Indigenous Resources, Voices, and Businesses to Learn From

I begin by acknowledging my own privileged experience as a settler and a white woman living on unceded Coast Salish territory.

I am not in any form an authority on Indigenous education or resources, but what I am is eager to learn—and to honor our Indigenous communities as best I can, and to decolonize my own belief systems and those of our country.

This has always been important, but the May 2021 news about the remains of 215 children being discovered at a former residential school in Kamloops has brought it to the forefront of our consciousness. It’s maddening that it takes this kind of story to finally spark outrage, though. Because the truth is that Indigenous people are still consistently oppressed and targeted by colonial systems in Canada. A 2021 report by the First Nations Health Authority outlines that in 2020 alone, Indigenous people died at 5.3 times the rate of other British Columbia residents; 254 First Nations people died in 2020 due to toxic drugs, which is up 119 percent from the previous year. It has been reported that Indigenous women were sterilized without their informed consent in B.C. hospitals as recently as 2018; and a recent allegation suggests that Indigenous girls as young as 10 have been forced by social workers to have IUDs inserted. And Canada’s child welfare system fails Indigenous children again and again. This is truly just the tip of the iceberg.

In my own learning and unlearning, I continue to read and to listen. Here are some of the people, resources, articles, and organizations that I have found helpful on my journey so far. June is National Indigenous History Month, but we should be doing this work every month—every day. We must do better.

Buy from Indigenous-owned businesses

The age-old adage of putting your money where your mouth is has stood the test of time for a reason. Buying from Indigenous-owned companies is a great way to show support to these communities. We’ve rounded up some of our favorite Indigenous-owned businesses across Turtle Island here.

Learn about Indigenous history and culture

The University of Alberta has an Indigenous Canada course that offers a comprehensive overview of Indigenous history in this country, including the many atrocities that predate the creation of Canada and continue to this day. The online course can be audited for free or completed with a certificate for a small fee.

There are many organizations in Vancouver that serve Indigenous communities and share Indigenous teachings; consider reading their resources or donating where you can. There’s the Centre for Indigenous Fisheries; the Vancouver Aboriginal Friendship Society; the Urban Native Youth Association; the Helping Spirit Lodge Society; and It Starts With Us, to name a few. The CBC has done extensive reporting on missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls, which is another First Nations issue that does not get the attention it needs; see the CBC coverage here.