Climate Action Week in early November provides an opportunity to focus on climate change related challenges and emergencies facing our communities while situating libraries as places to connect people with resources on climate change.  

Check out the selected films and books available to borrow from UBC Library to help inspire action on climate change issues. These titles have been organized into categories though many of these titles fit into several of these categories.

Categories: Choices and Lifestyle, Indigenous Action, Environmental Policy, Personal Action, Advocacy and Civic Engagement, Climate Science, Adaptation, and Films.  

Choices and Lifestyle 

The book of hope : a survival guide for trying times by Jane Goodall, Douglas Abrams with Gail Hudson 

Eco-aesthetics : art, literature and architecture in a period of climate change by Malcolm Miles 

Climate justice : hope, resilience, and the fight for a sustainable future by Mary Robinson with Caitríona Palmer 

What if we get it right? : visions of climate futures by Ayana Elizabeth Johnson 

Climate change scepticism : a transnational ecocritical analysis by Greg Garrard, Axel Goodbody, George Handley and Stephanie Posthumus 

We are the weather : saving the planet begins at breakfast by Jonathan Safran Foer 

Not the end of the world : how we can be the first generation to build a sustainable planet by Hannah Ritchie

Not too late : changing the climate story from despair to possibility edited by Rebecca Solnit & Thelma Young Lutunatabua ; with illustrations by David Solnit 

Indigenous Action  

This place is who we are : stories of Indigenous leadership, resilience, and connection to homelands by Katherine Palmer Gordon 

Braiding sweetgrass : indigenous wisdom, scientific knowledge, and the teachings of plants by Robin Wall Kimmerer 

Fresh banana leaves : healing indigenous landscapes through indigenous science by Jessica Hernandez 

The right to be cold : one woman’s story of protecting her culture, the Arctic and the whole planet by Sheila Watt-Cloutier 

Media and transnational climate justice : indigenous activism and climate politics by Anna Roosvall and Matthew Tegelberg 

Asserting native resilience : Pacific rim indigenous nations face the climate crisis edited by Zoltán Grossman and Alan Parker 

Held by the land : a guide to indigenous plants for wellness by Leigh Joseph 

Environmental Policy

Thirty years of failure : understanding Canadian climate policy by Robert MacNeil 

Bright green lies : how the environmental movement lost its way and what we can do about it by Derrick Jensen, Lierre Keith, Max Wilbert 

Life in the city of dirty water : a memoir of healing by Clayton Thomas-Müller

Climate crisis and the global green new deal : the political economy of saving the planet by Noam Chomsky and Robert Pollin, with C. J. Polychroniou 

Grassroots rising : a call to action on climate, farming, food, and a green new deal by Ronnie Cummins 

Drawdown : the most comprehensive plan ever proposed to reverse global warming edited by Paul Hawken 

Personal Action 

The seasons alter : how to save our planet in six acts by Philip Kitcher and Evelyn Fox Keller 

A field guide to climate anxiety : how to keep your cool on a warming planet by Sarah Jaquette Ray 

Turn the tide on climate anxiety : sustainable action for your mental health and the planet by Megan Kennedy-Woodard and Dr. Patrick Kennedy-Williams ; foreword by Arizona Muse 

Free the land : how we can fight poverty and climate chaos by Audrea Lim 

Food in a just world : compassionate eating in a time of climate change by Tracey Harris & Terry Gibbs 

The future we choose : the stubborn optimist’s guide to the climate crisis by Christiana Figueres and Tom Rivett-Carnac 

How to avoid a climate disaster : the solutions we have and the breakthroughs we need by Bill Gates 

#NoFly : walking the talk on climate change by Shaun Hendy 

Don’t even think about it : why our brains are wired to ignore climate change by George Marshall 

Just cool it! : the climate crisis and what we can do : a post-Paris Agreement game plan by David Suzuki & Ian Hanington 

Medicine wheel for the planet : a journey toward personal and ecological healing by Dr. Jennifer Grenz 

David Suzuki’s green guide by David Suzuki & David R. Boyd 

The citizen’s guide to climate success : overcoming myths that hinder progress by Mark Jaccard, Simon Fraser University, British Columbia 

Saving ourselves : from climate shocks to climate action by Dana R. Fisher 

Universities on fire : higher education in the climate crisis by Bryan Alexander  

Advocacy and Civic Engagement 

The Winona LaDuke chronicles : stories from the front lines in the battle for environmental justice by Winona LaDuke ; edited by Sean Aaron Cruz 

The new climate war : the fight to take back our planet by Michael E. Mann 

More powerful together : conversations with climate activists and Indigenous land defenders by Jen Gobby 

Commanding hope : the power we have to renew a world in peril by Thomas Homer-Dixon 

No one is too small to make a difference by Greta Thunberg 

All we can save : truth, courage, and solutions for the climate crisis edited by Ayana Elizabeth Johnson & Katharine K. Wilkinson 

The intersectional environmentalist : how to dismantle systems of oppression to protect people + planet by Leah Thomas 

A bigger picture : my fight to bring a new African voice to the climate crisis by Vanessa Nakate 

The ethics of the climate crisis by Robin Attfield 

The uninhabitable earth : life after warming by David Wallace-Wells 

Consumed : the need for collective change : colonialism, climate change, and consumerism by Aja Barber 

Pathways to action : how keystone organizations can lead the fight for climate change by Peter McAteer 

