The collections currently comprise approximately 12,000 items including about 6,000 books, 450 videos, 5,000 vertical file materials, curriculum resources, journals and newspapers, maps, posters, theses and dissertations, the G.A. (Bud) Mintz special collection, and some archival materials. The collections focus on First Nations in British Columbia, including contextual materials on Canadian First Nations, in addition to issues of national and international interest to First Nations and Indigenous peoples. X̱wi7x̱wa collects materials written from First Nations perspectives, such as materials produced by First Nations, First Nations organizations, tribal councils, schools, publishers, researchers, writers and scholars.
Featured collections
Take a Break!
It’s a busy time of year and it’s important to give your brain a break. Although we have many resources to help you study and support your final papers, we also have titles that can help you unwind. Beading, cooking and recipes, coloring, leisure reading, comedy, and more!
Here are few suggestions or ask us!
Beadwork: First Peoples’ Beading History and Techniques by Christi Belcourt with Teacher’s Guide
First Nations, Métis and Inuit beadwork are beautiful art forms that are unique to North America. The patterns and techniques created and passed down through generations of our grandmothers are still being used today. Beadwork is not simple decoration of material goods. It is an expression of identity. It is an art form that connects us to the skills, the sacrifices and the creativity of our ancestors. Beadwork carries images that are ancient and reflect spiritual beliefs. And even more than that, beadwork is a healing art. Diagrams and step-by-step instructions for different techniques included.
Find me at UBC Library!
Sacred Feminine: an Indigenous Art Colouring Book by Jackie Traverse
The beautiful and intricate works of art within depict images of strength, resilience and empowerment. With each image, the artist explains the symbolism and meaning represented. The first of its kind, Sacred Feminine is intended to heal and educate readers and colourers of all ages.
Find me at UBC Library!
Cards Against Colonialism: a Party Game for Indigenant Peoples
We are stronger when we laugh. Cards Against Colonialism embraces modern native culture, and helps us to learn and laugh at the same time.
Find me at UBC Library!
Wolastoqiyik lintuwakonawa by Jeremy Dutcher
Wolastoqiyik Lintuwakonawa is the debut album by Canadian composer and tenor, Jeremy Dutcher – which involves post-classical rearrangement of his Wolastoq First Nation traditional music. Granted access to the Canadian Museum of History, Jeremy discovered wax cylinders from 1907 of his ancestors singing forgotten songs and stories that had been taken from the Wolastoqiyik Nation generations ago. The album is Jeremy’s contribution to his heritage and community in attempts to revitalize the Wolastoq language to the world, which has less than 100 speakers alive today.
Find me at UBC Library!
Candies: a Humour Composite by Basil Johnston
Basil Johnston was one of the foremost Anishinaabe writers and storytellers, and his comedic stories about life in Residential School, Indian School Days, is a classic. Candies was Johnston’s first collection of humorous works in decades.
Find me at UBC Library!
Redskins, Tricksters and Puppy Stew presented by the National Film Board of Canada; producer, Silva Basmajian; director and narrator, Drew Hayden Taylor
This feature documentary hilariously overturns the conventional notion of the “stoic Indian” and shines a light on an overlooked element of Indigenous culture: humour and its healing powers.
Featuring an engaging cast of characters, the film is an in-depth, laugh-a-minute tour of complex issues like identity, politics, and racism.
Find me at UBC Library!
Click the image above to stream!
Xwi7xwa would like to thank Elena Pederson, Publications & Web Services Assistant, from UBC Education Library for the digital signage that inspired this series.
Xwi7xwa Spotlight Series
Xwi7xwa Library is excited to announce our new Spotlight Series featuring select titles from our collection.
New Materials at Xwi7xwa
Every book in the Spotlight Series is new to our Library! Although you can find new books in the UBC catalogue, you won’t see a call number for them. For the time being new books, DVDs, and CDs are organized alphabetically by title. Visit us in person to find out more!
Starlight: an unfinished novel by Richard Wagamese
The novel follows a mother, Emmy, and daughter, Winnie, who are escaping an abusive past. When the two meet Frank Starlight, a small town farmer, an unlikely family is created. But their past is persistent and the two cannot outrun the hunger of an ex’s revenge.
For more Indigenous Fiction at Xwi7xwa!
Reawakening Our Ancestors’ Lines: Revitalizing Inuit Traditional Tattooing compiled by Angela Hovak Johnston
Collected in this beautiful book are moving photos and stories from more than two dozen women who participated in Johnston’s project. Together, these women are reawakening their ancestors’ lines and sharing this knowledge with future generations.
For more related titles at Xxwi7xwa!
A girl grows up in Nunavut in the 1970s. She knows joy, and friendship, and parents’ love. She knows boredom, and listlessness, and bullying. She knows the tedium of the everyday world, and the raw, amoral power of the ice and sky, the seductive energy of the animal world. She knows the ravages of alcohol, and violence at the hands of those she should be able to trust. She sees the spirits that surround her, and the immense power that dwarfs all of us. When she becomes pregnant, she must navigate all of this.
For more titles by Tanya Tagaq!
