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The Indigenous Shelf

No Indigenous person or organization has reviewed, endorsed, or participated in this work, and this page says so.

Sixty-eight works — foundational reports and books — selected on the mechanical criteria below, verified live against a publisher, library, or author page. A bibliography, not a canon: see "Honest limits" at the end.

Selection criteria (mechanical, not curatorial)

An entry qualifies for this shelf if either:

  1. The author publicly identifies as Indigenous, as stated by the author or their publisher — nation/community recorded exactly as they state it, never inferred, never guessed from a surname or subject matter. Where a book has multiple authors and only some are Indigenous (e.g. a co-authored memoir), that is noted rather than smoothed over.
  2. OR the work is a foundational Indigenous-led report — the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples, or a Yellowhead Institute Red Paper.

Within qualifying entries: Toronto/Ontario/Turtle Island relevance is prioritized but national and international (Turtle Island-wide) works are included; in-print or Toronto Public Library-accessible titles are preferred. Verification is mandatory per entry — every title, author, year, and publisher below was checked live this review against a publisher page, a Toronto Public Library catalogue record, or an author/press site (recorded as that entry's "Verification" door). No entry landed from memory alone; a short Dropped as unconfirmable log near the end names what did not clear that bar.

Foundational reports

Named explicitly in this shelf's own selection criterion 2. These are institutional/inquiry reports, not trade books, but belong on any serious Indigenous shelf as primary documents.

R1. Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada: Calls to Action — Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada / National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation — 2015, Winnipeg. Ninety-four calls to action addressed to governments, churches, and institutions, closing the Commission's multi-year inquiry into the residential school system. Verification: publisher (nctr.ca).

R2. Reclaiming Power and Place: The Final Report of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls — National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls — 2019, Ottawa. Two-volume final report and 231 Calls for Justice from a national public inquiry into violence against Indigenous women, girls, and 2SLGBTQQIA+ people. Verification: publisher (mmiwg-ffada.ca).

R3. Report of the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples — Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples (a joint federal commission of Indigenous and non-Indigenous commissioners) — 1996, Ottawa. Five volumes, roughly 4,000 pages and 440 recommendations, from a multi-year national inquiry into the relationship between Indigenous peoples, other Canadians, and the Canadian state. Verification: Library and Archives Canada (bac-lac.gc.ca).

R4. Land Back: A Yellowhead Institute Red Paper — Hayden King (Anishinaabe, Beausoleil First Nation), Riley Yesno & Shiri Pasternak / Yellowhead Institute — 2019. Policy report on land dispossession and reclamation across Canada, and what "land back" means in practice. Verification: publisher (yellowheadinstitute.org).

R5. Cash Back: A Yellowhead Institute Red Paper — Shiri Pasternak, Naiomi Metallic, Yumi Numata, A. Sekharan, J. Galley & S. Wong / Yellowhead Institute — 2021. Companion report on fiscal relations and economic restitution between Canada and Indigenous nations. Verification: publisher (yellowheadinstitute.org).

I. Truth & history (10 entries)

B1. Seven Fallen Feathers: Racism, Death, and Hard Truths in a Northern City — Tanya Talaga (Anishinaabe, Fort William First Nation) — 2017, House of Anansi Press. Investigative account of the deaths of seven Indigenous high-school students in Thunder Bay, Ontario. Verification: publisher (houseofanansi.com); also TPL record.

B2. All Our Relations: Finding the Path Forward — Tanya Talaga (Anishinaabe, Fort William First Nation) — 2018, House of Anansi Press. Based on her CBC Massey Lectures, on Indigenous youth suicide in Canada and internationally. Verification: publisher (houseofanansi.com).

B3. 21 Things You May Not Know About the Indian Act — Bob Joseph (Gwawaenuk Nation) — 2018, Indigenous Relations Press (Page Two). Plain-language guide to the Indian Act's history and provisions. Verification: publisher (goodminds.com listing + Canada's History).

