[Content warning: While some of the synopses below celebrate Indigenous identities, sovereignty and joy,  many mention violence towards Indigenous peoples.] 

Towards justice and healing, the staff at Greenpeace have been reading, listening to, and supporting Indigenous perspectives in our desire to shift culture. Here’s a list of our recommendations, curated for your own journeys ahead. 

Reparation. Restoration. Reconciliation. We often forget that action holds the truth behind these words. 

As a settler organization, extracting the remnants of colonial legacy from our identity is a process of accountability. Decolonizing our minds and methods may feel unfamiliar – wearing away at our indoctrination until we are hardly recognizable. But the pains of growth only mean we’re heading in the right direction. 

We still have a long way to go. We cannot rebuild until we dismantle. 

Education and exposure have become great tools in deepening our understanding of the world around us, naming our privileges and the harms we cause in ignorance. We are each responsible for the future’s unfolding. As we write a way forward, we must resist comfort and reject the status quo.

As an environmental justice organization, Indigenous leadership must be at the forefront and centre of the journey. We are in the midst of an environmental crisis caused by colonialism and capitalism driven by Indigenous dispossession. Our livelihoods depend on Indigenous environmental governance, sovereignty, and the value of Indigenous wisdom and knowledge systems. If we only listen, we can find truths untold and often erased. 

Truth and Reconciliation are commitments lasting far longer than 24 hours and made visible by more than an orange shirt. This year marks the third National Day of Truth & Reconciliation in Canada. It is a point of reflection on our journey of decolonization and a call to keep going. Greenpeace Canada invites you to join us in learning new ways of care and unlearning old ways of harm. 

Towards justice and healing, the staff at Greenpeace have been reading, listening to, and supporting Indigenous perspectives in our desire to shift culture. Here’s a list of our recommendations, curated for your own journeys ahead. 

Indigenous Authorship

“Books are a form of political action. Books are knowledge. Books are reflection. Books change your mind.” – Toni Morrison

*all Audiobook options are available for free through the Libby App (only requirement is a library card, which is also free)

Everything we’ve been told about Canadian history is a lie. What we call “Canada” was born out of colonial imperialism and is upheld today through White supremacy. In 21 Things You May Not Know About the Indian Act, Bob Joseph reveals untold truths about a history often altered in typical school curriculums. In less than 150 pages, Joseph exposes the Indian Act as a critical tool in the erasure of Indigenous Peoples in Canada with the repercussions felt to this day. Our future relies on an understanding of the past and justice cannot be served without repair. Complete with collaborative activities and a discussion guide, this book is essential reading for settlers seeking to make reconciliation with Indigenous peoples a reality. 

The day of Truth & Reconciliation is held in mourning of lives taken by residential school, holds space for grieving families, and honours the resilience of traumatized communities. Five Little Indians follows the journey of 5 residential school survivors as they dare to exist in “a world that doesn’t want them.” We revere this novel and the deep truths it exposes on this day, and everyday. 

Art Manuel’s foundational book provides a rich history of Indigenous resistance in Canada, especially over the past forty years, from the Constitution Express to the Oka Crisis to Idle no More. Since the very inception of the colonial concept known as Canada, successive governments have been trying to separate Indigenous people from their land to facilitate white settlement and resource extraction. And from the very beginning, Indigenous people have fought back. For a long time, they were up against some of the most powerful governments and corporations in the world completely alone. But as more and more people wake up to the relationship between Indigenous dispossession and excessive extraction as the primary driver of the climate crisis, the counterforce to colonial capitalism grows. To truly address this crisis, we must tip the balance of power back towards the original Indigenous stewards of this land, who understand deeply how to live in reciprocal relation with it. 

In this poignant book, An Antane Kapesh depicts from first-hand testimony the realities of White settler-colonialism and the impacts on Innu communities, lands, cultures, language and traditions. The text is presented in Innu-aimun (left pages) and in French (right pages). 

In this collection of poems, Louis-Karl Picard-Sioui explores the spirituality of the Wendat through his personal life.

This book is a call to resistance. In it, Arthur Manuel retraces decades of Indigenous activism, inherited from their father George Manuel, and depicts the political, economic and social struggles as well as resistance movements striving for the recognition of Indigenous rights, and the decolonization of the Canadian state.

