​Every story shared is a step toward healing. These books have been gathered with care — for families, for those on a healing journey, and for anyone who wants to understand and walk the path of reconciliation. Take what resonates. Come back when you're ready for more.
📚 Kamamak Reading Library
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Books for Healing · Reconciliation · Family · Children
Curated by Kamamak Consulting | kamamakconsulting.ca
Every story shared is a step toward healing.
These books have been gathered with care — for families, for those on a healing journey, and for anyone who wants to understand and walk the path of reconciliation.
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💡 HOW TO ACCESS THESE BOOKS
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📚 BORROW FOR FREE — Use your free library card with Libby or Open Library to borrow ebooks and audiobooks for free. No library card? Get one free at your local library or online at Winnipeg Public Library.
🛒 BUY FROM INDIGENOUS BOOKSTORES — When you buy, please support Indigenous-owned businesses. We recommend Massy Books (100% Indigenous-owned, Vancouver) and Strong Nations (Indigenous-owned, Nanaimo, BC).
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🌿 TRUTH & RECONCILIATION
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21 Things You May Not Know About the Indian Act — Bob Joseph
A clear, accessible guide to understanding the Indian Act of 1876, its lasting impact on Indigenous Peoples, and what moving toward true reconciliation really looks like.
📚 Borrow free: Open Library / Libby (free with library card)
🛒 Buy from Indigenous bookstore: Massy Books (100% Indigenous owned)
Five Little Indians — Michelle Good
This novel follows five residential school survivors as they navigate life after leaving their schools, exploring themes of colonialism, trauma, and recovery — a deeply human and necessary read.
📚 Borrow free: Open Library / Libby (free with library card)
🛒 Buy from Indigenous bookstore: Massy Books (100% Indigenous owned)
Indian Horse — Richard Wagamese
A story about residential school trauma and a young Ojibway boy who discovers healing through hockey — full of magic, pain, and resilience.
📚 Borrow free: Open Library / Libby (free with library card)
🛒 Buy from Indigenous bookstore: Massy Books (100% Indigenous owned)
Namwayut — Chief Robert Joseph
A Hereditary Chief and honorary TRC witness shares his own life story as an impassioned plea to embrace vulnerability, recognize truth and trauma, and take steps toward reconciliation.
📚 Borrow free: Open Library / Libby (free with library card)
🛒 Buy from Indigenous bookstore: Massy Books (100% Indigenous owned)
Truth Telling — Michelle Good
A powerful collection of essays examining racism, broken treaties, cultural loss, and the real meaning of reconciliation — uncompromising and essential.
📚 Borrow free: Open Library / Libby (free with library card)
🛒 Buy from Indigenous bookstore: Massy Books (100% Indigenous owned)
The Orange Shirt Story — Phyllis Webstad
The story behind Orange Shirt Day — residential school survivor Phyllis Webstad recounts arriving at school wearing a new orange shirt given to her by her grandmother, only to have it taken away.
📚 Borrow free: Open Library / Libby (free with library card)
🛒 Buy from Indigenous bookstore: Massy Books (100% Indigenous owned)
When We Were Alone — David A. Robertson, illustrated by Julie Flett
A heartwarming and gentle story of a grandmother explaining residential schools to her grandchild — the 2017 Governor General's Literary Award winner for children's illustration.
📚 Borrow free: Open Library / Libby (free with library card)
🛒 Buy from Indigenous bookstore: Massy Books (100% Indigenous owned)
Indian School Days — Basil H. Johnston
An autobiographical memoir chronicling an Anishinaabe author's childhood experiences after being taken from his family at age 10 and placed in a residential school. Honest, important, and deeply human.
📚 Borrow free: Open Library / Libby (free with library card)
🛒 Buy from Indigenous bookstore: Massy Books (100% Indigenous owned)
💜 HEALING & RESILIENCE
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From the Ashes — Jesse Thistle
A remarkable Métis-Cree memoir about hope and resilience — Jesse Thistle's journey from homelessness and addiction to reclaiming his identity, culture, and family.