B4. The Inconvenient Indian: A Curious Account of Native People in North America — Thomas King (Cherokee and Greek descent, as stated by his publisher) — 2012, Doubleday Canada. History of the relationship between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples in North America. Caveat carried per this library's Indigenous-sources framework and this library's Indigenous-sources catalogue: King's specific ancestry claims have drawn some public scrutiny, though he remains broadly recognized as an Indigenous author and scholar in Canadian letters. [2026-08-17 reviewer-required addition, an earlier verification review.] Verification: publisher/Penguin Random House Canada.

B5. Up Ghost River: A Chief's Journey Through the Turbulent Waters of Native History — Edmund Metatawabin (Cree, former Chief of Fort Albany First Nation) with Alexandra Shimo — 2014, Alfred A. Knopf Canada. Memoir of residential-school survival and activism. Verification: publisher (Penguin Random House Canada).

B6. They Called Me Number One: Secrets and Survival at an Indian Residential School — Bev Sellars (Xat'sull/Soda Creek First Nation) — 2013, Talonbooks. Memoir of three generations of residential-school impact within one family. Verification: publisher (talonbooks.com).

B7. A Knock on the Door: The Essential History of Residential Schools from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada — National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation — 2016, University of Manitoba Press. Abridged, general-reader edition of the TRC's findings, with a foreword by Phil Fontaine. Verification: publisher (uofmpress.ca).

B8. My Name Is Seepeetza — Shirley Sterling (Nlaka'pamux) — 1992, Groundwood Books. Diary-form novel for young readers, based on the author's own residential-school childhood. Verification: publisher (houseofanansi.com, current Groundwood imprint page).

B9. Halfbreed — Maria Campbell (Métis) — 1973, McClelland & Stewart. Foundational memoir of a Métis woman's childhood and young adulthood in Saskatchewan. Verification: publisher (Penguin Random House Canada).

B10. The North-West Is Our Mother: The Story of Louis Riel's People, the Métis Nation — Jean Teillet (Métis) — 2019, Patrick Crean Editions (HarperCollins Canada). History of the Métis Nation. Verification: publisher (harpercollins.ca). Folded in from an earlier reading list.

II. Land & water (3 entries)

B11. As We Have Always Done: Indigenous Freedom through Radical Resistance — Leanne Betasamosake Simpson (Michi Saagiig Nishnaabeg, Alderville First Nation) — 2017, University of Minnesota Press. Theoretical account of Indigenous resurgence grounded in Nishnaabeg political thought. Verification: publisher (upress.umn.edu). Folded in from an earlier reading list.

B12. Dancing on Our Turtle's Back: Stories of Nishnaabeg Re-Creation, Resurgence and a New Emergence — Leanne Betasamosake Simpson — 2011, Arbeiter Ring Publishing. On regenerating Nishnaabeg governance, language, and land relationship. Verification: publisher listing (goodminds.com) + Internet Archive record.

B13. Our History Is the Future: Standing Rock Versus the Dakota Access Pipeline, and the Long Tradition of Indigenous Resistance — Nick Estes (citizen, Lower Brule Sioux Tribe) — 2019, Verso. History of the #NoDAPL movement set within a longer history of Indigenous resistance on Turtle Island. Verification: publisher (versobooks.com).

Cross-reference: Braiding Sweetgrass and The Serviceberry, both Robin Wall Kimmerer (Potawatomi) — already on the COMMON SHELF (Second Ring and The Dozen respectively). Not duplicated here.

III. Self-determination & governance (6 entries)

B14. Unsettling Canada: A National Wake-Up Call — Arthur Manuel (Secwepemc) & Grand Chief Ronald Derrickson (Westbank First Nation) — 2015, Between the Lines. History and political memoir on Indigenous title and rights struggles in Canada over fifty years. Verification: publisher (btlbooks.com).