As We Have Always Done offers the gift of an Indigenous perspective of what a true “nation-to-nation” relationship would look like in Canada—not a surface-level acknowledgment of Indigenous existence, but a deep commitment to dismantling the colonial structures that continue to oppress Indigenous peoples to this day. (Structures like the extractive projects being forced through unceded Indigenous land, the disproportionate representation of Indigenous women in federal prisons, and the “modern-day residential school system” of foster care that is separating Indigenous children from their communities.) Leanne Simpson writes: “I am not interested in inclusion. I am not interested in reconciling. I’m interested in unapologetic place-based nationhoods using Indigenous practices and operating in an ethical and principled way from an intact land base. This is the base from which we can develop a ‘new relationship’ with the Canadian state.” 

“Seven Fallen Feathers” is the carefully reported story of seven Indigenous high school students who died in Thunder Bay between 2000 and 2011. Critically, journalist Tanya Talaga connects the seven deaths to Canada’s colonial history, which extends to the present day—today, right now, Indigenous children are forced to move away from home to live in communities that are alienating, racist, and unsuited to meet their culturally specific needs. Tanya Talaga definitively rejects the idea that these deaths were mere “accidents”: they were, in fact, the tragic result of a careless, colonial system that does not value Indigenous lives as much as settler lives. Everyone in Canada must read this book, get angry, and demand change. 

Can you imagine a relationship to the land that’s not purely and fundamentally extractive? 

“Our toddlers speak of plants and animals as if they were people, extending to them self and intention and compassion — until we teach them not to. We quickly retrain them and make them forget. When we tell them that the tree is not a WHO, but an IT, we make that maple an object; we put a barrier between us, absolving ourselves of moral responsibility and opening the door to exploitation. Saying IT makes a living land into “natural resources.” If a maple is an IT, we can take up the chain saw. If a maple is a HER, we think twice.” – Robin Kimmerer

In a “memoir of healing” both written and visual, Thomas-Muller uses the tradition of Indigenous storytelling to share a personal account of the realities of abuse, intergenerational trauma and racism in Canadian cities. Various life events ultimately led him to reconnect with his heritage and find empowerment as a frontline Indigenous land defender and social justice organizer in his community. Further education can be found through his teaching tools. 

Shuni – how one says the name Julie in Innu-aimun, is written as a letter, sharing stories and experience in close and  personal prose. Naomi writes a letter to her friend and tells her the stories of her people, the precious moments she shared with her community, vividly depicting her traditions and culture. 

Interested in purchasing a book from this list? Check out an Indigenous-owned bookstore in your area! 

Indigenous Voices On the Air

Listen Up! *all closed-caption versions are available for free on YouTube

“All My Relations is a podcast hosted by Matika Wilbur (Swinomish and Tulalip) and Adrienne Keene (Cherokee Nation) to explore our relationships— relationships to land, to our creatural relatives, and to one another.”

Laissez-nous raconter : L’histoire crochie A series of 11 episodes to decolonize our understanding of words like “discovery”, “savage” or “obey” – with heavy meanings in our collective history. 

“Unreserved is the radio space for Indigenous voices — our cousins, our aunties, our elders, our heroes. Falen Johnson guides us on the path to better understand our shared story. Together, we learn and unlearn, laugh and become gentler in all our relations.”

“Buffy Sainte-Marie is one of the most prolific singer-songwriters of the past century. For 60 years her music has quietly reverberated throughout pop culture, and provided a touchstone for Indigenous resistance. In this five-part series, Mohawk and Tuscarora writer Falen Johnson explores how Buffy’s life and legacy is essential to understanding Indigenous resilience.”

“Nation to Nation takes a weekly look at the politics affecting Indigenous people in Canada. Join host Todd Lamirande as he connects you to the decision makers in Ottawa and across the country.”

“This is an Indigenous podcast about the warrior life – featuring the voices of Indigenous warriors, advocates & leaders on the front lines of Indigenous resistance, resurgence and revitalization, who are protecting our lands, peoples and sovereignty.”

“The highest homicide and hate crime rates in the country. A mayor charged with extortion. A police chief who faced trial for obstruction of justice. Nine tragic deaths of Indigenous high schoolers. Why does it all happen here?”

