RSSStatement of Support for Indigenous Communities Grieving Discovery at Residential Schools in Canada
The discovery of the 215 Indigenous children buried at the Kamloops Residential School and the 104 found at the Brandon Residential School are a tragic reality of colonization. Spokane Public Library would like to acknowledge the pain and loss these tribal communities are experiencing. There are no words that could possibly soothe the wounds that this discovery and the impacts of residential schools and other colonial policies has had on the First people of the Americas.
While this discovery occurred in Canada, we want to acknowledge that the United States also had similar policies and impacts on Indigenous communities here in the United States called boarding schools. We know there were 357 similar boarding schools in the United States, 14 of which were in Washington State. Additionally, many tribal members in the Spokane region have personal connections to the Kamloops Residential School.
We know that words are not enough but we also know that we must make visible the impacts of how colonial violence has caused so much damage to our Indigenous community members. We encourage our customers to check out this list of books to learn more about how the boarding school system was used as a form of genocide:
Youth
- Shi-shi-etko by Nicola Campbell
- Shin-chi’s Canoe by Nicola Campbell
- When we were alone by David Robertson
- I am not a number by Jenny Kay Dupuis
- When I was eight by Christy Jordan-Fenton
- Amik loves school by Katherena Vermette
- I lost my talk by Rita Joe
- I’m finding my talk by Rebecca Thomas
- An indigenous people’s history of the United States for young people by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz
Adult
- A broken flute: the native experience in books for children by Doris Seale
- My decade at old sun, my lifetime of hell by Arthur Bear Chief
- A knock on the door
- They called me number one by Bev Sellars
- Pipestone: my life in an Indian boarding School by Adam Fortunate Eagle
When researching family history, one of the most valuable resources is a death certificate. Death certificates can include date of birth and death, marital status and a spouse’s name, occupation, birthplace, parent names, cause of death and location of burial. 
