A Collection of First Nations

Stories
for a Senior English
Classroom
An Annotated Aboriginal Resource List
Grades 10-12
Created by:
Jonathan Rempel: North Surrey Learning Centre: Aboriginal Teacher Advocate and English
Teacher
Jennifer Aulakh: North Surrey Learning Centre, English Teacher
Heidi Wood: Aboriginal Learning—Surrey Schools, SD#36

ABORIGINAL RESOURCE LIST

In light of the increased emphasis on aboriginal perspectives in the new curriculum, it is becoming increasingly
important for senior secondary English teachers to include aboriginal content within their curriculum. Fortunately,
there is a plethora of aboriginal literature available; however, the sheer volume of resources could quickly
overwhelm and potentially discourage a teacher from finding and integrating aboriginal content in his or her
curriculum.

This resource was designed as a way to do much of this work for you. Rather than present you with an exhaustive
list of resources, this document provides an annotated short-list of some the best aboriginal short stories, poems,
and novels available. The literature was selected specifically with senior English teachers and students in mind to
capture the breadth of themes, styles, and subject matter that weaves its way through the corpus of aboriginal
writing. Because this is a short list, there will obviously be amazing resources that have not made it into this
document and this in no way is meant to undermine those stories, poems, and novels. Recommended in this
resource there are 10 short stories, 20 poems, and 5 novels.

Please note there are a number of short stories and novels specifically that have certain social considerations that
must be taken into account before passing them to a student to class to read. Not all of these resources will be
appropriate for every class or every student – please use discernment when choosing a short story, poem or novel
to use in your curriculum! If there are any noteworthy social considerations within a text, these will be noted in the
annotation of the resource.
FIRST PEOPLES PRINCIPLES OF LEARNING
“Creating teaching and learning environments that reflect the FPPL has as much to do with an educator’s
philosophy about education, and disposition, as it has to do with curricular content. The disposition includes
patience, respect, and curiosity.”
~J. Chrona

The FPPL are not a set of lesson or unit plans. The First Peoples Principles represent a common understanding or
belief around the elements necessary in teaching and learning from an Indigenous perspective among the First
Peoples of BC. The values, beliefs and understandings embedded within the Principles are the foundation for
practice and ways of thinking. Providing stories, narratives and images that support the learning and teaching using
the Principles is vital to creating an environment that honours traditional ways of being, believing, sharing, learning
and moving forward.

 Learning ultimately supports the well-being of the self, the family, the community, the land, the spirits,
and the ancestors
 Learning involves generational roles and responsibilities
 Learning his holistic, reflexive, reflective, experiential, and relational (focused on connectedness on
reciprocal relationships, and a sense of place)
 Learning involves recognizing the consequence of one’s actions
 Learning recognizes the role of indigenous knowledge
 Learning is embedded in memory, history, and story
 Learning involves patience and time
 Learning requires exploration of one’s identity
 Learning involves recognizing that some knowledge is sacred and only shared with permission and /or in
certain situations
SHORT STORIES
Coyote and the Enemy Aliens by Thomas King
Themes: Humour, Trickster, Enemy Aliens, Storytelling, Oral Tradition
Aboriginal Worldviews and Perspectives:

This is perhaps one of the best representations of modern, Canadian, Aboriginal literature. Thomas King brilliantly
blends the feel and colloquialisms of oral storytelling with elements of myth, humour, and history into a story that
is poignant and completely original. The story explores the plight of Japanese-Canadian “Enemy Aliens” in British
Columbia during World War II from an aboriginal perspective which bears many uncanny resemblances to how the
First Nations people of Canada were treated during colonialism. The reader is drawn into the humour and tragedy
of Coyote’s exploits as he naively participates in the mistreatment of Japanese Canadians, only to get castigated by
the very political agenda he embraced. It is a magnifying glass that pierces into our darker historical and political
consciousness.

Cardinal, Tantoo, ed. Our Story: Aboriginal Voices on Canada's Past. Toronto, ON: Doubleday Canada, 2004.

Pretty Like a White Boy by Drew Hayden Taylor

Themes: Identity, Humour, Satire, Memoir

Having a hybrid identity can leave people in a place where they are seen by themselves and others as not fully
belonging. With a sharp wit and insightful humour, Taylor carefully crafts a down-to-earth narrative about being
half Ojibway and half Caucasian. From his kinship with Kermit the frog to his declarations of being a “Pink Man,”
we are invited to consider how ethnicity, culture, and physical appearance impact identity. If you were a blue-eyed
Ojibway, what would it mean to be “pretty like a white boy?”