Climate hope : stories of action in an age of global crisis by David Geselbracht 

Climate change as class war : building socialism on a warming planet by Matthew T. Huber 

Imagining the future of climate change: world-making through science fiction and activism by Shelley Streeby 

What we’re fighting for now is each other : dispatches from the front lines of climate justice by Wen Stephenson 

Our final warning : six degrees of climate emergency by Mark Lynas 

The summer Canada burned : the wildfire season that shocked the world by Monica Zurowski

How to blow up a pipeline : learning to fight in a world on fire by Andreas Malm 

Before the streetlights come on : Black America’s urgent call for climate solutions by Heather McTeer Toney  

Burnt : fighting for climate justice by Chris Saltmarsh 

The climate book created by Greta Thunberg 

Climate change is racist : race, privilege and the struggle for climate justice by Jeremy Williams 

Climate Science 

The nature of our cities : harnessing the power of the natural world to survive a changing planet by Nadina Galle 

The fragile earth : writing from the New Yorker on climate change edited by David Remnick and Henry Finder 

The legacy : an elder’s vision for our sustainable future by David Suzuki 

Unsettled : what climate science tells us, what it doesn’t, and why it matters by Steven E. Koonin 

Empty cellars, melting ice, and burning tundra : climate change and Native Peoples in the United States and Canada by Bruce E. Johansen 

The end of ice : bearing witness and finding meaning in the path of climate disruption by Dahr Jamail 

Hot : living through the next fifty years on earth by Mark Hertsgaard 

Losing Earth : a recent history by Nathaniel Rich 

Adaptation 

The waste-free world : how the circular economy will take less, make more, and save the planet by Ron Gonen 

Land art as climate action: designing the 21st century city park Land Art Generator Initiative, Mannheim, edited by Elisabeth Monoian, Robert Ferry 

The story of more : how we got to climate change and where to go from here by Hope Jahren 

The design pathway for regenerating Earth by Joe Brewer 

Wine and climate change by L.J. Johnson-Bell 

A bright future : how some countries have solved climate change and the rest can follow by Joshua S. Goldstein and Staffan A. Qvist  

Films 

The hungry tide by Screen Australia 

We are all related here an EmpathyWorks Films production  

The anthropologist by Ironbound Films 

This changes everything (Motion picture) This changes everything by Filmbuff  

Climate change I : an uncertain future directed, photographed and produced by Leonard Gilday  

The great warming a Stonehaven production in association with Discovery Channel Canada 

Chasing ice by Submarine Deluxe ; an Exposure production in association with Diamond Docs 

Do the +math a PF Pictures production 

The age of stupid presented by Spanner Films in association with Passion Pictures 

Inconvenient truth (Motion picture) An inconvenient truth presented by Paramount Classics and Participant Productions ; a Lawrence Bender/Laurie David production 

An inconvenient sequel : truth to power Paramount Pictures and Participant Media 

The vanishing ice Filmwest Associates 

There once was an island = Te henua e nnoho an On the Level production

Food for the rest of us directed by Caroline Cox 

The biggest little farm directed John Chester 

Saving the life keepers by scenario, Jocelyn Demers 

UBC Okanagan Library, through the Centre for Scholarly Communication (CSC), and the Irving K Barber Faculty of Science’s Department of Biology have partnered to fund and manage research data and statistical support services. This partnership will support enhanced delivery of services over the 2025 Winter Terms 1 and 2. 

Starting as a pilot in January 2023, and previously supported in partnership with Research Computing and through the UBC Okanagan Excellence Fund, the CSC has been providing support to UBC Okanagan researchers with data cleaning, modelling, analysis, and visualization, as well as foundational training in software such as R and Python. Data consultants provide this specialized support through one-on-one consultations and themed workshops.  

Research Data Consultations

“The fact that the Department of Biology is willing to fund this service for the entire campus for the next year–recognizing the current gap for research data support on our campus and the overwhelming need of this support for their students–says a lot for their commitment to their students and the UBCO research community,” states Data Librarian, Mathew Vis-Dunbar. “And the Centre for Scholarly Communication, with its partners in Advanced Research Computing, Office of Research Services, and UBC Okanagan Library, is uniquely positioned to help fill this gap on our campus.” 

Data analysis, coding skills, and associated literacies are increasingly important in all facets of academic research. However, many researchers do not have substantive training in these areas, particularly in disciplines where computational research is still emerging or missing as a core component of their academic training, course work, or professional development.

“Integrating these advanced concepts and tools into a research project can be a monumental leap for graduate students who may have only used Excel and perhaps taken one undergraduate stats course,” says Vis-Dunbar. “The fundamental research data and statistical analysis support and training provided by the CSC can help them thrive. Centralizing these supports through the CSC, which functions as an information hub for research support services at UBC Okanagan, helps to lessen the burden on individual departments encountering similar challenges amongst their students and promotes interdisciplinary communities of practice within our graduate student base.”

Although these services and supports are especially valuable to graduate students, they are open to all researchers at UBCO, irrespective of where they are in their academic career including undergraduate researchers, postdoctoral fellows, and faculty.  

Research Data Consultants offer various workshops throughout the academic year including: Learning R, Python for Data Analysis, and Statistical Fundamentals: A Visual Approach. It is recommended that those interested in this support attend one of the CSC’s relevant workshops for research data management before attending a one-on-one consultation. Graduate labs can also reach out to the CSC to discuss options for tailored workshops on any aspect of the research data life cycle.