Support Indigenous-led Organizations

Donate! Volunteer! Cultivate Community! 

Justice-centered environmentalism is the ONLY environmentalism. Indigenous knowledge systems are essential to the climate movement. This Indigenous-led climate action group loudly advocates for Indigenous environmental governance and we settlers need to listen up! Rooted in Healing and Community, ICA seeks to inspire the next generation of climate leaders and build solutions from within Indigenous worldviews.

  • Four Directions Indigenous Student Centre – Kingston, ON

As “the primary recognizably Indigenous space on-campus” since its conception in 1996, Four directions Indigenous Student Centre is committed to guiding Indigenous students in navigating predominantly white institutions through connection with elders. 4D supports the Queen’s University community in facilitating indigenous-centered programing for students and the Kingston community at large. 

  • Future Ancestors Services Inc.

Miyoonakishkatoohk/Future Ancestors Services Inc. is an Indigenous and Black-owned, youth-led organization offering professional services to overcome systemic barriers in advancing climate justice through the lens of anti-racism and ancestral accountability.

Based at the Toronto Metropolitan University the Yellowhead Institute is an Indigenous-led research and education centre that offers “critical and accessible resources to support the reclamation of Indigenous land and life.” Their “Red Papers”—the Land Back and Cash Back reports—are required reading for those seeking to educate themselves and contribute meaningfully to Indigenous land restitution. 

  • Dechinta Centre for Research and Learning 

Created ten years ago in response to the barriers Northern Indigenous communities were facing when trying to access post-secondary education, Dechinta is the “only fully land-based university accredited program in the world, and the only program explicitly mandated to serve Indigenous peoples.” Donate to the Centre here and follow them on social media here. 

  • Caring Society

Created in Squamish First Nation in 1998, the Caring Society offers research, support to guarantee the well-being and safety of First Nations youth and provides reconciliation-based public education. The organisation works to ensure First Nations children and their families have access to “culturally-based and equitable opportunities to grow up safely at home.”

  • Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami

ITK is The national voice for over 65,000 Inuit in Canada advocating to protect community rights and sovereignty in Canada. Towards building resilience within their community, donate here.

  • Assembly of First Nations

Assembly of First Nations is a national advocacy organization, representing First Nations perspectives and advancing the collective aspirations of First Nations individuals and communities across Canada concerning nature and environmental matters.

  • Metis National Council 

Metis National Council  preserves the history and collective vision of the Metis Nations in Canada. Advocating for justice and recognition in the Canadian federation, the Metis National Council values democratic accountability in their approach to governance and builds its community by delivering programs and resources to Metis community. 

  • Indian Residential School Survivors Society

IRSSS offers counseling and mental wellbeing services for Indigenous communities, including a 24/7 crisis line for those in need. 

  • The Tsleil Waututh Sacred Trust 

The Tsleil Waututh Sacred Trust is an initiative of the Tsleil-Waututh Nation (TWN), a Coast Salish nation living on the unceded territory of what is colonially known as Vancouver’s Burrard Inlet. The community has been organizing for years against the Trans Mountain Expansion Project (TMX), which was approved without TWN’s consent. Learn more about the sacred trust here and donate to them here.

  • Nuluujaat Land Guardians

The Nuluujaat Land Guardians formed in 2021 to protect the Inuit territory (Nuluujaat) from the actions of the Baffinland Iron Mines Corporation. In February 2021, the group peacefully blockaded the iron ore mine for one week and are now facing a $14 million lawsuit from Baffinland Iron Mines Corporation and a permanent injunction from the mining site. All money donated will support Inuit hunters opposing Baffinland’s dangerous expansion project.

  • Unist’ot’en camp and Unist’ot’en legal defence fund

Donate to the Unist’ot’en camp or to the Unist’ot’en legal defence fund. Your contributions will enable the Unist’ot’en Clan to stop the pipelines that threaten all of us. Your contribution ensures that supporters on the land have food and medical supplies, that Unist’ot’en Youth are able to visit their territories, that Wet’suwet’en Elders have the necessary materials on the land to teach traditional hunting, gathering, food processing, language skills, songs, stories and more.  The Unist’ot’en are also facing mounting legal fees in order to protect their unceded territory. To date, more than $400K has been spent on the injunction proceedings and a related Judicial Review.