B15. The Reconciliation Manifesto: Recovering the Land, Rebuilding the Economy — Arthur Manuel & Grand Chief Ronald Derrickson — 2017, James Lorimer & Company. Manuel's posthumously published argument on land and economic reconciliation. Verification: publisher (lorimer.ca).

B16. Red Skin, White Masks: Rejecting the Colonial Politics of Recognition — Glen Sean Coulthard (Yellowknives Dene) — 2014, University of Minnesota Press. Political theory critiquing state-recognition models of reconciliation. Verification: publisher (upress.umn.edu).

B17. Peace, Power, Righteousness: An Indigenous Manifesto — Taiaiake Alfred (Kahnawà:ke Mohawk) — 1999 (2nd ed. 2009), Oxford University Press. Manifesto on Indigenous self-determination. Verification: publisher (global.oup.com).

B18. Wasáse: Indigenous Pathways of Action and Freedom — Taiaiake Alfred — 2005, Broadview Press. On Indigenous resurgence, cultural regeneration, and decolonial action. Verification: publisher listing (Broadview/AbeBooks primary listing + academic reviews).

B19. The Winter We Danced: Voices from the Past, the Future, and the Idle No More Movement — Kino-nda-niimi Collective, lead editors incl. Leanne Betasamosake Simpson, Hayden King (Anishinaabe, Beausoleil First Nation), Niigaanwewidam James Sinclair, Tanya Kappo & Wanda Nanibush — 2014, ARP Books. Anthology of writing, poetry, and art from the Idle No More movement. Verification: publisher (arpbooks.org).

IV. Justice

No standalone Indigenous-authored trade book cleared this review's live-verification bar for this theme beyond the two foundational reports that are this theme's core texts — TRC Calls to Action (R1) and Reclaiming Power and Place / MMIWG (R2), both above. Named honestly as a thin spot rather than padded with an unconfirmed title.

V. Culture, language & ceremony (2 entries)

B20. Indigenous Writes: A Guide to First Nations, Métis, and Inuit Issues in Canada — Chelsea Vowel (Métis, manitow-sâkahikan/Lac Ste. Anne, Alberta) — 2016, HighWater Press (an imprint of Portage & Main Press). Essay collection on terminology, history, and current issues across First Nations, Métis, and Inuit contexts. Verification: publisher (portageandmainpress.com).

B21. Firewater: How Alcohol Is Killing My People (and Yours) — Harold R. Johnson (Cree, Montreal Lake Cree Nation, and Swedish descent) — 2016, University of Regina Press. A former Crown prosecutor's argument for changing the public story told about alcohol and Indigenous communities. Verification: publisher (uofrpress.ca).

Cross-reference: Indigenous Toronto: Stories That Carry This Place, eds. Denise Bolduc, Mnawaate Gordon-Corbiere, Rebeka Tabobondung & Brian Wright-McLeod (Coach House Books, 2021) — already on the COMMON SHELF (The Dozen, #7). Guide 17 (learning traditions) cross-links to this shelf's Culture section — see the RENDER-READY note.

VI. Wellbeing & health (6 entries)

B22. From the Ashes — Jesse Thistle (Métis-Cree) — 2019, Simon & Schuster Canada. Memoir of homelessness, addiction, and recovery. Verification: publisher (simonandschuster.ca).

B23. Life in the City of Dirty Water: A Memoir of Healing — Clayton Thomas-Müller (Mathias Colomb Cree Nation, Treaty 6) — 2021, Allen Lane / Penguin Canada. Memoir braiding personal healing with environmental and Indigenous-rights organizing. Verification: publisher (Penguin Random House Canada).

B24. The Right to Be Cold: One Woman's Story of Protecting Her Culture, the Arctic and the Whole Planet — Sheila Watt-Cloutier (Inuk, Kuujjuaq, Nunavik) — 2015, Allen Lane Canada. Memoir and argument connecting Inuit cultural survival to climate change. Verification: publisher listing (Penguin Random House / TPL record).