Research Data Consultations and Workshops

UBC Okanagan Library has put together a list of books to help us recognize Women’s History Month in Canada. October was designated as Women’s History Month in 1992, and each year we celebrate a new theme or component. This year’s theme is Women at Work: Economic Growth Past, Present and Future and recognizes how women have contributed to the workforce and Canadian economy.

Women’s History Month Booklist

Black girls unbossed : young world changers leading the way by Khristi Lauren Adams

Women of the First Nations : power, wisdom and strength edited by Christina Miller and Patricia Chuchryk ; with Maria Smallface Marule, Brenda Manyfingers and Cheryl Deering

Firekeepers of the twenty-first century : First Nations women chiefs by Cora J. Voyageur

Disinherited generations : our struggle to reclaim treaty rights for First Nations women and their descendants by Nellie Carlson, Kathleen Steinhauer ; as told to Linda Goyette

We’re rooted here and they can’t pull us up : essays in African Canadian women’s history by Peggy Bristow and others

Passage to promise land : voices of Chinese immigrant women to Canada by Vivienne Poy

Viola Desmond : her life and times by Graham Reynolds with Wanda Robson

The life and death of Anna Mae Aquash by Johanna Brand

Mary Ann Shadd : publisher, editor, teacher, lawyer, suffragette by Rosemary Sadlier

Laura Secord by Jennifer Howse

Heroines and history : representations of Madeleine de Verchères and Laura Secord by Colin M. Coates and Cecilia Morgan

100 Canadian heroines : famous and forgotten faces by Merna Forster

Great dames edited by Elspeth Cameron and Janice Dickin

A plea for emigration or Notes of Canada West by Mary Ann Shadd, Phanuel Antwi

Indian in the cabinet : speaking truth to power by Jody Wilson-Raybould

Canuck chicks and maple leaf mamas : women of the great white north, a celebration of Canadian women by Ann Douglas

The girl and the game : a history of women’s sport in Canada by M. Ann Hall

Angels of the workplace : women and the construction of gender relations in the Canadian clothing industry, 1890-1940 by Mercedes Steedman

Women, feminism, and development edited by Huguette Dagenais et Denise Piché = Femmes, féminisme, et développement / sous la direction de Huguette Dagenais et Denise Piché

Feminists don’t wear pink and other lies : amazing women on what the f-word means to them curated by Scarlett Curtis

She persisted in science : brilliant women who made a difference by Chelsea Clinton.

Amplify : graphic narratives of feminist resistance by Norah Bowman, Meg Braem ; art by Dominique Hui

Working for the common good : Canadian women politicians by Madelyn Holmes

Despite the odds : essays on Canadian women and science edited by Marianne Gosztonyi Ainley

Renegade women of Canada : the wild, outrageous, daring and bold by Marina Michaelides

Rethinking Canada : the promise of women’s history by Mona Gleason, Adele Perry, Tamara Myers

Nellie McClung by Charlotte Gray ; with an introduction by John Ralston Saul

Living the edges : a disabled women’s reader edited by Diane Driedger

Belonging : the paradox of citizenship by Adrienne Clarkson

One hundred years of struggle : the history of women and the vote in Canada by Joan Sangster

Independent spirit : early Canadian women artists by A.K. Prakash

Convoluted beauty : in the company of Emily Carr curated by Lisa Baldissera ; essays by Lisa Baldissera, Vinciane Despret and Erika Dyck

Capturing joy : the story of Maud Lewis by Jo Ellen Bogart ; illustrated by Mark Lang

Caught in the act : an anthology of performance art by Canadian women edited by Tanya Mars & Johanna Householder

Gendering the nation : Canadian women’s cinema edited by Kay Armatage and others

The gendered screen : Canadian women filmmakers by Brenda Austin-Smith and George Melnyk

Editing modernity : women and little-magazine cultures in Canada, 1916-1956 by Dean Irvine

Women in exile and alienation : the fiction of Margaret Laurence and Anita Desai by Kaptan Singh

Violence and the female imagination : Quebec’s women writers re-frame gender in North American cultures by Paula Ruth Gilbert

Naturally woman : the search for self in Black Canadian women’s literature by Sharon Morgan Beckford

Waltzing again : new and selected conversations with Margaret Atwood edited by Earl G. Ingersoll

Gently to Nagasaki by Joy Kogawa

Challenging territory : the writing of Margaret Laurence edited by Christian Riegel

The complete journals of L.M. Montgomery : the PEI years, 1889-1900 edited by Mary Henley Rubio and Elizabeth Hillman Waterston

Annie Mae’s movement by Yvette Nolan

Out of the shadows : contributions of twentieth-century women to physics edited by Nina Byers and Gary Williams

Harriet Brooks : pioneer nuclear scientist by Marelene F. Rayner-Canham, Geoffrey W. Rayner-Canham

Roberta Bondar : leading science into space by Michael Webb

A history of women in the Canadian military by Barbara Dundas

Surviving in the hour of darkness : the health and wellness of women of colour and indigenous women edited by G. Sophie Harding

Pride Programming is a peer-lead program for Queer-identifying students and allies at UBC Okanagan. Pride Programming focuses on building community, hosting events, and creating safe spaces on campus.