📚 Borrow free: Open Library / Libby (free with library card)
🛒 Buy from Indigenous bookstore: Massy Books (100% Indigenous owned)
Legacy: Trauma, Story, and Indigenous Healing — Suzanne Methot
A powerful exploration of how colonization has shaped Indigenous health and wellbeing — and how Indigenous ways of knowing light the path back to wholeness.
📚 Borrow free: Open Library / Libby (free with library card)
🛒 Buy from Indigenous bookstore: Massy Books (100% Indigenous owned)
Halfbreed — Maria Campbell
A raw and honest account of growing up Métis in mid-century Canada, grappling with poverty, loss, and the search for belonging. A classic that still speaks today.
📚 Borrow free: Open Library / Libby (free with library card)
🛒 Buy from Indigenous bookstore: Massy Books (100% Indigenous owned)
Iskwewak Kah' Ki Yaw Ni Wahkomakanak / Neither Indian Princesses Nor Easy Squaws — Janice Acoose
A courageous examination of how Indigenous women have been portrayed and misrepresented — and a reclaiming of truth, dignity, and identity.
📚 Borrow free: Open Library / Libby (free with library card)
🛒 Buy from Indigenous bookstore: Massy Books (100% Indigenous owned)
Braiding Sweetgrass — Robin Wall Kimmerer
A botanist of Potawatomi heritage weaves together Indigenous plant knowledge and Western science into a beautiful meditation on reciprocity, gratitude, and our relationship with the living world.
📚 Borrow free: Open Library / Libby (free with library card)
🛒 Buy from Indigenous bookstore: Massy Books (100% Indigenous owned)
You Are Enough: Love Letters for Your Healing Journey — Monique Gray Smith
Weaving together short stories, reflections, and questions rooted in gratitude, love, joy, and hope — a gentle daily companion for anyone on a healing path.
📚 Borrow free: Open Library / Libby (free with library card)
🛒 Buy from Indigenous bookstore: Massy Books (100% Indigenous owned)
🌸 PARENTING & FAMILY
Listening to the Beat of Our Drum: Indigenous Parenting in a Contemporary Society — Various Authors
A collection of stories from a kokum, an auntie, two-spirit parents, and a Métis mother — sharing diverse perspectives on mothering and family from all walks of life.
📚 Borrow free: Open Library / Libby (free with library card)
🛒 Buy from Indigenous bookstore: Massy Books (100% Indigenous owned)
Speaking Cree in the Home — Belinda Daniels & Andrea Custer
A hands-on guide for parents and caregivers to begin revitalizing and teaching Cree to young children at home — reconnecting family, identity, and language every day.
📚 Borrow free: Open Library / Libby (free with library card)
🛒 Buy from Indigenous bookstore: Massy Books (100% Indigenous owned)
My Heart Fills with Happiness — Monique Gray Smith, illustrated by Julie Flett
A little girl reflects on everything that makes her happy — from the sun on her cheeks to the smell of bannock baking — a poetic board book perfect for sharing with little ones.
📚 Borrow free: Open Library / Libby (free with library card)
🛒 Buy from Indigenous bookstore: Massy Books (100% Indigenous owned)
You Hold Me Up — Monique Gray Smith, illustrated by Danielle Daniel
A beautifully illustrated picture book that teaches children to show love and support for one another — a perfect tool for starting conversations about connection and reconciliation.
📚 Borrow free: Open Library / Libby (free with library card)
🛒 Buy from Indigenous bookstore: Massy Books (100% Indigenous owned)
We Sang You Home — Richard Van Camp, illustrated by Julie Flett
A board book that celebrates the bond between parents and their children — full of magic and love, recommended for every little one you know.
📚 Borrow free: Open Library / Libby (free with library card)
🛒 Buy from Indigenous bookstore: Massy Books (100% Indigenous owned)
A Day with Yayah — Nicola I. Campbell, illustrated by Julie Flett
A story of cross-generational learning, set in the land and language of the Nicola Valley — a book parents will happily read again and again.
📚 Borrow free: Open Library / Libby (free with library card)
🛒 Buy from Indigenous bookstore: Massy Books (100% Indigenous owned)
Speaking Our Truth — Monique Gray Smith
Helps young readers understand the history of the residential school system and its lasting effects, with questions and prompts to explore reconciliation with empathy.