B25. A Mind Spread Out on the Ground — Alicia Elliott (Haudenosaunee, Six Nations of the Grand River) — 2019, Doubleday Canada. Essay collection on depression, poverty, racism, and colonialism. Verification: publisher (Penguin Random House Canada).

B26. Heart Berries: A Memoir — Terese Marie Mailhot (Seabird Island Band) — 2018, Doubleday Canada. Memoir of mental health, trauma, and coming of age on Seabird Island. Verification: publisher listing (Biblio / CBC Books).

B27. Written as I Remember It: Teachings (Ɂəms tɑɁɑw) from the Life of a Sliammon Elder — Elsie Paul (Tla'amin/Sliammon Elder) with Paige Raibmon & Harmony Johnson — 2014, UBC Press. Life story and teachings of a Sliammon elder, told in her own storytelling style. Verification: publisher (ubcpress.ca).

VII. Economic prosperity & financial sovereignty (2 entries)

B28. Indigenomics: Taking a Seat at the Economic Table — Carol Anne Hilton (Hesquiaht Nation, Nuu-chah-nulth) — 2021, New Society Publishers. Argument for an Indigenous economic model built on relationships and multigenerational stewardship. Verification: publisher (newsociety.com).

B29. Indigenous Relations: Insights, Tips & Suggestions to Make Reconciliation a Reality — Bob Joseph (Gwawaenuk Nation) & Cynthia F. Joseph — 2019, Indigenous Relations Press (Page Two). Practical guide to reconciliation in business and personal relationships, keyed to the TRC's 94 Calls to Action. Verification: publisher listing (goodminds.com / Page Two).

Cross-reference: Cash Back: A Yellowhead Institute Red Paper (R5, above) is this theme's core report.

VIII. Housing (1 entry)

B30. 2024–2034 Housing and Homelessness Action Plan — Métis Nation of Ontario — 2024. MNO's own ten-year housing and homelessness strategy. Verification: publisher (metisnation.org); already indexed in this corpus at an earlier internal research file row 60 — not re-duplicated as fresh sourcing, pointed to instead.

Honest gap: no trade-published, Indigenous-authored book specifically on Toronto/Ontario Indigenous housing was found and verified this review. Named as a real gap rather than filled with an unconfirmed title.

IX. Child welfare & education (1 entry)

B31. Five Little Indians — Michelle Good (Cree, Red Pheasant Cree Nation) — 2020, HarperCollins Canada / Harper Perennial. Novel following five residential-school survivors after their release into Vancouver's Downtown Eastside. Verification: publisher listing (HarperCollins / CBC Books).

Cross-reference: several Truth & History entries above (B5–B8) speak directly to this theme too — residential schools are a child-welfare and education-system history. Not duplicated here.

X. Land, climate & food sovereignty (1 entry)

B32. Original Instructions: Indigenous Teachings for a Sustainable Future — ed. Melissa K. Nelson (Anishinaabe/Métis/Norwegian; enrolled member, Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa) — 2008, Bear & Company. Anthology of Indigenous leaders and scholars on ecological knowledge and sustainability, drawn from the Bioneers conference. Verification: publisher listing (Biblio / Simon & Schuster distribution page).

Cross-reference: Braiding Sweetgrass and The Serviceberry (already on the COMMON SHELF) are this shelf's closest existing fit for food/land reciprocity.

Honest gap: no book found and verified this review is specifically and solely about Indigenous food sovereignty in Toronto/Ontario. Named as a real gap.

XI. Fiction, poetry & memoir — Indigenous literary voice (31 entries)

Per this lane's brief: "Indigenous literary voice counts as voice." Neutral plot/format descriptions only; no endorsement of any book's content.