UBCO Library has curated a book display this month that features books from diverse authors with a focus on amplifying 2SLGBTQIA+ identities, experiences, and perspectives.  

Fiction

After Sappho : a novel by Selby Wynn Schwartz

Dandelion daughter : a novel by Gabrielle Boulianne-Tremblay and translated from the French by Eli Tareq El Bechelany-Lynch

Detransition, baby : a novel by Torrey Peters

My government means to kill me by Rasheed Newson

Rainbow rainbow : stories by Lydia Conklin

The late Americans by Brandon Taylor

The prophets : a novel by Robert Jones, Jr.

Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens agenda by Becky Albertalli

Call me by your name by André Aciman

Her body and other parties : stories by Carmen Maria Machado

Jonny Appleseed : a novel by Joshua Whitehead

Young Mungo: a novel by Douglas Stuart

I will greet the sun again : a novel by Khashayar J. Khabushani

Perfect little angels : stories by Vincent Anioke

The skin and its girl : a novel by Sarah Cypher

Giovanni’s room by James Baldwin

You exist too much : a novel by Zaina Arafat

Under the udala trees by Chinelo Okparanta

The sleeping car porter by Suzette Mayr

Tales of the city by Armistead Maupin

Anthologies:

Queer voices : poetry, prose, and pride edited by Andrea Jenkins, John Medeiros, and Lisa Marie Brimmer

Love after the end : an anthology of Two-spirit & Indigiqueer speculative fiction edited by Joshua Whitehead

Gender euphoria : stories of joy from trans, non-binary and intersex writers edited by Laura Kate Dale

Piece of my heart : a lesbian of colour anthology anthologized by Makeda Silvera

Poetry:

Gay girl prayers by Emily Austin

If they come for us : poems by Fatimah Asghar

Dream of the divided field : poems by Yanyi

You are enough : love poems for the end of the world by Smokii Sumac

There are trans people here by H. Melt

Queers like me : poems by Michael V. Smith

Non-fiction:

How to they/them : a visual guide to nonbinary pronouns and the world of gender fluidity by Stuart Getty; illustrations by Brooke Thyng

Girlhood : essays by Melissa Febos with illustrations by Forsyth Harmon

Becoming Nicole : the transformation of an American family by Amy Ellis Nutt

All the people photos by Bernd Ott; text by Emily Besa; design by Edgar Hoffman

Pride : the story of Harvey Milk and the Rainbow Flag written by Rob Sanders; illustrated by Steven Salerno

I’m afraid of men by Vivek Shraya

In their shoes : navigating non-binary life by Jamie Windust

Indigiqueerness : a conversation about storytelling by Joshua Whitehead in dialogue with Angie Abdou

Marvellous grounds : queer of colour histories of Toronto edited by Jin Haritaworn, Ghaida Moussa, and Syrus Marcus Ware

Out north : an archive of queer activism and kinship in Canada by Craig Jennex and Nisha Eswaran

Prairie fairies : a history of queer communities and people in western Canada, 1930-1985 by Valerie J. Korinek

Queer : a graphic history by Meg-John Barker; Julia Scheele

Queer girls, temporality and screen media : not just a phase by Whitney Monaghan

Lesbian Love Story: A Memoir in Archives by Amelia Possanza

This Arab is Queer: An Anthology by LGBTQ+ Arab Writers by Elias Jahshan

Queer horror film and television : sexuality and masculinity at the margins by Darren Elliott-Smith

Queer times, black futures by Kara Keeling

Tomboy survival guide by Ivan Coyote

Ugly differences : queer female sexuality in the underground by Yetta Howard

The life of Langston Hughes by Arnold Rampersad

Reclaiming two-spirits : sexuality, spiritual renewal, & sovereignty in Native America by Gregory D. Smithers; foreword by Raven E. Heavy Runner

Sister outsider : essays and speeches by Audre Lorde

Memoirs:

All boys aren’t blue : a memoir-manifesto by George M. Johnson

Crooked teeth : a queer Syrian refugee memoir by Danny Ramadan

Everything I learned, I learned in a Chinese restaurant : a memoir by Curtis Chin

Horse Barbie : a memoir by Geena Rocero

I’m so glad we had this time together : a memoir by Maurice Vellekoop

My autobiography of Carson McCullers a memoir by Jenn Shapland

Sissy : a coming-of-gender story by Jacob Tobia

The crane wife : a memoir in essays by CJ Hauser

A history of my brief body by Billy-Ray Belcourt

Angry queer Somali boy : a complicated memoir by Mohamed Abdulkarim Ali

Fierce femmes and notorious liars : a dangerous trans girl’s confabulous memoir by Kai Cheng Thom

Fine : a comic about gender by Rhea Ewing

Gay bar : why we went out by Jeremy Lin Atherton

Gender queer : a memoir by Maia Kobabe; colors by Phoebe Kobabe

Hijab butch blues : a memoir by Lamya H

How to live free in a dangerous world : a decolonial memoir by Shayla Lawson

I was better last night : a memoir by Harvey Fierstein

Unicorn : the memoir of a Muslim drag queen by Amrou Al-Kadhi

We have always been here : a queer Muslim memoir by Samra Habib

The argonauts by Maggie Nelson

Films:

Kate Bornstein is a queer & pleasant danger Moving Train Media presents a film by Sam Feder