  • The Support Network for Indigenous Women & Women of Colour

The Support Network for Indigenous Women & Women of Colour works to dismantle the barriers preventing women and girl’s access to safe healthcare and reproductive justice through education, food and art. Dedicated to the empowerment of women, the organization tackles the cultural, social and political realities of Indigenous and immigrant communities and provides culturally-appropriate services through all of their programs.  

  • Indspire

Indspire invest in the education of Métis, Inuit and First Nations students in urban centres, rural areas and remote communities. By sharing resources, delivering programs, and providing financial awards, Indspire contributes to increasing graduation rates for Indigenous students. 

Indigeneity on Instagram

Diversify your feed and follow these Canadian Indigenous Influencers!

@shinanova  – Shina Novalinga is an Inuk throat singer and activist. With over 4M followers on TikTok, she quickly gained massive attention during the first wave of the pandemic when she shared an intimate video of her and her mom throat singing together. She now uses her social media platforms to celebrate and preserve Inuit throat singing; a beautiful tradition that was almost lost when it was banned by missionaries in the 1920s.

@larissa_speaks – Larissa Crawford is a Métis-Jamaican climate activist, anti-racist educator, and entrepreneur. As the founder of Future Ancestors Services Inc., she is a leader in anti-racism and indigenous research Initiatives, using her platform to educate her followers by sharing her experience as a disabled BIPOC creator.

@tanyatagaq – Tanya Tagaq is an award winning throat singer, writer and activist from Ikaluktutiak, Nunavut.  She blends traditional throat singing techniques with experimental electronic music. She uses her voice and her platform to fight for the rights of Indigenous people in Canada.

@autumn.peltier – Autumn Peltier  is a world-renowned water-rights advocate and a leading global youth environmental activist. She comes from Wikwemikong First Nation on Manitoulin Island and was named Chief Water Commissioner for the Anishinabek Nation in 2019. You’ll  likely remember Autumn from when she bravely criticized Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s clean-water policies in a face-to-face meeting with him at the young age of 12, gaining her international media attention. At the age of 13, she addressed world leaders at the UN General Assembly in New York on World Water Day with a powerful speech. Let’s follow her lead and advocate fearlessly.

@nanookfareal – Nanook Gordon (White Wolf) is an Inuvialuk community organizer and artist and co founder of  Toronto Indigenous Harm Reduction (TIHR) –  a queer and Two-Spirit Indigenous grassroots collective providing essential frontline support and services to Indigenous houseless folks in Tkaronto.

@christi_belcourt – Christi Belcourt  is an award-winning visual artist and activist from Mânitow Sâkahikan, Albertaj whose art speaks to the struggle for Indigenous identity and sovereignty. Her activism focuses on Indigenous issues related to justice, education and meaningful reconciliation. She co-founded the Onaman Collective alongside Isaac Murdoch which helps to organize Indigenous environmentalists and artists who share a belief that the ways of the ancestors must be reclaimed. 

@takaiya.blaney – Takaiya Blaney  is an Indigenous youth land defender from Tla’amin First Nation, Salish Sea in BC whose activism took flight when she protested the Enbridge pipeline at age ten . She’s now an award-winning actress, singer, and  leader in the climate youth movement where she fights against the continued exploitation and injustices caused from extractive industries in her own community, while also pushing for the global rights for indigenous people and the environment.

@jdutchermusic – Jeremy Dutcher, is an award-winning and classically trained musician, performer, activist and two-spirited member of the Tobique First Nation in North-West New Brunswick. He brings a bold signature style and sings in his traditional Indigenous language, Wolastoqey Latuwewakon. His lyrics often talk about the natural world and our relationship to it.

@yintah_access is the definitive source for news from the frontlines of Wet’suwet’en resistance against Coastal GasLink (CGL), a pipeline slated to be drilled under one of North America’s last clean rivers, Wedzin Kwa (which has been stewarded by the Wet’suwet’en for millennia). CGL does have the consent of the hereditary leadership and is being actively resisted by the Wet’suwet’en, who have been harassed, assaulted, and arrested by the RCMP and private CGL security forces for years. Follow the resistance here, donate to the movement here, or lend your support at camp, if you can. 

