Speaking Our Truth: A Journey of Reconciliation

by Monique Gray Smith

Overview

★"Smith's book is an effort that returns, offering diverse voices that invite the world into the reconciliation experience. Absolutely necessary.”—Kirkus Reviews, starred review

Canada's relationship with its Indigenous people has suffered as a result of both the residential school system and the lack of understanding of the historical and current impact of those schools. Healing and repairing that relationship requires education, awareness and increased understanding of the legacy and the impacts still being felt by Survivors and their families. Guided by acclaimed Indigenous author Monique Gray Smith, readers will learn about the lives of Survivors and listen to allies who are putting the findings of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission into action.

Praise for Speaking Our Truth:

★"Smith thoroughly and compassionately examines the history and traumatic aftereffects of Canada's residential schools…Smith informs without overwhelming or sugarcoating, and she emphasizes the power readers themselves possess.”—Publishers Weekly, starred review

★"Despite the somber topic, Smith consistently empowers readers to be agents of change and provides specific suggestions to take action."—School Library Journal, starred review

★"Offers a perfect framework for readers actively exploring Indigenous history and current issues. Welcoming, honest, and down to earth, Speaking Our Truth is the tool many Canadians have been waiting for."—Quill&Quire, starred review

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781459815858
Publisher:	Orca Book Publishers
Publication date:	09/19/2017
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	160
Lexile:	1050L (what's this?)
File size:	9 MB
Age Range:	9 - 13 Years

About the Author

Monique Gray Smith is an award-winning, bestselling author and public speaker. Her books cover a broad spectrum of ages, topics and emotions. Woven into all of Monique’s writing and her speaking engagements is the teaching that Love is Medicine. Her books include Speaking our Truth: A Journey of Reconciliation, My Heart Fills With Happiness, You Hold Me Up, Lucy and Lola, Tilly: A Story of Hope and Resilience, Tilly and the Crazy Eights, When We Are Kind and I Hope. She has also created the young adult adaptation of Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer. Monique is Cree and Scottish. She lives with her family on the Traditional Territories of the Lək̓ʷəŋən and WSÁNEĆ Peoples.

Table of Contents

Welcome to the Journey

• Why Do We Need This Journey?
• Preparing for the Journey
• Monique’s Journey
• Powerful Medicine
• The Seven Sacred Teachings

Honesty: Where Have We Come From?

• Knowing the Truth
• Pre-Contact
• The Historical Journey
• The Residential Schools
• The Children Who Never Came Home
• Effects on Families
• Métis Children
• Inuit Children
• Ripple Effect
• Speaking Out

Love: Where Do We Stand Today?

• What Does Reconciliation Mean?
• The Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement
• Apology
• The Truth and Reconciliation Commission
• The National TRC Events
• Honourary Witnesses
• 94 Calls to Action
• Walk for Reconciliation
• Barriers to Justice
• In the End…or Perhaps the Beginning
• Love

Kindness and Reciprocity: Where Do We Go From Here?

• Building Bridges
• Talking Reconciliation
• Being an Ally
• What Can You Do?
• Messages to Inspire You on Your Journey
• Reconciliation Projects and Initiatives
• Until Our Paths Cross Again… 

Acknowledgments
Online Resources
Reading List
Glossary
List of Residential Schools
Index

Editorial Reviews

★ "Smith takes care to explain the manner in which she interviewed various people. This transparent glimpse into the writing process underscores her humble, gracious tone. The author supports all her assertions with documentation; the cumulative effect is unquestionably authentic and respectful…As a package, the book offers a perfect framework for readers actively exploring Indigenous history and current issues. Welcoming, honest, and down to earth, Speaking Our Truth is the tool many Canadians have been waiting for."

Quill & Quire - starred review

★ 08/21/2017
Smith (My Heart Fills with Happiness) thoroughly and compassionately examines the history and traumatic aftereffects of Canada’s residential schools, the longest-running of which only closed in 1996. The forced relocation of indigenous children into these schools over a period of more than 160 years—separating them from their families and culture, and frequently subjecting them to harsh punishments, as well as physical and sexual abuse—is a subject that needs to be faced head-on, Smith explains: “It is critical for us as a country to tell his truth and for you as a young citizen to know this history.” She assumes readers are coming to the book without prior knowledge, and she clearly describes the history behind the schooling system and how its abuses came to light while defining relevant terms (assimilation, Indian agent, systemic racism, etc.). Period photographs and accounts from living survivors of the schools make a gripping narrative all the more real, and reader-directed questions appear frequently in sidebars. Smith informs without overwhelming or sugarcoating, and she emphasizes the power readers themselves possess: “I hope you see that we have a beautiful opportunity for profound change.” Ages 9–13. (Sept.)

Publishers Weekly

"Monique Gray Smith offers young readers around the world an important new book in Speaking Our Truth, A Journey of Reconciliation…Smith tackles these issues in such a way that readers learn about the lives of Survivors and listen to allies who are putting the findings of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission into action."

The International Educator

★ "Smith takes care to explain the manner in which she interviewed various people. This transparent glimpse into the writing process underscores her humble, gracious tone. The author supports all her assertions with documentation; the cumulative effect is unquestionably authentic and respectful…As a package, the book offers a perfect framework for readers actively exploring Indigenous history and current issues. Welcoming, honest, and down to earth, Speaking Our Truth is the tool many Canadians have been waiting for."

starred review Quill & Quire

"This is an important book…The author does a fine job balancing the need to depict the children's terrible suffering with the fact that she is writing for young people…Even readers who are unfamiliar with Canadian history will be left with an understanding of the impact these events left on Indigenous people, as well as the importance of preserving all people's identity and cultural heritage."

