Indigenous Solidarity
To the Indigenous peoples of these lands:
We turn our minds to you and your ancestors. You have kept your unceded homelands, cultures and communities strong. We see you living beautiful lives and doing wonderful things. We are grateful to live here and we owe our lives to you.
As we live and organize on Indigenous lands, settler colonialism continues to inflict genocide upon Indigenous people via theft and destruction of land, the Indian Act, foster care systems, policing & criminal justice systems, healthcare systems, education systems, unlawful resource extraction, dispossession of Indigenous people from land, and the intergenerational trauma of institutions of assimilation & genocide, known as "residential schools".
We strive to help repair the harms perpetrated upon Indigenous communities, presently and historically. One way settlers can help is by donating to Indigenous led organizations. Below are some suggestions.
Settlers can also educate themselves. Below are links to reports, inquiries, inquests, calls to action, books, podcasts, workshops, and courses.
DONATE:
Support Health Care and Basic Needs:
Western Aboriginal Harm Reduction Society
WISH- Aboriginal Health & Safety
Support Residential School Survivors:
Indian Residential School Survivor Society
Support Human Rights for Indigenous Children:
First Nations Child and Family Caring Society
Support Indigenous Land Defenders:
Unist’ot’en- Heal the people heal the land
IMPLEMENT CALLS FOR JUSTICE & ACTION:
Truth & Reconciliation Calls to Action
Inquiry into Missing & Murdered Indigenous Women & Girls- Calls for Justice
In Plain Sight- Indigenous Specific Racism in BC Health Care- Recommendations
Canadian Human Rights Tribunal- Inequitable funding for First Nations child welfare
A National Action Plan to End Violence Against Indigenous Women & Girls
Submission to United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
Letter from United Nations to Canada re: violation of Indigenous land rights
Public Inquiries, Inquests and Reports
EDUCATE YOURSELF:
Books:
21 things you may not know about the Indian Act
Challenging Racist British Columbia- 150 years and counting
500 years of Indigenous resistance
Whose land is it anyways- A manual for decolonization
Resistance & Resurgence, Exploring Key Issues Impacting Indigenous Communities Across Turtle Island
Podcasts & News:
Aboriginal Peoples Television Network
Courses:
University of Alberta free open online course: “Indigenous Canada”
British Columbia Institute of Technology free open online course: "Indigenous Awareness"
Workshops: