New Board Game Helps Educate Canadians About Truth and Reconciliation

In honour of National Indigenous History Month, I had the chance to speak with Melanie Ng at CityNews about The Truth in Truth and Reconciliation Educational Board Game, a project that started in 2017 when I was teaching in Sault Ste. Marie. I originally created the game as a way to help my students study for Canadian history exams. What began as a simple classroom tool has grown into a powerful, story-based learning experience that invites players to explore the real impacts of colonization on Indigenous Peoples.

In the game, players take on roles defined by the Indian Act and try to collect four eagle feathers before losing their land, language, culture, and identity. Each Truth and Consequence card shares a historical fact, along with the impact it had on Indigenous communities. I even designed the cards to be the size of a smartphone screen, knowing how students engage with information today. All the artwork in the game is my own, and everything is rooted in my lived experience as an Anishinaabe artist, language teacher, and survivor.

The version of the game for ages 14+ is available now through Eastern Woodland Art and Medicine Wheel Publishing, and the elementary and middle school edition will be released in September 2025, with pre-orders open now.

Miigwetch, Miigwetch, Miigwetch for your support! 

— James Darin Corbiere