We exist a Flannel Projects film; directed by Andrew Seger; written & narrated by Lauren Lubin; produced by Lauren Lubin

Young readers:

Last night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo

Being Jazz : my life as a (transgender) teen by Jazz Jennings

Queer, there, and everywhere : 23 people who changed the world by Sarah Prager with illustrations by Zoë More O’Ferrall

This book is gay written by James Dawson and illustrated by Spike Gerrell ; introduction by David Levithan

Aristotle and Dante discover the secrets of the universe by Benjamin Alire Sáenz

Julián is a mermaid by Jessica Love

Rainbow : a first book of pride by Michael Genhart, PhD ; illustrated by Anne Passchier

Beyond the gender binary by Alok Vaid-Menon

No girls allowed : tales of daring women dressed as men for love, freedom and adventure written by Susan Hughes ; illustrated by Willow Dawson

UBC Strategic Plan Feature

Jessica Lowry Academic Communication Consultant at the Centre for Scholarly Communication (CSC), was featured in a UBC Strategic Plan story on Research Excellence for a new series of workshops and a writing retreat developed by CSC staff to support undergraduate thesis writers.

Read the article

Learn about the workshop series

Undergraduate honours students who attend this series can expect to learn about reviewing the literature for their honours research projects, gain tips for structuring and writing their theses for maximum impact, and develop valuable skills to kickstart successful careers in research.

This series will feature in-person workshops to help researchers build connections and network with peers, as well as interactive, online workshops with resources to support undergraduate students and the writing of their theses. 

Workshop series schedule:

• October | Reviewing the Literature for Your Research
• November | Starting the Thesis Mini-Retreat
• December | Undergraduate Thesis Structure
• January | The Undergraduate Thesis: Introductions and Conclusions
• February | Discussing Results, Receiving Feedback, and Revising
• March | Undergraduate Thesis Writer’s Retreat

Interested in attending these workshops? Email csc.ok@ubc.ca.

This transformative learning experience is hosted by the UBCO Library and Centre for Scholarly Communication.  

This book has been reviewed for Equity Reads by Theo Dhaliwal, UBCO student and Inclusive Programming and Engagement Assistant in the Equity & Inclusion Office.  

Truth Telling: Seven Conversations about Indigenous Life in Canada by Michelle Good is a masterclass in direct language. Good’s tone throughout the book is frank and unflinching, maintaining that for genuine reconciliation between Indigenous Nations and non-Indigenous folks in Canada, we must all first reckon with the truth of Canada’s violent history.  

Borrow Truth Telling 

We cannot talk our way around the harm that has been done to Indigenous people, their nations, and their cultures. We must tell the truth: Canada has knowingly and intentionally committed violence against Indigenous people through the disruption of Indigenous family units, economic disenfranchisement, betraying treaty terms, and more. 

Good is meticulous in referencing and discussing historical events and points of contact between Indigenous Nations and non-Indigenous Canadians, but the book is best enjoyed if you have a baseline knowledge of Indigenous and non-Indigenous relations in Canada. All of us need to acknowledge historical structures and relationships, including those harms that continue today, so that we can meaningfully and responsibly move towards a better future for all communities on these lands.

The overarching theme in Truth Telling is the disconnect between the acts of violence committed against Indigenous people, and how much agency Indigenous people have over their own stories and experiences. One example of this is when Good recounts how the violence that Métis author Maria Campbell experienced at the hands of the RCMP was cut from her memoir Halfbreed. While the missing passages were eventually included, the harm of erasing the experience of an Indigenous woman was irreversible.   

Borrow Halfbreed

Good advocates fiercely for Indigenous rights and holds hope for Canada’s collective future. She implores that none of us allow Indigenous history, or affirmations of Indigenous rights, to exist only as words on a page. Rather, settlers have a duty to breathe life into documents such as the TRC Calls to Action and actively create and repair relations with Indigenous peoples and communities. She acknowledges how tenuous this relationship can be but maintains that there is hope for all of our relations to improve and thrive. 

In the last chapter, Good refers to attempts by many Indigenous nations to regain Aboriginal Title on their lands as well as the corresponding sovereignty over them, drawing a particular example to the 1997 Delgamuukw vs British Columbia and the implications this has on current Wet’suwet’en land defenders. This is a real-world opportunity for our governments to uphold the rights of Indigenous people – if we are affirming Indigenous sovereignty over Indigenous lands, why are we continuing to incarcerate and systemically antagonize Indigenous people and allies for asserting that sovereignty.

Overall, Truth Telling is a wake-up call to all Canadians engaging with truth and reconciliation as frameworks in which we pursue equity in Canada. Good reminds us that truth and reconciliation are separate notions and, while they should be held in equal respect, we must address the truth that Canada has buried for so long before we can move forward. 

Find more Equity Reads 

(Reviewer: Theo Dhaliwal, UBCO student and Programming and Engagement Assistant in the Equity & Inclusion Office.) 

The National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, or Orange Shirt Day, is a solemn day to reflect on the ongoing legacy of the residential school system in Canada. Secwepemc author and activist Phyllis Webstad speaks of her first day attending residential school, where her new orange shirt was taken by school officials. September 30 is a day to honour survivors and consider your own responsibilities in reconciliation. Check out the UBC Okanagan Orange Shirt Day webpage for information about on-campus and community events.