Not Extinct: Keeping the Sinixt Way by Marilyn James and Taress Alexis ; with the Blood of Life Collective
What does it look like to return from Extinction? In this book, Sinixt storytellers and knowledge-keepers Marilyn James and Taress Alexis address the reality of their living culture in the face of Canada’s bureaucratic genocide of their people in 1956. Through lively story and discussions by the authors, each chapter illuminates the Sinixt relationship with the upper Columbia River watershed and their quest to reclaim their rights and responsibilities in their x̆a?x̆a? tum xúla?x, their sacred homeland.
Find me at your local library!
Seven Sacred Truths: Poems by Wanda John-Kehewin
Seeing the world through “brown” eyes, poet Wanda Jogn-Kehewin makes new meaning of the past, present, and future through a consideration of Love, Wisdom, Truth, Honesty, Respect, Humility, and Courage. John-Kehewin shares her personal experiences and journey towards healing and invites readers to transform through their own truths.
Find more titles on the 7 grandfather teachings!
Xwi7xwa would like to thank Elena Pederson, Publications & Web Services Assistant, from UBC Education Library for the digital signage that inspired this series.
In Honour of Orange Shirt Day
In honour of Orange Shirt Day on September 30, Xwi7xwa Library is highlighting materials in our collection with related themes: the residential school experience, healing journeys of the survivors and their families, and the ongoing process of reconciliation. Our materials on these topics include a range of formats (books, DVDs, government reports, graphic novels, and more), created for diverse audiences, including children, teachers, and scholars, Indigenous community members and non-Indigenous allies. To find these materials at Xwi7xwa, search “Residential schools” on our online catalogue and filter by Location: Xwi7xwa Library, or try searching for subject headings starting with First Nations–Residential schools. Our research guide on the Indian Residential School System in Canada is another excellent resource. As always, you’re welcome to come by Xwi7xwa to browse our shelves, check out our display, or ask us for help!
Happy Pride from Xwi7xwa Library!
At Xwi7xwa, we are proud of our growing collection of materials that celebrate the two-spirit, queer, and trans members of our communities. Our collection contains a range of genres and formats (including novels, memoirs, poetry, graphic novels, DVDs, and academic works) centering Indigenous perspectives on gender and sexuality. More and more of this material is being created by (rather than about) Indigenous people who identify as part of the LGBTQ2S community. Our collection features Gwen Benaway, Daniel Heath Justice, Qwo-Li Driskill, Kent Monkman, Thirza Cuthand, Tomson Highway, Sharron Proulx-Turner, Joshua Whitehead, Chrystos, and many more authors, artists, and scholars. Try searching the UBC Library Catalogue using keywords like two-spirit, queer, transgender, bisexual, lesbian, gay, or LGBT, and filtering by Location: Xwi7xwa Library. Or just come into the library to browse the shelves and check out our display!
Indigenous Art and Performance
Check out these titles and local performances; explore the creativity of amazing artists, performers, poets, and more!
Aboriginal Music in Contemporary Canada: Echoes and Exchanges edited by Anna Hoefnagels and Beverley Diamond
This collection narrates a story of resistance and renewal, struggle and success, as indigenous musicians in Canada negotiate who they are and who they want to be.
It demonstrates how music is a powerful tool for articulating the social challenges faced by Aboriginal communities and an effective way to affirm indigenous strength and pride.
For upcoming shows and music series in the lower mainland!
Where the Blood Mixes by Kevin Loring
A story about loss and redemption. Caught in a shadowy pool of alcoholic pain and guilt, Floyd is a man who has lost everyone he holds most dear. Now after more than two decades, his daughter Christine returns home to confront her father. Set during the salmon run, Where the Blood Mixes takes us to the bottom of the river, to the heart of a People.
For upcoming performances written and directed by Kevin Loring!
Children of God: a Musical by Corey Payette
A powerful musical about an Oji-Cree family whose children were taken away to a residential school in Northern Ontario. The play tells the story of one family: Tommy and Julia, who are trying to survive in the harsh environment of a religious school, and their mother, Rita, who never stops trying to get them back. The impact of this experience on the lives of them all is profound and devastating, yet the story moves toward redemption
For upcoming performances written and directed by Cory Payette!
Practical Dreamers: conversations with movie artists by Mike Hoolboom
Welcome to the world of fringe movies. Here, artists have been busy putting queer shoulders to the wheels, or bending light to talk about First Nations rights (and making it funny, to boot), or demonstrating how a personality can be taken apart and put back together, all during a ten-minute movie which might take years to make.
For upcoming films in the lower mainland!
Indianland by Lesley Belleau
This collection of poems written from a female and Indigenous point of view and incorporate Anishinaabemowin throughout. Time is cyclical, moving from present day back to first contact and forward again. Themes of sexuality, birth, memory, and longing are explored, images of blood, plants (milkweed, yarrow, cattails), and petroglyphs reoccur, and touchstone issues in Indigenous politics are addressed.
For live performances and readings in the lower mainland!
The People Have Never Stopped Dancing: Native American modern dance histories by Jacqueline Shea Murphy
In this first major study of contemporary Native American dance, Jacqueline Shea Murphy shows how these concert performances are at once diverse and connected by common influences. Illustrating how Native dance enacts cultural connections to land, ancestors, and animals, as well as spiritual and political concerns, Shea Murphy challenges stereotypes and offers new ways of recognizing the agency of bodies on stage.
For upcoming dance performances in the lower mainland!
Xwi7xwa would like to thank Elena Pederson, Publications & Web Services Assistant, from UBC Education Library for her work on designing our digital signage.