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First Nations, Inuit, and Métis Resources

Training for NIST, MIST, MIST RC, Indigenous Unit Lead (IUL), and SARVAC HWF Responders

ONE OF THE BELOW COURSES (CAN TAKE BOTH)

Restoring the Circle 

Native Women’s Association of Canada

  • Free Course
  • Self-paced, takes approximately 6 hours total
  • Must print out sheet to track progress
  • Includes historical and current perspectives with a gender-aware lens
  • Good awareness for additional challenges that non-cis gendered Indigenous people face on top of general colonial challenges
Course Link

Indigenous Awareness

Canadian Police Knowledge Network

  • Free Course but must ask for login through CPKN
  • Self-paced, takes approximately 6 hours total
  • Includes historical and current perspectives
  • Good overview course
  • Aimed at police services but relevant to all
Course Link

ALSO THE FOLLOWING

Teach the Genocide

Native Women’s Association of Canada

  • Short but powerful course on historical and current genocide
  • Links from this page to other relevant information
  • Trigger warning on page – please use good self-care strategies when viewing this information
Course Link

Indigenous Ally Toolkit

Legacy of Hope Foundation

  • Short but information-packed toolkit on best practices for Allyship
  • Includes general cultural awareness, definitions, language to use and avoid, and more
  • PDF can be printed to keep as reference or read
Toolkit Link

Emergency Management Fact Sheet

Native Women’s Association of Canada

  • Two-page resource sheet on best practices suggested for Emergency Management and cultural safety, with a gender-aware lens
  • Has a section specifically targeted at Search and Rescue
  • PDF can be downloaded/printed to keep as reference or read
Fact Sheet Link

Culture Card: A Guide to Build Cultural Awareness

  • Based on a template created in US, this one is Canadianized
  • Two-page resource sheet on wide variety of awareness and information pieces
  • Includes Etiquette do’s and don’ts
  • Includes First Nations, Métis, and Inuit information
  • PDF can be downloaded/printed to keep as reference or read
Culture Card Link

Culturally Specific Resources

Creating Culturally-Safe Spaces and Care for Inuit Women and Their Families

Pauktuutit Inuit Women of Canada

  •  Two-page resource that includes wide variety of information on culture, safety needs, and communication styles

  • PDF can be downloaded/printed to keep as reference or to read
Reference Link

Downloadable/Printable Resources for the following will be added soon:

  • Métis
  • First Nations

Further Resources for First Nations, Inuit, and Métis Awareness for SARVAC HWF Responders (Note there will be some duplication of training listed above)

National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation

  • Contains all TRC Commission Final Reports
  • Includes engagement plans, modern reports, etc.
  • Reports as a whole are very long, extensive, and can be triggering – use good self-care strategies especially if reading the survivor stories
Reports

Beyond 94 – Truth and Reconciliation in Canada

  • An ongoing, interactive list of the 94 Calls to Action of the TRC, with the progress (or lack thereof) listed
  • Allows user to click on each Call to Action, learn the background and what the current status is of the Call to Action (if any)
  • Broken down into categories of Child Welfare, Education, Language and Culture, Health, Justice, and Reconciliation
Beyond 94

Assembly of First Nations (AFN)

  • Educational Toolkit (Cultural Competency)
  • Multiple modules
  • Directed at an educational setting, but does have a module regarding how to approach Elders with requests and how tobacco should be presented, talking circles, medicine circle, sweat lodge ceremonies, and much more
  • Important note that this is First Nations perspective, not necessarily applicable to Métis or Inuit, or even to all First Nations
Toolkit Section 8.4

United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP)

  • The declaration was adopted by the UN in 2007, but Canada declined to adopt fully until 2021, to be implemented in stages through Bill C-15
  • Canadian site on the UNDRIP and Canada’s Bill C-15 with government-perspective information can be viewed HERE 
  • Critique of Canada’s adoption of the UNDRIP from the perspective of the Canadian Museum for Human Rights can be viewed HERE
UNDRIP Complete

National Inquiry Into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (MMIWG)