While wearing an orange shirt in solidarity with Indigenous people can be a meaningful personal action, many Indigenous leaders and academics speak of the importance of truth before reconciliation. September 30 provides an excellent opportunity to learn more about the impacts of discriminatory colonial policies like residential schools on Indigenous communities. It is equally important to recognize the continuing emotional burden that teaching this history places on Indigenous people.

If you are looking for more information on the history of residential schools or Indigenous-Canadian relations, we encourage you to continue your learning and consult some of the books or movies we have available through the library.  

Below are a few recommendations by Christian Isbister, Indigenous Initiatives Librarian at UBC Okanagan Library.

The inconvenient Indian : a curious account of Native People in North America by Thomas King 

A broad look at the history of Indigenous-settler relations throughout North America, King’s dry sense of humour acts as an irreverent guide through key moments in history and is a great starting place if you are new to this area.

Indian Horse : a novel by Richard Wagamese 

One of Richard Wagamese’s better known works and a personal favourite, it follows a young Anishinaabe hockey player who survives his time in a residential school but must contend with the ongoing impact it has on his life. A deeply challenging read at times but well worth your time. 

Stolen Words by Melanie Florence ; illustrated by Gabrielle Grimard 

Beautifully told and illustrated story about the emotional toll that losing one’s language has and on the potential for intergenerational love to bring it back. 

Orange Shirt Day, September 30th by Phyllis Webstad and the Orange Shirt Society 

Fiction 

Black apple : a novel by Joan Crate 

Five Little Indians by Michelle Good

Kiss of the fur queen by Tomson Highway

Poetry 

Inconvenient skin = Nyêhtâwan wasakay by Shane L. Koyczan

The Red Files by Lisa Bird-Wilson 

Memoirs and Autobiographies

NISHGA by Jordan Abel

Totem poles and tea by Hughina Harold and Eldon Lee 

Stoneface : memoir of a defiant dene by Stephen Kakfwi

Genocidal love : a life after residential school by Bevann Fox

The Knowing by Tanya Talaga 

Up Ghost River: A chief’s journey through the turbulent waters of native history by Edmund Metatawabin with Alexandra Shimo 

Following the good river: the life and times of Wa’xaid by Briony Penn 

Our voice of fire: a memoir of a warrior rising by Brandi Morin 

Namwayut : we are all one : a pathway to reconciliation by Chief Robert Joseph 

They called me number one: secrets and survival at an indian residential school by Bev Sellers  

Finding my talk : how fourteen Native women reclaimed their lives after residential school by Agnes Grant

Films 

Survivors of the red brick school by Kla-How-Ya Communications, First Nations Friendship Centre 

We were children = Nous n’étions que des enfants by Eagle Vision ; eOne ; National Film Board of Canada ; Aboriginal Peoples Television Network. 

Childhood lost : the residential school experience by executive producer, Chalen Ewing 

Indian horse = Cheval Indien directed by Stephen S. Campanelli. 

Savage written & directed by Lisa Jackson. 

8th fire : [Aboriginal peoples, Canada and the way forward] a CBC production

Stolen children a CBC production 

Illustrated Books  

When I was eight by Christy Jordan-Fenton & Margaret Pokiak-Fenton ; art by Gabrielle Grimard 

When we were alone by David Alexander Robertson ; art by Julie Flett

I lost my talk words by Rita Joe ; art by Pauline Young

I am not a number written by Jenny Kay Dupuis and Kathy Kacer ; illustrated by Gillian Newland. 

Shi-shi-etko by Nicola I. Campbell ; pictures by Kim La Fave

Every child matters by Phyllis Webstad, illustrated by Karlene Harvey

For young readers 

Fatty Legs by Christy Jordan-Fenton and Margaret Pokiak-Fenton/ Liz Amini-Holmes 

A stranger at home : a true story by Christy Jordan-Fenton & Margaret Pokiak-Fenton ; artwork by Liz Amini-Holmes 

Sugar Falls : a residential school story by David Alexander Robertson, Scott B. Henderson. 

The journey forward: a novella on reconciliation by Richard Van Camp and Monique Gray Smith

Anthologies and Collections

Resistance and renewal : surviving the Indian residential school by Celia Haig-Brown

Power through testimony : reframing residential schools in the age of reconciliation edited by Brieg Capitaine and Karine Vanthuyne

“Speaking my truth” : reflections on reconciliation & residential school selected by Shelagh Rogers, Mike DeGagné, Jonathan Dewar, Glen Lowry

Witnesses : art and Canada’s Indian residential schools : September 6-December 1, 2013 curated by Geoffrey Carr 

Valley of the Birdtail: an Indian reserve, a White town, and the road to reconciliation by Andrew Stobo Sniderman & Douglas Sandderson (Amo Binashii) 

A knock on the door : the essential history of residential schools from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada foreword by Phil Fontaine

Residential schools: with words and images of survivors by Larry Loyie with Wayne K. Spear, Constance Brissenden 

Reconciliation from an indigenous perspective : weaving the web of life in the aftermath of residential schools by Herman J. Michell

In this together : fifteen stories of truth & reconciliation edited by Danielle Metcalfe-Chenail 

The fire still burns : life in and after residential school by Sam George with Jill Yonit Goldberg and Liam Belson, Dylan MacPhee, and Tanis Wilson 

