Here is our list of resources for teaching and/or connecting with Canada’s indigenous community and history. If you’ve got additional resources, please share!
Inclusion of any business on this list does not constitute an endorsement by OFTP. We share this information to let homeschoolers know what’s available, not necessarily what’s recommended. Although it benefits the resource provider to be listed here, it is not an advertisement to serve the purposes of the provider, it is a listing to serve the informational needs of homeschoolers looking for assistance or learning opportunities outside of the home.
Video resources
First Nations Films creates and distributes award-winning television documentary films for, by, and about Indigenous people – Sharing Our Stories! The programs are distributed to broadcasters, schools, libraries, universities, and other individuals and institutions throughout the world. Available as DVDs or streaming.
National Film Board – Indigenous Cinema
NFB’s collection of Indigenous-made films is free to view online.
We Were Children – Documentary
In this feature film, the profound impact of the Canadian government’s residential school system is conveyed through the eyes of 2 children who were forced to face hardships beyond their years. As young children, Lyna and Glen were taken from their homes and placed in church-run boarding schools, where they suffered years of physical, sexual and emotional abuse, the effects of which persist in their adult lives.
“Chanie was a young boy who died on October 22, 1966, walking the railroad tracks, trying to escape from the Cecilia Jeffrey Indian Residential School”
Books
Bias-free teaching and educational resources related to Native American, First Nations, Indigenous, and Aboriginal studies. Over 3,000 Indigenous titles (some in English, some in French) from Preschool to Adult. First Nations-owned family business based on the Six Nations of the Grand River (Brantford) in Southwestern Ontario. Hardcover and paperback books, ebooks, multimedia, DVDs, and educational kits.
Free Online Lessons
Inuktut Tusaalanga
Tusaalanga.ca
Learn Inuktut online for free. Tusaalanga means, ‘Let me hear!’ The site offers thousands of audio files for learning Inuktitut online, quickly, easily, and for free.
First Nations Child & Family Caring Society
The Caring Society aims to identify quality resources to individuals everywhere. They provide resources for youth, students, educators and families to incorporate into their studies and everyday life. Ranging from Early Childhood to Post-Secondary our selection of books, films, educational programs and toolkits will surely be a good start for those seeking to get a better understanding of Indigenous children and their families.
Canada Learning Code lesson: When We Were Alone
Canada Learning Code has free lesson plans for learning how to code, using projects that simultaneously integrate other subjects in the curriculum — in this case, learning about residential schools through coding an animation based on the age-appropriate children’s book When We Were Alone by David A. Robertson, illustrated by Julie Flett.
Indigenous Canada – Free Online Course at the University of Alberta
Indigenous Canada is a 12-lesson Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) from the Faculty of Native Studies that explores Indigenous histories and contemporary issues in Canada. From an Indigenous perspective, this course explores key issues facing Indigenous peoples today from a historical and critical perspective highlighting national and local Indigenous-settler relations. Topics for the 12 lessons include the fur trade and other exchange relationships, land claims and environmental impacts, legal systems and rights, political conflicts and alliances, Indigenous political activism, and contemporary Indigenous life, art and its expressions.