  • Multi-year project aimed at trying to determine the systemic causes of violence against Indigenous women and girls, including 2SLGBTQQIA people
  • Full Final report (2 volumes) entitled Reclaiming Power and Place, Calls for Justice, and Supplementary report on Genocide available through links below
  • Along similar lines, there was a Highway of Tears Symposium Report and Recommendations for the area in what is now called British Columbia known as the Highway of Tears for the disproportionately large numbers of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls along Highway 16.  The “Resources” link on their website has much further information
  • Any responses in the area of Highway 16, or any area with notable MMIWG impacts would need to take this history into account and be sensitive to the ongoing impact of these losses on top of the already significant impacts of colonialization
Highway of Tears
MMIWG Calls for Justice
MMIWG Final Report

First Nations, Inuit, and Métis Awareness Information, Videos, and Courses

Click on the buttons below for further resources for First Nations, Inuit, and Métis Awareness for SARVAC HWF Responders. Free of Cost (with exception noted) .

Courses

Coursera Courses

For courses with a cost, sign up for free trial of Coursera, “enroll” in all the courses you are interested in, then cancel before the free trial expires, you should be able to complete these once the trial has expired so long as you enrolled under the free trial.

IMPORTANT NOTE: For courses with a cost, if you do not use the free trial of Coursera to take these, and choose to pay for them, SARVAC will not reimburse for these costs.

Aboriginal Worldviews and Education

MOOC (University of Toronto)

  • Primary focus is on Canadian Indigenous perspective
  • Taught by Indigenous professor
  • Relevant, and includes lecture video with students interacting – can be slow going
Link to Coursera Course

Indigenous Canada (MOOC)

(University of Alberta)

  • Very comprehensive course, including wide variety of Indigenous perspectives from across all of Canada
  • Mostly focused post-colonization but shows impact of colonization on original culture
  • Worth the length of the course for amount of information
As with most Coursera courses, some information is dated.
Link to Coursera Course

Native Women’s Association of Canada (NWAC) Courses

Restoring the Circle

(Native Women’s Association of Canada)

• Focused on gender based (2SLGBTQQIA) Indigenous issues in Canada
• Well laid out course but you can’t save progress so you have to track manually
• Good awareness for additional challenges that non-cis gendered Indigenous people face on top of general colonial challenges

Link

Teach the Genocide

Native Women’s Association of Canada

  • Short but powerful site on historical and current genocide
  • Links from this page to other relevant information
  • Trigger warning on page – please use good self-care strategies when viewing this information
Link

CPKN Courses

(must ask for CPKN account through SARVAC)

CPKN Login Link

Indigenous Awareness

  • Free Course but must ask for login through CPKN
  • Self-paced, takes approximately 6 hours total
  • Includes historical and current perspectives
  • Good overview course
  • Aimed at police services but relevant to all

Reflection on Truth and Reconciliation

  • Video chat by Kevin Lamoureux discussing TRC Calls to Action
  • From 2021 but still very relevant
  • Extremely good presentation
  • Aimed at police services but relevant to all

Other Courses

Reconciliation Through Indigenous Education

MOOC (University of British Columbia)

  • Includes perspectives from Canada, USA, and Australia and Torres Island people
  • Very strong emphasis on education and educational resources, but can be applied to any situation
Link

Cultural Awareness and Humility – $60

CPKN Courses (must ask for CPKN account through SARVAC)

  • From online description it is focused on Indigenous cultural awareness
  • Notes that some information is for RCMP members only
  • 6 modules

Certificate in Reconciliation Studies – Approx. $6,000 for all 6 courses

First Nations University of Canada – associated with University of Regina) – approximately $6,000 for all six courses

  • 18 credit (6 courses)
  • Online or in person (three campuses)
First Nations University

Indigenous Studies

(Ontario Colleges) – various costs depending on program

  • Wide variety of programs and courses of study
  • Some online, most on campus study
  • Designed for full-time study
Indigenous Studies

Indigenous Corporate Training Inc. – Costs vary depending on course and how it is delivered.  Bundled courses available.