Social Considerations: Sexual references

Goldie, Terry and Moses, Daniel David, eds. An Anthology of Canadian Native Literature in English.
Toronto: Oxford UP, 2005.

The Prophecy by Basil H. Johnston

Themes: History, Pre-Colonialism, Storytelling

First Nations’ communities placed the storyteller at the heart of their communities. In “The Prophecy,”
Daebaudjimoot is a storyteller who tells a very different kind of story, one that will come to pass as surely as the
sun will set - the story of “White People.” Adults and children alike laugh, giggle, and roar as they are introduced to
these strange creatures who grow hair in odd places, cover their bodies night and day, and have fire sticks

whose bolts mean certain death. Daebaudjimoot goes on to paint a future where his people will adopt the ways of
these pale strangers. Grandparents and grandchild alike are thoroughly amused but say, “It’s good to listen to you,
but I don’t believe you.”

Goldie, Terry and Moses, Daniel David, eds. An Anthology of Canadian Native Literature in English. Toronto: Oxford
UP, 2005.

Swimming Upstream by Beth Brant

Themes: Identity, Lost People, Redemption

“Swimming Upstream” is a painful but ultimately uplifting story that chronicles a woman’s journey through loss and
guilt to redemption. Anna May is a mother who loses custody of her child when the courts deem her unfit to care
for baby because she is lesbian and had a previous history with alcoholism. When her six year old son dies in a
tragic drowning accident that she in no way could have prevented, she spirals into guilt and isolation, running away
from home to seek solace by embracing the demons of alcoholism that she cast out when she became pregnant.
But when she stops at some waterfalls en-route to her anticipated inebriation, she has an unexpected spiritual
experience that allows her to move past her grief and ultimately find healing and peace.

Social Considerations: Alcoholism, Drowning, Discrimination, Trauma

Goldie, Terry and Moses, Daniel David, eds. An Anthology of Canadian Native Literature in English.
Toronto: Oxford UP, 2005.

Totem by Thomas King

Themes: Humour, History, Allegory, Satire

If the totems of Canada could talk, they would gargle, grunt, chuckle, chant, and sing. This is the case of the totems
in the Southwestern Alberta Art Gallery and Prairie Museum. The curators find totem poles throughout the
museum that refuse to be quiet, even after they have been chain sawed and stored in the basement. They also
refuse to stop growing. Jimmy, quite spent from chain sawing suggests, “Maybe if we ignore it, it will stop singing…
It might even go away or disappear or something.” But they don’t go away and they don’t disappear. Every inch of
Thomas King’s story is satire and symbolic from the poles to the patrons, from the basement to the museum itself.
Some things cannot be cut down, stored in silence, or even lived with until their right to be and dignity in being is
restored. Because this story is an allegory, a working understanding of how the First Nations peoples have been
treated is necessary.
He Was a Boxer When I was Small by Lenore Keeshig-Tobias
Themes: Identity, Lost People, Nanabush, Residential School

All the realities of the protagonist’s father’s life are tragic: residential schooling, young parent, working

poor, alcoholism, racism, and religion. Through the eyes of his young daughter we are shown the unconditional
love she has for her father, the amateur boxer, and what it means to “love, hate, someone.” As we move into
adulthood with our narrator, she finds parallels between the battles they must face, and parallels between
Nanabush and her father. This is a story steeped in love and hope, it takes a dream to unveil the depths of her
hidden self.

Social Considerations: Substance and Physical Abuse, Trauma

The Lover Snake by Tomson Highway

Themes: Sikh, Identity

Tomson Highway gives us a short story about an unusual alliance between two young men, one Sikh, and the other
Cree. Enthralled in the rich tales and textures of each other’s cultures, they were “such totally different kinds of
Indians” and yet together they would arrive at “a certain inner ring [of] perfect pitch and purity.” Yet it was not to
last. For the reader, the intensity of their bond is as sudden and unexplained as its absolute end.

It is this abruptness which makes us realize how little we know about the genesis of their relationship, why we are
being walked around this piece of the narrator’s life, and who is the lover snake?

Goldie, Terry and Moses, Daniel David, eds. An Anthology of Canadian Native Literature in English. Toronto: Oxford
UP, 2005.

Legend of the Sugar Girl by Joseph Boyden

Themes: Lost People, Identity, Residential School

The residential school system is perhaps the most horrific stain that colonialism brought to the indigenous peoples
of Canada. This story explores a girl’s experiences as she journey's through residential school and finds that sugar is
her way of coping. In fact, "In some strange way, this food that she ate and grew to love replaced what had been
taken away from her, and when the Sugar Girl felt sadness, the sadness that comes from deep in the stomach, she
smothered it with her sugar foods." Upon leaving the residential school, sugar was replaced with alcohol (another
form of sugar) and her life began to spiral out of control. She became pregnant, and when she died, her son carried
on the best of her and taught his people about the dangers of the sugar disease. The irony is that this story is in no
way a legend, but a tour de force into the devastating effects of the residential school system. This would be a
good story to help cultivate understanding and empathy into why many stereotypes around aboriginal people exist.
Social Considerations: Alcoholism, Drugs, Sex

Boyden, Joseph. Born with a Tooth. Toronto, ON: Cormorant, 2001.