B33. Islands of Decolonial Love: Stories & Songs — Leanne Betasamosake Simpson — 2013, ARP Books. Short-story collection. Verification: publisher (arpbooks.org).

B34. This Accident of Being Lost: Songs and Stories — Leanne Betasamosake Simpson — 2017, House of Anansi Press. Stories and songs. Verification: publisher (houseofanansi.com).

B35. Noopiming: The Cure for White Ladies — Leanne Betasamosake Simpson — 2020, House of Anansi Press. Novel-in-fragments responding to Susanna Moodie's Roughing It in the Bush. Verification: publisher (houseofanansi.com).

B36. Indian Horse — Richard Wagamese (Ojibway, Wabaseemoong First Nation) — 2012, Douglas & McIntyre. Novel following a residential-school survivor's life through hockey. Verification: publisher (douglas-mcintyre.com).

B37. Medicine Walk — Richard Wagamese — 2014, McClelland & Stewart. Novel of a father-son journey. Verification: publisher listing (Penguin Random House Canada).

B38. Starlight — Richard Wagamese — 2018, McClelland & Stewart. Wagamese's final, posthumously published novel. Verification: publisher (Penguin Random House Canada).

B39. One Native Life — Richard Wagamese — 2008, Douglas & McIntyre. Memoir structured around Ojibway teachings. Verification: publisher (douglas-mcintyre.com).

B40. Ragged Company — Richard Wagamese — 2008, Doubleday Canada. Novel about four people experiencing homelessness and a journalist. Verification: publisher listing (Penguin Random House Canada).

B41. Moon of the Crusted Snow — Waubgeshig Rice (Anishinaabe, Wasauksing First Nation) — 2018, ECW Press. Post-apocalyptic novel set in a northern Anishinaabe community. Verification: publisher listing (Simon & Schuster Canada distribution page).

B42. Moon of the Turning Leaves — Waubgeshig Rice — 2023, ECW Press. Sequel to Moon of the Crusted Snow. Verification: publisher listing (Penguin Random House Canada distribution page).

B43. Legacy — Waubgeshig Rice — 2014, Theytus Books. Novel on violence against a young Indigenous woman and its aftermath for an Anishinaabe family. Verification: publisher (theytus.com).

B44. Split Tooth — Tanya Tagaq (Inuk, Cambridge Bay/Iqaluktuuttiaq, Nunavut) — 2018, Viking Canada. Novel blending fiction, memoir, poetry, and Inuit folklore. Verification: publisher (Penguin Random House Canada).

B45. This Wound Is a World — Billy-Ray Belcourt (Driftpile Cree Nation) — 2017, Frontenac House. Poetry collection; Griffin Poetry Prize winner. Verification: publisher (frontenachouse.com).

B46. NDN Coping Mechanisms: Notes from the Field — Billy-Ray Belcourt — 2019, House of Anansi Press. Poetry and prose. Verification: publisher (houseofanansi.com).

B47. A History of My Brief Body — Billy-Ray Belcourt — 2020, Hamish Hamilton Canada. Memoir. Verification: publisher listing (Penguin Random House Canada).

B48. Jonny Appleseed — Joshua Whitehead (Oji-Cree/nehiyaw, Peguis First Nation; Two-Spirit) — 2018, Arsenal Pulp Press. Novel following a Two-Spirit cybersex worker. Verification: publisher (arsenalpulp.com).

B49. Full-Metal Indigiqueer — Joshua Whitehead — 2017, Talonbooks. Poetry collection. Verification: publisher (talonbooks.com).

B50. Love after the End: An Anthology of Two-Spirit and Indigiqueer Speculative Fiction — ed. Joshua Whitehead — 2020, Arsenal Pulp Press. Anthology of 2SQ speculative fiction. Verification: publisher (arsenalpulp.com).

B51. Empire of Wild — Cherie Dimaline (Georgian Bay Métis Community, Ontario) — 2019, Random House Canada. Novel drawing on the Métis Rogarou story. Verification: publisher (Penguin Random House Canada).