  • Indigenous owned business with Indigenous trainers and content
  • Multiple formats for taking courses
  • Some courses can be combined in a package deal
  • Costs are significant, even for online only versions (from $150 and up depending on course/package)
  • Some free resources (if you sign up for newsletter)
ITC Home Page
ICT Training

Videos

Learning from the Knowledge Keepers of Mi’kma’ki

(Unama’ki College/Cape Breton University)

  • Video based information series
  • Very long videos/classes (2.5 hours per video) but more than worth the time
  • 9 years old (in 2024) so some dated information
  • Certificate is obtainable (or used to be) with cost attached – see note above re: costs
  • Started as a grassroots endeavor from Cape Breton University/Unama’ki College and archived for all to watch anytime
  • Led by Mi’kmaq Elder and Knowledge Keeper Stephen Augustine (some guest presenters)
Videos

Inuit Nunangat Taimannganit

  • Series of storytelling videos including legends, histories, and relationships with the whole land and all dwelling on it – videos are variety of informational and personal stories and from all over Inuit land base
  • 99 videos from 2017-2021- project created as part of Canada 150
  • Videos all on YouTube and are short (2-5 minutes) on a very wide variety of topics and information
Videos

8th Fire

  • Series of 4 YouTube videos (originally CBC series) from 2012 dealing with four titles: Indigenous in the City, It’s Time, Whose Land Is It Anyways, and At the Crossroads.
  • Hosted by Wab Kinew when he was a journalist for CBC
  • Includes viewpoints from all Indigenous People
  • Very approachable and non-confrontational way of addressing some very sensitive topics
  • Each video approximately 45 minutes long
Videos

Video Summary and Review of Human Rights Tribunal Decision regarding First Nations child welfare with Pamela Palmater

  • Great summary and review of the background and result of the tribunal decision
  • NFB film about the hearings (almost 3 hours)
Video
Film

Resources

Relevant Books and Readings regarding Indigenous Issues and/or Reconciliation

 

IMPORTANT NOTE: If you pay to buy books/articles to read, regardless of format, SARVAC will not reimburse the cost.  Library borrowing is strongly recommended.

Resources and Readings

10 Ways to be a Genuine Ally with Indigenous Communities

  • Came out of Australian perspective, but valid for any Indigenous group – the 10 steps are universally applicable
PDF
Link

Four Directions Teachings

  • Designed for teachers
  • Includes teaching from Blackfoot, Cree, Ojibwe, Mohawk, and Mi’kmaq
  • Includes teachers resource guide and learning activities based on age range
Link

Ally Bill of Responsibilities

  • Written from an Algonquin – Anishinaabe perspective, but valid for any Indigenous group
PDF

Resource Library

(National Centre for Collaboration Indigenous Education – NCCIE)

  • Focus is on education, but many resources are broadly applicable or not education specific
  • All topics are listed by type of resource, short summary, source, area of country relevant to, and a link to the resource
  • Resource types include articles, books/publications, government funding, journals, online courses, online magazines, organizations/centres, teaching resources, and videos
Link

Roundtable: How Indigenous communities respond to disasters

(The New Humanitarian)

  • Broad-based discussion from the perspectives of three Indigenous panelists
  • Looks at how traditional and post-colonial Indigenous knowledge can improve disaster resilience and response
  • Dated from early in Covid pandemic (August 2020), the general perspectives and information are still very valid
Link

Legacy of Hope Foundation: Official Recommended Resource Guide

  • Some of links are outdated/broken but has exhaustive and comprehensive lists of books (by appropriate ages and genre), videos, reports, academic papers, etc.
  • Some duplication with resources already listed here, but very much worth reviewing
  • Indigenous Ally Toolkit
Toolkit
PDF