Gasoline by Joseph Boyden

Themes: Lost People, Identity

"Gasoline" is a sobering story about a sixteen year old boy named Francis who is addicted to huffing gasoline.
Whenever he huffs he turns into his alter ego "Crow" who is fearless and indestructible. After finding out that his
sister OD'd on sleeping pills, he huffs gas with a friend as a way to deal with the pain, and accidentally burns down
his friends house nearly killing himself, his friend, and his friend's sisters. Although everyone survives, Francis
suffered from severe smoke inhalation and is unable to attend his sister's funeral. In many ways, Francis is an
archetype for the hopelessness, dysfunction, and pain that plague many young aboriginal people today. It is a
timely piece in light of the rash of youth suicides that are being documented in many First Nation reserves across
the country.

Social Considerations: Drug use; Safety concerns (a house gets burned down); Racism

Boyden, Joseph. Born with a Tooth. Toronto, ON: Cormorant, 2001.

The Shivering Tree by John McLeod

Themes: Myth, Nanabush, Fable, Oral Language

Traditional aboriginal storytelling often uses elements of myth and legend to explain natural phenomena and to
teach moral lessons. "The Shivering Tree" is a "modern retelling of a traditional Trickster story, with a structure and
style that reflect the oral tradition." The story is about how Nanabush loses his eyes when "The Juggler" who is
also known as "Restless As The Wind" cleverly tricks him by taking advantage of Nanabush's pride and ego. When
Owl (whom isn't on friendly terms with Nanabush) gives up his daytime eyes so that he can see again, Nanabush
finds The Juggler and tricks him into waiting for an eternity for Nanabush to give up his eyes again. The Juggler (or
Restless As The Wind), has turned into a Poplar Tree - "A tree that never rests, whose leaves and branches still
shake and shiver even when the air is still and quiet."

Goldie, Terry and Moses, Daniel David, eds. An Anthology of Canadian Native Literature in English. Toronto: Oxford
UP, 2005.

Wenjack by Joseph Boyden

Themes: Residential School, Identity

“Wenjack” is based on the events of Chanie Wenjack, an Ojibwe boy who runs away from a North Ontario Indian
School. Along the journey home, he is followed by Manitous, spirits of the forest. The tragic end of the journey is
told in the Gord Downie portrayl, The Secret Path.
Boyden, Joseph; Hamish Hamilton Publisher, 2016

Moving Forward: A Collection about Truth and Reconciliation by Tracey MacDonald

Themes: Residential Schools, Reconciliation, identity

Collection of short stories, poems and essays that relate to moving forward in the calls to action and reconciliation.

POETRY
Giving Blood by Sherman Alexie
Themes: History, Post-Colonialism, Identity, Satire

History Lesson by Jeanette C. Armstrong

Themes: History

Stone Age by Janette C. Armstrong

Themes: Loss of Culture

drunks, drifters, and fat robins by Joseph A. Dandurand

Themes: Residential school, Abuse, Struggle

Sturgeon by kateri akiwenzie-damm

Themes: Struggle

Letter to Sir John A MacDonald by Marilyn Dumont

Themes: Canadian History, Metis, Permanence of the metis people

Helen Betty Osborne by Marilyn Dumont

Themes: Missing aboriginal women, Identity

Witnessing by Connie Fife

Themes: History, Change, Witnessing

I Lost my Talk by Rita Joe

Themes: Residential School, Identity, Loss of culture

The Song My Paddle Sings by E. Pauline Johnson

Themes: Lyric, Culture

Heal by Randy Lundy

Themes: Struggle, Healing

Dandelion by Lee Maracle

Theme: Resilience

The Language Leaked from my Lips by Lee Maracle

Themes: Language, Identity

Universal Soldier by Buffy Sainte-Marie

Themes: War

Trickster Beyond 1992: Our Relationship by Lenore Keeshig-Tobias

Themes: Trickster, Humour, Identity, History

SPOKEN WORD POETRY

Bad Indians by Ryan Red Corn: [Link]
Themes: Manifest destiny, Consumerism, Identity

Geronimo E-KIA by 1491s: [Link]

