+ community. They have resources covering a wide variety of areas, such as Back To School, and Adults Supporting 2SLGBTQI Youth.

It Gets Better Canada is an organisation that focuses on uplifting 2SLGBTQIA+ youth, and fighting for the advancement of the rights of the 2SLGBTQIA+ community.

The Centre For Suicide Prevention has created an infographic about the disproportionate rates at which transgender youth are affected by suicide.

A report from Statistics Canada on the rates of bullying among sexually and gender-diverse youth in Canada.

Veale, J. F., Peter, T., Travers, R., & Saewyc, E. M. (2017). Enacted stigma, mental health, and protective factors among transgender youth in Canada. Transgender Health, 2(1), 207-216. http://doi.org/10.1089/trgh.2017.0031 

Rutherford, L., Stark, A., Ablona, A., Klassen, B.J., Higgins, R., Jacobsen, H., et al. (2021) Health and well-being of trans and non-binary participants in a community- based survey of gay, bisexual, and queer men, and non-binary and Two-Spirit people across Canada. PLoS ONE, 16(2), e0246525.  https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0246525

August 9 is the International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples, a day to raise awareness for the importance of protecting the rights of Indigenous people across the world. The theme for this year is to highlight and celebrate the work done by Indigenous youth in the pursuit of reconciliation and self-determination. Within Canada, Indigenous culture is often acknowledged and celebrated on particular days, which is important, but we at the CTRC hope to see a day in which Mi’kmaw Elder Albert Marshall’s guiding principle of two-eyed seeing is practised and celebrated daily as a commitment to ongoing reconciliation. Indigenous youth face disproportionate negative outcomes in education across Canada due to the oppression and trauma faced by Indigenous communities across generations. The CTRC has gathered resources on Indigenous history, culture, and rights to support you and those around you in your learning journey. 

The National Centre For Truth and Reconciliation offers curated educational resources and teaching plans for grades K-12. 

Native Land Digital is a Canadian non-profit that offers educational resources and tools about Indigenous groups across the globe.

The National Film Board of Canada has Indigenous documentaries and films available to stream for free.

Historica Canada offers Indigenous history teaching kits for free, applicable to multiple grade levels.

This project seeks to create a community of Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) who will gather 5 times to shape the content for a 6-week educator wellbeing course. This course will then lay the foundation for a larger proposal (2024 SHRF Establishment Grant) to implement and evaluate the educator wellbeing in Saskatchewan to a) better understand the impacts of attending to educator wellness for the educators themselves; and b) to study the downstream wellbeing and academic impacts for their students.

This project will lay the foundation for a larger grant application in 2024.

Principal Investigator: Dr. Nathalie Reid

Funded by: University of Regina President’s Seed Grant

June 21 is National Indigenous Peoples Day in Canada, a day to celebrate the rich cultures and traditions of the First Nations, Inuit, and Métis people and communities across Canada. Within Canada, Indigenous culture is often acknowledged and celebrated on particular days, which is important, but we at the CTRC hope to see a day in which Mi’kmaw Elder Albert Marshall’s guiding principle of two-eyed seeing is practised and celebrated daily as a commitment to ongoing reconciliation. Indigenous youth face disproportionate negative outcomes in education across Canada due to the oppression and trauma faced by Indigenous communities across generations. The CTRC has gathered resources on Indigenous history, rights, arts, and culture and encourages everyone to actively commit to reconciliation in good ways.

Native Land Digital is a Canadian non-profit that offers educational resources and tools for understanding the people who call these lands home.

The National Film Board of Canada has Indigenous documentaries and films available to stream for free.

Canada’s National Historical Society offers a treaty educational package with lessons for multiple grade levels on the meaning, history, and legacy of treaties in Canada.

Historica Canada offers Indigenous history teaching kits for free, applicable to multiple grade levels.

June is Indigenous History Month in Canada, a month to honour the rich history of the First Nations, Inuit, and Métis people of Canada, a history that has been erased and silenced throughout Canadian history. The relationship between the history of the First Nations, Inuit, and the Métis/Michif Peoples of Canada and this history of this land now called Canada is one shaped by colonialism inflicted by many Canadian institutions, and that still exists today.  Honouring Indigenous history can assist in understanding the importance of decolonization. 

The CTRC has gathered some resources to support you in your learning journey as we strive toward always honouring our treaty responsibilities and commitment to reconciliation.

The National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation offers teaching resources for educators, reports, and exhibits about Indigenous history.

The Canadian Museum of History offers Traditional and Creation stories from Indigenous storytellers. 

The Government of Canada has resources to learn about First Nations, Inuit, and Métis history about a variety of topics such as Indigenous LGBTQ2SIA+ people, language, arts, and environment, among others.

Voices From Here is a video series and lesson plan about Indigenous history in Canada, tackling a variety of important topics such as residential schools and treaties. 

The Multicultural Council of Saskatchewan has compiled a list of Indigenous resources and events for Indigenous History Month. 

June is Pride Month worldwide, a month to celebrate the rights of all LGBTQ2SIA+ people. A month originating in protests for the rights of LGBTQ2SIA+, we are reminded that we must stand up to unjust laws and institutions that seek to prohibit and restrict the lives and identities of the LGBTQ2SIA+ community. The rights of the LGBTQ2SIA+ community are threatened and questioned today all over the world, and Pride Month is a time to remember how important it is to stand up and fight for one another. Pride Month is rooted in protest, and we must remember that to ensure that all people feel safe being who they are, we have to be willing to stand up for one another across individuals and institutions alike. While June is Pride Month, pride is something needed year around. Pride is not something that ends, and we all must take steps to support and empower the LGBTQ2SIA+ community to be their authentic selves.

The CTRC has gathered some resources to assist you in supporting the LGBTQ2SIA+ people around you. 

Speak Truth To Power Canada is an organization that supplies lesson plans for teachers targeted at specific grade levels about various topics related to human rights, including gender and sexual diversity. 

Egale is a nationwide advocacy group that offers news, resources, and workshops on the LGBTQ2SIA+ community. Eagle is currently running a campaign titled Pride Unraveled, a campaign to bring to light the protests and attacks against the rights of the LGBTQ2SIA+ community in Canada. 

The Canadian Pride Historical Society offers lesson plans for educators appropriate for grades K-12. These lesson plans include videos, books, and field trip ideas, among other resources. 

Gender Diversity is an organization committed to offering resources about gender diversity and trans-inclusive practices within the workplace, and schools, as well as general information for all ages. 

OUTSaskatoon has publicly available free resources on the LGBTQ2SIA+ community, with specific resources for children, adults, professionals, and caregivers. 

URPride is an LGBTQ2SIA+ organization in Regina that offers LGBTQ2SIA+ programming, workshops, training, and resources in Regina. 

This project is to develop trauma-integrated practices (TIPS for…) knowledge briefs that will serve as a knowledge dissemination and mobilization initiative that touch on a variety of topics and audiences,  assisting practitioners in different child-serving sectors.

Principal Investigator: Dr. Nathalie Reid

Research Coordinator: Steffi Oberthier

Funded by: Saskatchewan Health Research Foundation