In my journey to bring authentic Indigenous texts into my English Language Arts classroom, I came across Raven Reads, which is a Canadian company that is Indigenous and woman owned. It offers subscriptions to boxes containing Indigenous books and giftware for adults and kids and hopes to educate people about “the devastating impact residential schools had on Indigenous people in Canada” and help build mutual relationships between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people. I think this is such a great concept and would be a valuable gift in and out of the classroom. Looking at one of the adult boxes, for example, there is “a book written by an Indigenous author, a letter from the author or box curator, one printed culture card teaching you about an Indigenous culture from around the world, one Indigenous hand-made craft or art piece, and one literature-themed trinket.” There are also blog posts on the Raven Reads website that offer valuable information, such as book suggestions.
Raven Reads. (2021). Current Collection. Raven Reads. https://ravenreads.org/
Hi Jasmeet,
I browsed through this site and this is an awesome resource. Thanks for sharing! I wish it wasn’t so expensive, but definitely something that I will bring to my principal’s attention when we return to school in September.
Hi Ravneet, yes it is such a great way to add to learning and to support Indigenous authors and artists. Definitely could see this being being part of a school community. I have really appreciated conducting this research because I have found so many new websites, especially to get books by Indigenous writers and bring into the classroom!