Themes: Identity

I’m not the Indian you had in Mind by Thomas King – spoken work/short film:
[Link]
Themes: Identity, Stereotypes

Knock Off Native by Winona Linn: [Link]

Themes: Identity

Shoulders by Shane Korzen: [Link]

Themes: Change, Global
NOVELS
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie
Themes: Hope, Sports, Racism, Family, Education

This is one of the best aboriginal novels we have come across. It has been used from grades nine to twelve with
great success. Although it is an easier read, the themes throughout are powerful and deep. It is the story of
Arnold who lives on a reserve, but decides to go to a large public school off reserve where he is one of the only
aboriginal students. Through his teachers, friends, basketball, and comics, he finds hope and belonging in a
community that struggles with alcoholism and despair. This is an uplifting story that will make you laugh out loud
one minute (literally) and cry the next.

Social Considerations: Reference to masturbation; one very off-side joke, Suicide, Alcoholism

Three Day Road by Joseph Boyden

Themes: WWI, Residential Schools, Racism, Colonialism, First Nations culture and spirituality, Trickster, Storytelling

Not only is this one of the finest WWI novels ever written (in our humble opinion), it is also one of the most unique
as it chronicles the lives of two First Nations brothers as they join the front in France. It weaves in elements of the
impacts of colonialism and residential school, culture and spirituality, racism, and the horrors of being in the
trenches during WWI.

Social Considerations: Sexual content; extreme violence, racism, rape

April Raintree by Beatrice Culleton

Themes: Identity, Racism, Stereotypes

April Raintree is a short novel that follows two Metis sisters from the time they are taken away from their parents
by social services to adulthood. It is a poignant story as the reader sees the abuse that April experiences in the
foster care system, the racism that follows her throughout her life, and the feeling that she desperately doesn’t
want to be known as a person of aboriginal ancestry. In contrast, her sister Cheryl embraces her aboriginal
ancestry and actively works to promote it. As April’s life spirals out of control after being raped and having her first
marriage end in divorce, Cheryl appears to flourish as she attends university and is active in the community. After
Cheryl commits suicide, April realises the double life her sister was leading and finds the answers that will
ultimately give her the hope to move on and the courage to accept who she is.

Social Considerations: Alcoholism, Abuse, Rape, Prostitution, Violence, Suicide, Racism, Trauma
OTHER WORTHWHILE NOVELS TO CONSIDER:
Motorcycles and Sweetgrass by Drew Hayden Taylor

Celia’s Song by Lee Maracle

Social consideration: Graphic violence

Monkey Beach by Eden Robinson

Social considerations: language, violence, abuse

Keeper N’ Me by Richard Wagamese

Social considerations: abuse, drugs, alcohol, language

Take Us to Your Chief by Drew Hayden Taylor

Where I Belong by Tara White

Social considerations: language, violence

The Break by Katherena Vermette

Social considerations: language, violence, rape, abuse, racism, trauma, alcoholism

GRAPHIC NOVELS AND VISUAL JOURNALS

Moonshot: Indigenous comic collection , Volume 1 & 2
Themes: science fiction, identity, relationships, racism, reconciliation, trauma, stereotypes

A collection of comics using an Indigenous lens with non-Indigenous images.

Dreaming in Indian: Contemporary Native American Voices by Lisa Charlieboy and Mary Beth Leatherdale
Themes: identity, relationships, stereotypes, perspectives

Urban Tribes by Lisa Charleyboy and Mary Beth Leatherdale

Themes: identity, relationships, stereotypes, society
 Table of Contents

Introduction to the Resource

First Peoples Principles of Learning

Aboriginal Worldviews and Perspectives

Short Stories:
Coyote and the Enemy Aliens
Pretty Like A White Boy
The Prophecy
Swimming Upstream
Totem
He Was a Boxer When I Was Small
The Lover Snake
Legend of the Sugar Girl
Gasoline
The Shivering Tree
Wenjack
Poetry
Spoken Word Poetry
Novels
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian
Three Day Road
April Raintree
Monkey Beach
Keeper n’Me
Motorcycles and Sweetgrass
Celia’s Song
Take Us to Your Chief
Where I Belong
The Break
Graphic Novels & Visual Journals
Moonshot—vol. 1
Moonshot—vol. 2
 Dreaming in Indian
Urban Tribes

Aboriginal Worldviews and Perspectives:

Characteristics and Strategies for Embedded Practice
The Ministry of Education document, Aboriginal Worldviews and Perspectives: Moving Forward is an important
read for all educators. The clearly laid out examples of the characteristics will help when developing embedded
Indigenous perspectives into the classroom curriculum. These characteristics can be used as strategies to support
teaching and learning.