Katłıà

Nyla has an affinity to fire. A neglected teen in a small northern town—trying to escape a mother battling her own terrors—she is kicked out and struggles through life on the streets. Desperate for love, Nyla accidentally sets fire to her ex’s building and is then incarcerated for arson. Through community-led diversion, Nyla finds herself on a reserve as their firekeeper. But when climate change–induced wildfires threaten her new home, she knows intimately how to fight back.

The fourth book from acclaimed writer Katłıà brings a Northern Indigenous perspective to the destructive effects of ongoing colonialism. Displaying Katłıà’s enthralling storytelling style, Firekeeper is a coming-of-age tale that addresses intergenerational trauma by reclaiming culture, belonging and identity.

Join Nyla on her healing journey through the fire to sacred waters.

Reviews
“Katłıà’s Firekeeper is an enchanting page-turner of a novel that captured my heart from start to finish. It’s an essential story about finding spirit, family, and home, told through one of the strongest and most authentic protagonists I’ve ever read. I felt like I was right there with Nyla through all her tragedies and triumphs, which is testament to Katłıà’s smooth and heartfelt prose. This book is a celebration of the resilient spirit and leadership of Indigenous women.”—Waubgeshig Rice, author of Moon of the Crusted Snow

“Written with searing truth and genuine heart, breathtaking at times in its description of life, living, dying and death - Firekeeper is a loving testament to the power of kindness and of gentleness. Piercing and honest, with an eye for detail in chaos, the writing and voice are humble and humbling. This is Katłı̨̀ą’s best work to date.”— Tracey Lindberg, writer, scholar, Indigenous Rights activist and the author of Birdie

Additional Information
176 pages | 5.50" x 8.50" | Paperback

A vexatious shapeshifter walks among humans. Shadowy beasts skulk at the edges of the woods. A ghostly apparition haunts a lonely stretch of highway. Spirits and legends rise and join together to protect the north.

Land-Water-Sky/Ndè-Tı-Yat’a is the debut novel from Dene author Katłįà. Set in Canada’s far north, this layered composite novel traverses space and time, from a community being stalked by a dark presence, a group of teenagers out for a dangerous joyride, to an archeological site on a mysterious island that holds a powerful secret.

Riveting, subtle, and unforgettable, Katłįà gives us a unique perspective into what the world might look like today if Indigenous legends walked amongst us, disguised as humans, and ensures that the spiritual significance and teachings behind the stories of Indigenous legends are respected and honored.

Reviews
“This book brought a lot of memory for me when Elders used to tell stories sitting around and visiting my parents and telling stories about nąhgąąÌ. The story was so descriptive the way the Elders told stories. I related to all the events of the story because its very similar to the stories I’ve heard. MahsıÌ Cho for keeping our stories alive.”— Maro Sundberg, Executive Director at Goyatiko Language Society

“In the era of pre-contact, ancient stories were deeply engrained in the landscape from which it derives from. They inspire traditional storytellers to pass onto current times, a frame to support today’s tellings and in this writing, it’s an extension too snippets of stories heard, the collisions of changing times of life in the raw, taking many forms of intrigue, an ongoing tradition, a shapeshifting.” — John B. Zoe, traditional knowledge expert from Tlicho Territory, Senior Advisor with the Tłı̨chǫ Government, Chairperson of Dedats’eetsaa: the Tłı̨chǫ Research & Training Institute

"Katlıa has created a masterpiece that brilliantly weaves intriguing characters, history, culture, love for the land, water and sky into a riveting and magnificent read." — Monique Gray Smith, author of Tilly and the Crazy Eights

Additional Information
176 pages | 6.00" x 9.00"

This is the story of how a young northern girl picked herself up out of the rough and polished herself off like the diamond that she is in the land of the midnight sun. 

Northern Wildflower is the beautifully written and powerful memoir of Catherine Lafferty. With startling honesty and a distinct voice, Lafferty tells her story of being a Dene woman growing up in Canada’s North and her struggles with intergenerational trauma, discrimination, poverty, addiction, love, and loss. Focusing on the importance of family ties, education, spiritualism, cultural identity, health, happiness, and the courage to speak the truth, Lafferty’s words bring cultural awareness and relativity to Indigenous and non-Indigenous readers alike, giving insight into the real issues many Indigenous women face and dispelling misconceptions about what life in the North is like.

Reviews
"Catherine Lafferty’s life story as a daughter and mother wanting more for her family and for herself is so completely inspiring. Northern Wildflower is a celebration of soul, grace and dignity.  I am floored with the talent, courage and heart inside this wonderful debut." — Richard Van Camp, author of The Lesser Blessed

Additional Information
158 pages | 6.00" x 9.00"

After a hunting trip one fall, a family in the far reaches of so-called Canada’s north return to nothing but an empty space where their home once stood. Finding themselves suddenly homeless, they have no choice but to assimilate into settler-colonial society in a mining town that has encroached on their freedom.

An intergenerational coming-of-age novel, This House Is Not a Home follows Kǫ̀, a Dene man who grew up entirely on the land before being taken to residential school. When he finally returns home, he struggles to connect with his family: his younger brother whom he has never met, his mother because he has lost his language, and an absent father whose disappearance he is too afraid to question.

The third book from acclaimed Dene, Cree and Metis writer Katłįà, This House Is Not a Home is a fictional story based on true events. Visceral and embodied, heartbreaking and spirited, this book presents a clear trajectory of how settlers dispossessed Indigenous Peoples of their land — and how Indigenous communities, with dignity and resilience, continue to live and honour their culture, values, inherent knowledge systems, and Indigenous rights towards re-establishing sovereignty. Fierce and unflinching, this story is a call for land back.

Reviews
"Absolutely exquisite. Told with such love and gentle ferocity, I’m convinced This House Is Not A Home will never leave those who read it. I am in awe of what I’ve witnessed here. Mahsi cho, Katlia. Bravo! " — Richard Van Camp author of The Lesser Blessed and Moccasin Square Gardens

Additional Information
192 pages | 5.50" x 8.50" | Paperback