National Day for Truth and Reconciliation is on Sept. 30, but will be observed this year on Monday, Oct. 2. This day examines the legacy of residential schools, missing children, the families left behind and the survivors of these institutions.
While being officially recognized by the Canadian government in 2021, Sept. 30 was originally known as Orange Shirt Day. Being first observed in 2013, Orange Shirt Day was created as part of an effort to promote awareness and education of the impact of colonialism on Indigenous cultures and communities.
In honour of this important day, we’ve put together a list of five films and television series we recommend you watch, celebrating Indigenous culture and helping pave the road to reconciliation.
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1. LITTLE BIRD (2023)
Removed from her home in Saskatchewan, Bezhig Little Bird is adopted into a Montreal Jewish family at the age of five, becoming Esther Rosenblum. Now in her twenties, Bezhig longs for the family she lost and is willing to sacrifice everything to find them.
2. BONES OF CROWS (2022)
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Written, produced and directed by Canadian Métis creative Marie Clements, “Bones of Crows”examines Aline Spears, a Cree woman who survives the Indian residential school system to become a code talker for the Canadian Air Force during the Second World War. CBC is also broadcasting a five-hour limited series that delves more into the Spears’ extended family history.
Directed by Tasha Hubbard, “nîpawistamâsowin: We Will Stand Up” weaves a profound narrative encompassing the filmmaker’s own adoption, the stark history of colonialism on the Prairies and a vision of a future where Indigenous children can live safely on their homelands.
4. ANGRY INUK (2016)
In her award-winning documentary, director Alethea Arnaquq-Baril joins a new tech-savvy generation of Inuit as they campaign to challenge long-established perceptions of seal hunting. Armed with social media and their own sense of humour and justice, this group is bringing its own voice into the conversation and presenting themselves to the world as a modern people in dire need of a sustainable economy.
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5. RESERVATION DOGS (2021-2023)
The television series follows the lives of four Indigenous teenagers in rural Oklahoma, in a small town in the Muscogee Nation, where they spend their days “committing crime and fighting it.” They each need to address unresolved issues in their lives and community and make plans to leave.