Beyond the orange shirt story : a collection of stories from family and friends of Phyllis Webstad before, during, and after their residential school experiences by Phyllis Webstad

Behind closed doors : stories from the Kamloops Indian Residential School edited by Agnes Jack

Other non-fiction 

Truth Telling by Michelle Good

Resolve : the story of the Chelsea family and a First Nation community’s will to heal by Carolyn Parks Mintz with Andy and Phyllis Chelsea

Truth and indignation : Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission on Indian Residential Schools by Ronald Niezen 

Unsettling the settler within: Indian Residential Schools, truth telling, and reconciliation in Canada by Paulette Regan 

Final report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada 

Picking up the pieces : residential school memories and the making of the Witness Blanket by Carey Newman and Kirstie Hudson

Residential schools : the devastating impact on Canada’s Indigenous Peoples and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s findings and calls for action by Melanie Florence

A national crime : the Canadian government and the residential school system, 1879 to 1986 by John S. Milloy ; foreword by Mary Jane Logan McCallum

Spirit of the grassroots people : seeking justice for indigenous survivors of Canada’s colonial education system edited by Jackson Pind and Theodore Michael Christou

UBCO Library and Okanagan Regional Library (ORL) have partnered to provide book clubs kits for community book clubs to use. The first batch of Okanagan Reads book club kits are now available to borrow from the ORL! The selected books are set in the Okanagan Valley, are about the Okanagan Valley, and/or are written by an author affiliated with the Okanagan Valley. There are two book club kits for each book available, and each kit has eight copies. 

The selections for this round of book club kits are: White Space: Race, Privilege, and Cultural Economies of the Okanagan Valley edited by Daniel J. Keyes and Luis L.M. Aguiar, Spílexm: A Weaving of Recovery, Resilience, and Resurgence by Nicola I. Campbell, and Skid Dogs by Emelia Symington-Fedy. 

If you would like to borrow one of the book club kits to run your own book club, you can borrow or place a hold for one of the book club kits through the ORL borrowing system. Click on the title below to learn more about the book and to request to borrow it.

White Space Book Club Kit

Spílexm Book Club Kit

Skid Dogs Book Club Kit

Sarah Craven holding the book White Space

This project has been spearheaded by Sarah Craven, Masters student in the School of Health and Exercise Science and made possible through the Sharron Simpson Family Community Engagement Endowment Fund.  

 Learn about Sarah’s application in our recent news item

Sarah will be facilitating book club meetings using these kits through Kelowna Inclusive’s Perspectives Book Club. All are welcome to attend these meetings either in Zoom or in person.  Check out their Facebook Group for more information. 

First Book Club Meeting with Perspectives  

White Space: Race, Privilege, and Cultural Economies of the Okanagan Valley edited by Daniel J. Keyes and Luis L.M. Aguiar will be the first book covered by Perspectives Book Club.

The Book Club meeting is at 6 pm on October 21 at the Kelowna Downtown Library or you can attend by Zoom. If you are interested in joining the meeting, register below: 

 Register for Perspectives Book Club 

If you would like to borrow a copy of White Space from the book club kit for use at this book club, please visit the Library Service Desk at UBC Okanagan and let them know that you’re looking to borrow a book from the White Space book club kit.  

Note that those borrowing from the book club kit must have a library card with the Okanagan Regional Library. If you don’t have a free ORL library card, you can get one at an ORL branch nearest you or apply for one online.

Questions or comments about the book club meeting or getting a book? Email kelownainclusive.perspectives@gmail.com.  

 Author Talks

Another exciting part of the Okanagan Reads program will be author talks. Information about these events will be shared as soon as it is available!  

The team at UBCO Library’s Okanagan Special Collections & Archives has been hard at work digitizing, curating, editing, and ingesting items contributed by community partners. This spring and summer, nearly 7,500 items were digitized and made accessible, including 265 photographs and 2,907 newspaper publications from Kelowna Capital News and regional collections belonging to six community partners and memory institutions.  

Kelowna Capital News  

Kelowna Capital News has provided news coverage in Kelowna since 1930. This past spring and summer, newspaper publications covering events, activities, and news in Kelowna from 1930 to 1986 were digitized from UBC Okanagan Special Collections & Archives holdings. The online availability of this digital news collection was made possible through generous funding provided by the Central Okanagan Foundation and with the permission of Kelowna Capital News via Black Press Media.

Explore the Kelowna Capital News digital collection

Description: Lance and his dog, Jake at the beach

In addition, 265 photographs from the Kelowna Capital News photograph collection were digitized from holdings in supplement to the digitized newspaper issues. This collection of photographs from 1980 to 1984 is a minuscule extraction of the full extent of the physical collection, which comprises of about 600,000 exposures.  

The digitized photograph collection was made possible through a collaboration permitting photo identification and description with Kelowna Public Archives, and permission to post online generously provided by the publisher of the Kelowna Capital News. 

EXPLORE KCN PHOTOGRAPHIC FONDS

BCRDH Stewarded Community Content  

This spring and summer, Okanagan Special Collections & Archives added collections from four existing partners, including Windermere Valley Museum, Trail Museum and Archives, Nelson Museum, and Naramata Heritage Museum through the British Columbia Regional Digitized History (BCRDH) project. Collections from two new partners: Kootenay Columbia Educational Heritage Society and Kaleden Museum and Archives were also added. By the end of the summer, BCRDH hosted over 709 thousand objects.   