📚 Borrow free: Open Library / Libby (free with library card)
🛒 Buy from Indigenous bookstore: Massy Books (100% Indigenous owned)
Nokum Is My Teacher — David Bouchard, illustrated by Allen Sapp
A poetic story of a young Indigenous boy who asks his Nokum questions about the world — and receives teachings that help him honour his roots while finding his place.
📚 Borrow free: Open Library / Libby (free with library card)
🛒 Buy from Indigenous bookstore: Massy Books (100% Indigenous owned)
The Song Within My Heart — David Bouchard, illustrated by Allen Sapp
A young Indigenous boy prepares for his first powwow guided by his Nokum — a stunning story of culture, love, and belonging.
📚 Borrow free: Open Library / Libby (free with library card)
🛒 Buy from Indigenous bookstore: Massy Books (100% Indigenous owned)
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🦋 CHILDREN'S BOOKS
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When We Are Kind — Monique Gray Smith
A simple, tender reminder of what kindness looks and feels like — for the youngest readers in your circle.
📚 Borrow free: Open Library / Libby (free with library card)
🛒 Buy from Indigenous bookstore: Massy Books (100% Indigenous owned)
Song — Julie Flett
A Cree mother and daughter journey through nature, family, and seasons — with Cree words and customs woven seamlessly into breathtaking illustrations.
📚 Borrow free: Open Library / Libby (free with library card)
🛒 Buy from Indigenous bookstore: Massy Books (100% Indigenous owned)
Stolen Words — Melanie Florence
Inspired by the author's grandfather's experience, this children's book shares the story of residential schools through photographs and first-person narratives.
📚 Borrow free: Open Library / Libby (free with library card)
🛒 Buy from Indigenous bookstore: Massy Books (100% Indigenous owned)
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Sometimes I Feel Like a Fox — Danielle Daniel
A children's introduction to the Anishinaabe tradition of totem animals — guiding little ones to understand themselves and the world through the animals they feel most like.
📚 Borrow free: Open Library / Libby (free with library card)
🛒 Buy from Indigenous bookstore: Massy Books (100% Indigenous owned)
Dragonfly Kites — Tomson Highway
Two young Cree brothers spend a summer chasing dragonfly kites through the trees and meadows of northern Manitoba — a beautiful story about imagination, joy, and the land.
📚 Borrow free: Open Library / Libby (free with library card)
🛒 Buy from Indigenous bookstore: Massy Books (100% Indigenous owned)
Awâsis and the World-Famous Bannock — Dallas Hunt
A Cree twist on a familiar tale — young Awâsis drops her grandmother's bannock and is helped by the creatures of the forest. Includes Cree words, pronunciation guide, and bannock recipe!
📚 Borrow free: Open Library / Libby (free with library card)
🛒 Buy from Indigenous bookstore: Massy Books (100% Indigenous owned)
Sweetest Kulu — Celina Kalluk
A perfect book for new parents — animals visit a newborn and bestow special gifts of wisdom, respect, and love. Warm and beautiful from the very first page.
📚 Borrow free: Open Library / Libby (free with library card)
🛒 Buy from Indigenous bookstore: Massy Books (100% Indigenous owned)
What's My Superpower? — Aviaq Johnston, illustrated by Tim Mack
A young Inuk girl searches for what makes her unique — a joyful, empowering story for every child who has ever wondered about their gift.
📚 Borrow free: Open Library / Libby (free with library card)
🛒 Buy from Indigenous bookstore: Massy Books (100% Indigenous owned)
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🛒 SUPPORT INDIGENOUS BOOKSTORES
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When you buy books, please support Indigenous-owned businesses. Your purchase keeps Indigenous communities strong. 🦋
🛒 Massy Books — 100% Indigenous owned and operated. Vancouver, BC. Ships across Canada.
🛒 Strong Nations — Indigenous owned online bookstore and publisher. Nanaimo, BC. Ships across Canada.
Know a book that belongs here? We'd love to hear from you. This library grows with our community.
info@kamamakconsulting.ca | 1-204-680-6614 | kamamakconsulting.ca
From Roots to Wings. 🦋