B52. The Marrow Thieves — Cherie Dimaline — 2017, Dancing Cat Books (an imprint of Cormorant Books). YA dystopian novel. Verification: publisher listing (Cormorant Books / Goodreads canonical edition record).

B53. Son of a Trickster — Eden Robinson (Haisla/Heiltsuk, Kitamaat Village) — 2017, Knopf Canada. Coming-of-age novel, first in The Trickster trilogy. Verification: publisher (Penguin Random House Canada).

B54. Monkey Beach — Eden Robinson — 2000, Knopf Canada. Novel set in the Haisla community of Kitamaat. Verification: publisher listing (Penguin Random House Canada).

B55. The Lesser Blessed — Richard Van Camp (Tłı̨chǫ, Fort Smith, NWT) — 1996, Douglas & McIntyre. Coming-of-age novel set in the Northwest Territories. Verification: publisher (douglas-mcintyre.com).

B56. In Search of April Raintree — Beatrice Mosionier (Culleton) (Métis) — 1983; current edition Portage & Main Press. Novel following two Métis sisters separated into foster care. Verification: publisher (portageandmainpress.com).

B57. Living in the Tall Grass: Poems of Reconciliation — Chief R. Stacey Laforme (Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation) — 2018, Durvile Publications Ltd. (UpRoute Books & Media imprint; sources differ on which name to lead with). Poetry collection. Verification: Toronto Public Library catalogue record (tpl.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S980C11747815). Cross-references outreach/experts/exp-indigenous.md entry 5 (Chief Laforme), which already flags his role as needing re-verification before any contact — that caveat is about outreach, not about this book's existence, which is independently confirmed via TPL.

B58. The Break — Katherena Vermette (Michif/Red River Métis, Treaty 1, Winnipeg) — 2016, House of Anansi Press. Novel centred on a Métis-Anishinaabe family in Winnipeg's North End. Verification: publisher (houseofanansi.com).

B59. Nobody Cries at Bingo — Dawn Dumont (Plains Cree, Okanese First Nation, Saskatchewan) — 2011, Thistledown Press. Part-memoir, part-novel. Verification: publisher (thistledownpress.com).

B60. I Am Woman: A Native Perspective on Sociology and Feminism — Lee Maracle (Stó:lō Nation; Métis and Coast Salish ancestry) — 1988, Press Gang Publishers. Essay collection on Indigenous identity, feminism, and colonialism. Verification: publisher listing (Internet Archive / Amazon canonical record).

B61. My Conversations with Canadians — Lee Maracle — 2017, Bookhug Press. Essay collection. Verification: publisher (bookhugpress.ca).*

B62. Sanaaq: An Inuit Novel — Mitiarjuk Nappaaluk (Inuk, Nunavik), trans. Peter Frost — 1984 (original Inuktitut-syllabics publication); 2014 English edition, University of Manitoba Press. The first novel written in Inuktitut syllabics. Verification: publisher (uofmpress.ca).

B63. Kiss of the Fur Queen — Tomson Highway (Cree, Barren Lands First Nation) — 1998, Doubleday Canada. Novel following two Cree brothers through residential school and adulthood. Verification: publisher listing (Penguin Random House Canada).

Honest limits

Verbatim caveat, D-PUB-4 (this project's own published front-matter), which governs this entire corpus's Indigenous content and applies to this shelf in full:

"Indigenous content limitation, stated honestly: this library does not claim to represent Indigenous perspectives. Indigenous-context material is drawn from Indigenous-authored or Indigenous-co-authored public sources, cited with URLs, and has not yet been reviewed by Indigenous readers. Until that review happens, treat those sections as a sourced reading list, not a representation of any community's views."

Specific to this shelf, stated in the same spirit:

See also the Common Shelf (this project's wider reading list) and Guide 17: Indigenous Services and Learning Traditions.