Books

    • A reconciliation reading list: 15 must-read books – CBC.ca
      • These are a variety of fiction and non-fiction relevant to Indigenous issues and reconciliation – LINK
      • Some authors have other books you may find relevant in addition to the one listed
    • 21 Things You May Not Know About the Indian Act
      by Bob Joseph
      • Written by Gwawa’enuxw hereditary chief
    • Dances with Dependency: Out of Poverty Through Self-Reliance
      by Calvin Helin
      • Based on personal experiences growing up in poverty on US Native Reservation
    • Seven Fallen Feathers
      by Tanya Talaga 
      • Story of 7 Indigenous students found dead in Thunder Bay, Ontario over the span of 11 years
      • Speaks to long-standing and ongoing human rights violations against Indigenous communities and people
    • Indigenous Writes: A Guide to First Nations, Métis, & Inuit Issues in Canada
      by Chelsea Vowel 
      • Broken into five broad themes: Terminology of relationships, culture and identity, myth-busting, state violence, and land, learning, law & treaties
      • Written in plain, direct, and bluntly honest fashion
      • Extensive curated listing of further resources (books, websites, etc.) for each chapter
    • Clearing the Plains: Disease, Politics of Starvation and the Loss of Indigenous Life
      by James Daschuk 
      • Evidence-based account of the systematic and government-supported genocide of Indigenous people in Canada, from a health perspective
    • Highway of Tears: A True Story of Racism, Indifference and the Pursuit of Justice for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls
      by Jessica McDiarmid 
      • Based on interviews with family members of the missing and murdered from the Highway of Tears (see above information on Highway of Tears), this exposes the tragedy and systemic racism that underlies these crimes, as well as tying in the larger issue of MMIWG across the country
    • The Northwest is Our Mother
      by Jean Teillet 
      • A history of the Métis from their beginnings to present day, written by Louis Reil’s great-grandneice
    • A National Crime: The Canadian Government and Residential
      by John S. Milloy 
      • Now 2nd edition 2017 – available in multiple places including libraries, on Amazon, and in e-book formats
      • A review of the residential school system, written by professor in Native Studies and History at Trent University – building on Dr. Bryce’s work
    • The Story of a National Crime
      by Dr. Peter H. Bryce (1922) 
      • Bryce’s report on the situations in residential schools written after his 1907 report that got him removed from public service and blacklisted by the government
      • Available as PDF for free READ HERE, or in reprint on Amazon for cost
    • Decolonizing Education, Nourishing the Learning Spirit
      by Dr. Marie Battiste 
      • Mi’kmaw educator and scholar looks at new model for Indigenous education
    • Our Story: Aboriginal Voices on Canada’s Past
      – various authors
      • Collection of original fiction, inspired by pivotal times in the country’s history, written from an Indigenous perspective
    • The Reconciliation Manifesto: Recovering the Land, Rebuilding the Economy
      by Arthur Manual and Grand Chief Ronald Derrickson 
      • Looks at the ways governments are attempting to ‘reconcile’ without decolonizing oppressive structures
      • Sets out steps authors believe must be taken for true reconciliation and restoration of equal relationships
    • Finding My Talk: How Fourteen Native Women Reclaimed Their Lives After Residential School
      by Agnes Grant
    • Biographical – title is self-explanator
    • The Education of Augie Merasty: A Residential School Memoir
      by Joseph Auguste Merasty 
      • Autobiographical account from a residential school survivor
    • In This Together: Fifteen Stories of Truth and Reconciliation
      • Collection of both Indigenous and Settler perspectives and reflections on Reconciliation and its personal meaning to each writer
      • Includes an interview with Chief Justice Murray Sinclair
    • Indigenomics: Taking a Seat at the Economic Table
      by Carol Anne Hilton 

       

      • Looks at the tenets of Indigenous Economy and the change in narrative and laws that are required to bring equality to the economic table
      • Brings out examples of Indigenous Economy that are working
    • An Army of Problem Solvers: Reconciliation and the Solution Economy
      by Shaun Luney 
      • Appears to be settler author but book is highly endorsed by many Indigenous leaders
    • No Surrender: The Land Remains Indigenous
      by Sheldon Krasowski
      • Research-based evidence that the Canadian government deliberately misled the signatories to Treaties One through Seven to ensure government would take ownership of the land
    • Unsettling the Settler Within
      by Paulette Regan
      • Written by research director for the TRC, and lead writer on Reconciliation Volume Final report

    General Resources on Traditional Lands and Treaties

      Whose Land

      • Can choose Treaties, Languages, Traditional Territories, Residential Schools, Indigenous Businesses, etc.
      • Great to use to ensure all Indigenous people in your area are acknowledged (can geolocate through browser)
      • Worldwide information
      Link

      Native Land

      • Similar to Whose Land – searches limited to Territories, Languages, and Treaties
      • Can obtain map of single territory for each historical nation
      • Canadian site, but shows worldwide information
      Link

      Canada’s Original Place Names

      • A curated selection of 10 places in what is now called Canada and the Indigenous origins of those names
      • Partnership with Canadian Geographic, Google Earth and Indigenous information
      Link

      Government sites re: Treaty and Self-Government Agreements

      • Map searchable by Treaties and Agreements, Claims and Assertions, Indigenous Peoples and Communities, Court Cases & Decisions, Lands Areas and Regions, and more
      • As with any government-based website, it is government perspective, not Indigenous perspective
      • Not the easiest to navigate but does contain at least the gist of modern treaties and self-government agreements
      • Can use filters and layers to search
      Link