Youth Services Book Reviews

"I learned a great deal from [Smith's] book, and I did re-examine much of what I thought I knew…This is a book that definitely has a place in middle and high school libraries, and it would be a useful supplementary resource for teachers of Canadian history and Indigenous studies. Highly Recommended."

CM Magazine

"Smith has written an astoundingly honest and inclusive book that tackles [reconciliation] with compassion and clarity…Her respectful, authentic voice shines throughout the whole book and she allows room for multiple perspectives…This exemplary title, so obviously written from the heart, is a book that all young people should read. Indeed, it is a book that all Canadians need. "

Canadian Children's Book News

"Smith's narrative tone is inviting and friendly, often addressing the reader directly as she takes them from the earliest moments of colonial contact, through the Indian Act of 1894, traumatic residential school experiences…and the ways today's children can be allies and actors in the ongoing process of reconciliation and anti-oppression…Readers from south of the Canadian border might be inspired to start asking questions about their own history."

Booklist

"Weaving personal experience and Canadian society's struggle to come to terms with a sorrowful and the haunting past, Smith bravely negotiates this politically sensitive terrain…Written in frank and accessible language, this is a must-have book that will educate children and adults alike."

TD Canadian Children's Book Award Jury

"A valuable resource for educators looking for ways to increase their own understanding of reconciliation whole offering valuable prompts to guide junior and intermediate students in understanding this period in Canadian history."

ETFO Voice

"A vibrant non-fiction resource…All of the information in this book is clearly organized and supported by meaningful graphics and pictures. The text is easy to follow and divided into manageable chunks with glossary definitions as needed. This book is easily one of the most current and thoughtful that I have read on the subject. Every school library should consider adding this book to their collection."

Resource Links

A practical guide to the reconciliation process…Questions throughout encourage active reader participation; the unique book could also spur research about these issues as they relate to the United States.

The Horn Book Online

"You are holding a medicine bundle of hope and of witnessing the resiliency and the beauty of Indigenous and Metis people who have survived numerous attempts at genocide. I am grateful to Monique Gray Smith and Orca Book Publishers for creating a treasury of hard truths for everyone this book finds. We are witnesses together who can all do our part in the great healing ahead. I am in awe! Mahsi cho!"

award-winning author of We Sang You Home Richard Van Camp

"[Speaking Our Truth's] strength is the author's extensive research. If one chooses to delve into this material, they will get a glimpse of the personal stories behind the need for truth and reconciliation."

Tribal College Journal of American Indian Higher Education

"Smith's narrative tone is inviting and friendly, often addressing the reader directly as she takes them from the earliest moments of colonial contact, through the Indian Act of 1894, traumatic residential school experiences…and the ways today's children can be allies and actors in the ongoing process of reconciliation and anti-oppression…Readers from south of the Canadian border might be inspired to start asking questions about their own history."

Booklist

"Smith takes care to explain the manner in which she interviewed various people. This transparent glimpse into the writing process underscores her humble, gracious tone. The author supports all her assertions with documentation; the cumulative effect is unquestionably authentic and respectful…As a package, the book offers a perfect framework for readers actively exploring Indigenous history and current issues. Welcoming, honest, and down to earth, Speaking Our Truth is the tool many Canadians have been waiting for."

Quill & Quire—starred review

★ 09/01/2017
Gr 4–7—A sensitive and extensive insight into the experiences of Indigenous people in Canada. Smith traces the historical events, movements, and laws affecting people of the First Nations and connects this history to the impact still resonating generations later. The book largely addresses the laws that forcibly removed Indigenous children from their families and sent them to residential schools in an attempt to "civilize" them. Replete with primary sources, including photos and personal accounts from those who lived in the residential schools, Smith tackles difficult and complex conversations with straightforwardness and compassion. These topics include institutionalized racism, forced sterilization, and the destruction of Indigenous cultures. Despite the somber topic, Smith consistently empowers readers to be agents of change and provides specific suggestions to take action. Smith wrote this book in the second person, which creates a uniquely personal experience wherein readers are immersed in the conversation. In addition, questions for reflection are peppered throughout, making the work very accessible for classroom use. Though Smith does not specifically address U.S. history, many of the laws and actions described in Canada have been and are mirrored in the United States. The thorough back matter also makes this volume great for research. For older readers, this work pairs nicely with Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz's An Indigenous Peoples' History of the United States. VERDICT Purchase this vibrant, must-have title to prompt critical thinking and open discussions.—Paige Rowse, Needham High School, MA

School Library Journal

★ 2017-06-14
Smith offers readers a sojourn through Canadian history chronicling the residential school experience through the stories of the survivors. For over 150 years, thousands of indigenous children were forcibly taken by Canadian government officials and provided with an education that would eradicate the cultural identities of indigenous peoples. Children in these residential schools were malnourished, endured physical and sexual abuse, and were forbidden to speak their languages or practice their own spirituality. Many died. Following a formal apology from the Canadian government in 2008, survivors of this experience were allowed for the first time to publicly voice their stories for official documentation. In vignettes threaded throughout, individual survivors reflect on the impact that this cultural genocide had on their individual lives and within their communities. Generations of trauma led to destructive patterns of behavior, mental illness, and addictions. Smith (of Cree, Lakota, and Scottish heritage) includes messages of resilience from community leaders and elders and devotes an entire chapter to interviews with young people as they express how important it is for them to contribute to the healing of their communities. One survivor says, "Reconciliation is asking myself who my Ancestors were the day before they went to residential school, then doing everything I can to return to that." Smith's book is an effort that returns, offering diverse voices that invite the world into the reconciliation experience. Absolutely necessary. (Nonfiction. 10-16)

Kirkus Reviews