@notoriouscree –  James Jones,  is a Cree creator from Edmonton best known for hoop dancing, an Indigenous healing dance often performed at powwows. He uses his social media accounts—on TikTok and Instagram—to spread awareness and education around his culture and fill our Instagram feeds with joy. 

@scottwabano – Scott Wabano is a two-spirit, youth Cree who is making waves in the fashion industry as a designer, stylist,  and model who is helping to fill the gap where there is lack of Indigenous representation in the fashion industry.  Wabano is also an advocate for Indigiqueer and two-spirited people. 

@Isaac_murdoch1 – Isaac Murdoch  is an artist, activist and educator who has committed his life to the preservation of Anishinaabe cultural practices and has spent years learning directly from Elders. He co-founded the Onaman Collective alongside partner Christi Belcourt and  they offer their iconic art for free download across the movement, where we’re sure you’ve seen it at protests and blockades  all across turtle island. 

@chiefladybird –  Chief Lady Bird (Nancy King) is a Chippewa and Potawatomi collaborative artist, illustrator, educator and activist from Rama First Nation and Moosedeer Point First Nation and is well known for her stunning murals. Much of her work is based on issues that intersect indigenous communities and youth, such as the reclamation of our bodies and sexuality, the reclamation of ancestral language and land-based knowledge, and land sovereignty. 

Indigenous Cultural Centres

Celebrate and preserve Indigenous art, culture, and history. 

  • Bill Reid gallery (wheelchair accessible)

Established in 2008 to celebrate the legacy of famed Haida artist Bill Reid, the Bill Reid Gallery’s mandate is to “promote a greater awareness of Indigenous cultures and values” through special exhibitions and programs. If you’re in Vancouver, visit the gallery at 639 Hornby street; you can also donate right here. 

  • Squamish Lil’wat cultural centre (wheelchair accessible)

The Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) and Líl̓wat7úl (Lil’wat) cultural centre in Whistler, BC was opened in 2008 as a “partnership between two unique nations who wish to preserve, grow, and share [their] traditional cultures.” Although many Squamish and Lil’wat stories were lost during colonization (both nations were oral societies, and didn’t develop written languages until the 1970s), many remain and you can read them on the centre’s website. (Such as the Lil’wat origin story, who are the people of Srap7úl—the “real tree,” colonially known as the Douglas fir. Original burials of Lil’wat peoples were done in this fir tree, and when a Douglas fir grew to its fullest, Lil’wat ancestors believed they were closer to the Creator.)

Find a Friendship Centre near you through the The National Association of Friendship Centres (accessibility varies per location)

Indigenous Cinema 

We are what we see. Exposure can make or break our mindsets, attitudes and biases. 

Directed by Mohawk-Canadian filmmaker Tracey Deer, Beans follows the story of the 1990 Oka Crisis at Kanesatake—which Deer lived through as a child—through the eyes of a young Mohawk girl named Tekehentahkhwa (nicknamed “Beans”). The film is heartbreaking and inspiring, and in case you needed any more convincing, it received 91% on Rotten Tomatoes.

  • Reservation Dogs (CC available)

Reservation Dogs is a comedy series centering around the lives of Indigenous teens navigating life’s ups and downs on an Oklahoma reservation. 

  • Angry Inuk (CC available)

Angry Inuk, a feature-length documentary written and directed by Alethea Arnaquq-Baril, exposes the injustices suffered by Inuit seal hunters who saw their traditional ways villainized and disrupted in the wake of the Greenpeace seal campaign and the EU Ban on Seal Products. Healing our relations with Inuit communities has been a huge part of our decolonization journey. 

  • Reel Injun (CC available)

From cultural appropriation, blatant racism and finally towards reclamation, Reel Injun offers an insightful look at the portrayal of North American Indigenous people throughout a century of cinema. 

  • Night Raiders (CC available) 

Night Raiders is a dystopian drama echoing the reality of forced assimilation of Indigenous children and mirroring the effects of colonizing powers that created what we call Canada. 

Looking for a new music genre to add to your Spotify playlists? Look no further than Joshua DePerry’s pioneering of “Pow Wow Techno!” In this short docufilm, DePerry shares his journey navigating two-worlds as a Toronto-based artist popularizing this unique combo of Indigenous war cries and funky techno beats. 

This is not where it ends, but we hope you will get started.