More about BCRDH 
BCRDH is a shared digital portal that compiles a wide range of local historical resources across the Kootenays, Nicola-Thompson, and Okanagan regions. Learn more about this innovative project and its digitization process through this video.

Kootenay Columbia Educational Heritage Society: Yearbook collection

Description: Page 21 of Trail High School Quotannis, 1947-1948

The Kootenay Columbia Educational Heritage Society aims to preserve the educational heritage of School District No. 20 (Kootenay Columbia) and is a recent partner addition to BCRDH. The Yearbook collection includes the digitization of 64 yearbooks and school annuals from J.L. Crowe High School, Trail High School, and Trail Junior High School.  

Browse the Yearbook Collection

Kaleden Museum and Archives: Historical photograph collection 

Description: Fred King hauling apples in a Kaleden orchard

The Kaleden Museum and Archives is a new partner and its first contribution to BCRDH includes 98 historical photographs that demonstrate the lived experiences of people in Kaleden in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. 

Browse the Kaleden collection

Naramata Heritage Museum: Historical photograph collection

Description: May Pole dancing at Manitou Park

Naramata Heritage Museum is an established BCRDH partner and this summer BCRDH ingested photographs of Naramata and area ranging from 1890 to 2007 as well as textual records of the community hall, animal pound, and local Girl Guides chapter.

See the Naramata collection

Revelstoke Museum & Archives: Maps, Plans, and Drawings collection

Description: Aerial photograph – Plan of Big Eddy Area, Revelstoke – Special Mosaic relating to Columbia River Developments

The Revelstoke Museum & Archives Maps, Plans, and Drawings Collection is the tenth Revelstoke collection hosted by BCRDH and consists of topographic maps, mineral and land claims maps, townsite and subdivision plans, and architectural drawings constructed by the Canadian Pacific Railway Company, all dating from 1897 to 1977. Online accessibility of this collection was made possible by a BC History Digitization Program grant through the Irving K Barber Learning Centre.

See the Revelstoke Maps, Plans, and Drawings collection

Trail Museum and Archives: Historical photograph collections

Description: “Special Train” for the Trail Smoke Eaters

BCRDH now hosts two new collections from Trail Museum and Archives. While the Trail Historical Society Photograph collection focuses on industrial history, agriculture, and landscapes. The Sports Photograph Collection showcases the development and success of Trail’s well-known sports teams, particularly the world championship Trail Smoke Eaters teams, as well as countless athletes. These additions bring the entire digital extent of the Trail collections to 9,758 photographs. 

Explore the new Trail collections

Windermere Valley Museum: Historical photograph collection

Description: Mountains and trench in winter

This summer, BCRDH added 479 new items to the Windermere Valley Museum Photograph collection, bringing the total to 2,072 photographs. The collection consists of photographs of the Windermere Valley depicting both Indigenous and settler residents.  Activities and subjects included are forestry, mining and agriculture, institutions (including schools and hospitals), the built and physical environment of communities in the valley, and the Kootenay National Park. 

Explore the Windemere historical photograph collection

Nelson Museum, Archives & Gallery: Shaw Cable 10 Fonds

The Nelson Museum, Archives and Gallery is an established BCRDH partner, and the Shaw Cable 10 fonds are a new collection consisting of 100 curated recordings from 1979 to 2000. The videos include musical and theatrical performances, historical and topical documentaries, and local news and events and feature Nelson locals and visiting artists and performers to Nelson. 

Explore the Shaw Cable 10 fonds

Okanagan Special Collections & Archives is located in COM 004 on the lower level of The Commons building adjacent to the D. Ross Fitzpatrick Great Hall.

Learn more about Okanagan Special Collections & Archives

Congratulations to Paige Hohmann, Archivist at UBC Okanagan Library and Okanagan Special Collections and Archives, on receiving a Leadership award at the 2024 Staff Awards of Excellence ceremony. 

As included in the award announcement, “Paige’s leadership has transformed archival practices and built vital community partnerships, notably with the establishment of the new Okanagan Special Collections and Archives space.” 

In her nomination, Barbara Sobol, Technology Management Librarian, states that “Paige excels at bringing people into library relationships through her inclusive approach of listening and working together to find common ground and solutions.” 

Some of the important activities and projects that Paige has led or supported are: the British Columbia Regional Digitized History (BCRDH) project, an annual Zine Fair at Okanagan Special Collections, the Records Storage Program, and the stewardship of Indigenous language course materials for Bachelor of Nsyilxcn Language Fluency program. 

In her nomination letter, Jeannette Armstrong, Associate Professor of Indigenous Studies and Coordinator for Interior Salish Languages programs, commends Paige’s “exemplary and inclusive people practices” and states that Paige “has worked hard in such a good way to support a very necessary program and deserves to be celebrated.” 

Despite her complex role, Paige prioritizes the well-being and perspectives of her colleagues and staff. Library Service Assistant Lisa Clarke adds that “what makes Paige an effective leader is her ability to empower her staff to reach their highest potential.” 

Of Paige’s nomination, Barb Towell, Records Manager at UBC Library, states: “I cannot think of a more deserving and collegial candidate for the Leadership Award. I look forward to a continued commitment to, and advocacy for, the protection and preservation of the archival record that makes up the institutional memory of the University of British Columbia.” 

Okanagan Special Collections & Archives