Métis

Canada's relationship with its Indigenous people has suffered as a result of both the residential school system and the lack of understanding of the historical and current impact of those schools. Healing and repairing that relationship requires education, awareness and increased understanding of the legacy and the impacts still being felt by Survivors and their families. Guided by acclaimed Indigenous author Monique Gray Smith, readers will learn about the lives of Survivors and listen to allies who are putting the findings of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission into action.

Educator Information
Recommended for grades 4 to 8.

A teacher guide for this resource is also available: Speaking Our Truth Teacher Guide

Additional Information
160 pages | 7.50" x 9.00"

Humanity has nearly destroyed its world through global warming, but now an even greater evil lurks. The indigenous people of North America are being hunted and harvested for their bone marrow, which carries the key to recovering something the rest of the population has lost: the ability to dream. In this dark world, Frenchie and his companions struggle to survive as they make their way up north to the old lands. For now, survival means staying hidden - but what they don't know is that one of them holds the secret to defeating the marrow thieves.

Awards

• Winner of 2017 Governor General's Literary Award
• Winner of 2017 Kirkus Prize
• Winner of the 2018 Burt Literary Award for First Nations, Inuit, and Métis Young Adult Literature.  

Reviews
“Miigwans is a true hero; in him Dimaline creates a character of tremendous emotional depth and tenderness, connecting readers with the complexity and compassion of Indigenous people. A dystopian world that is all too real and that has much to say about our own.”— Kirkus Reviews

"There's a quality in Dimaline's writing that reached from the page, into my being ... That's a specific reference to the residential schools of the past, where so much was taken from Native children. It is one of many points in The Marrow Thieves where - painfully or with exquisite beauty - Dimaline's story resonates with me. It will resonate with other Native readers, too, especially those who are Anishinabe. Several tribal nations are mentioned in here, too ... There's so much more to say ... about Miggs and Isaac, about Ri, about Minerva, about French. But I'll stop and let you be with these achingly dear characters. I highly recommend The Marrow Thieves." — Debbie Reese, American Indians in Children's Literature

"In The Marrow Thieves, Cherie Dimaline creates a near-future world which distinctly echoes our own, current and past traumas that have come back to repeat themselves, fiction with a basis in reality that gives the narrative a sheen of hard truths, following the trials and tribulations of a relatable cast of characters and their struggles to survive, and live their lives with the love and safety denied to them. The high-stakes tension of each scene pulls the reader along through the story, with a core message about our dreams and culture, which despite losses, has the potential to heal, and the power to restore." — Trillium Book Award Jury Citation, June 2018

"[The Marrow Thieves] brilliantly connects the legacy of residential schools to a dystopian post-climate-change future where only Indigenous people are able to dream. Dimaline’s novel reminds us of the power of storytelling and the importance of community, reinforced for the disenfranchised children by the wisdom of the heroic elder, Miigwans. The writing is painful yet beautiful, bleak but ultimately hopeful. In this era of reconciliation, Cherie Dimaline’s The Marrow Thieves is a work of speculative fiction that resonates and stays with the reader long past the last page." — Sunburst Award Jury Citation, October 2018

Educator & Series Information
Recommended Ages: 13+ 

Recommended English First Peoples resource for grades 11-12.

This book is part of the Marrow Thieves series.

The Canadian Indigenous Books for Schools list recommends this resource for Grades 9-12 English Language Arts.

Caution: This book touches on physical and sexual violence.

DCB Young Readers has created a Teacher's Guide for this resource, which can be downloaded here: Teachers Guide - The Marrow Thieves

This resource is also available in French: Pilleurs de rêves

Additional Information
180 pages | 5.00" x 8.00"

“We Are All Connected” is a series that explores how we all live together in a shared balance upon Mother Earth. Each book explores a specific ecosystem with a focus on one animal and its adaptations for survival within that ecosystem. Indigenous interviewees, each living within the same area, have responded to strategic questions as to how their community interacts with the land, their traditional territory. Explore each text with a sense of inquiry in mind.

8 We Are All Connected Titles Coast Salish, Coastal Rainforests and Cougars Haisla, Rivers and Chinook Salmon Inuit, Tundra and Ravens Lakota, Mixed Grasslands and Bald Eagles Métis, Wetlands and Mallards Nisga'a, Ponds and Leopard Frogs Nlaka'pamux, Grasslands and Rattlesnakes Sto:lo, Riparian Forests and Black Bears Each title covers the following curricular areas. Traditional storytelling and artwork begin each title from the focus Indigenous territory. Science: Biodiversity, classification, life cycles, food chains, food webs and connections between living and non-living things are just some of the science concepts included in each book. Social Studies: Contemporary and historical Indigenous cultural knowledge flows throughout each book. Local land forms, gatherings, harvesting practices and government are some of the social studies concepts included in each book.

2 Foundation Titles The two foundational books provide deeper understanding of the content of the “We Are All Connected” titles. We Are All Connected: The Earth, Our Home- explores biomes, ecosystems and biodiversity. We Are All Connected: The Earth, We Share- explores the interconnectedness between living and non-living things. 

Authenticity Note: This book contains some Indigenous artwork and photos throughout, such as artwork from Leah Marie Dorion.

Additional Information
32 pages | 8.50" x 11.00" | ISBN: 9781771742511

This is the fifth book in the Stories of Our People series.

Educator & Series Information
Stories of Our People/Lii zistwayr di la naasyoon di Michif Series is a departure from other books about Aboriginal or traditional stories. It includes five stories. As readers go through the series, they will notice that the narrative and artwork gets progressively darker. The series starts with trickster stories, then moves to a Whiitigo and Paakuk story, then jumps to a story about selling one’s soul and personal redemption, and finally to a Roogaroo story.

This project came to life from the stories of our Elders, and as such, original transcripts of the stories, prose renditions by Janice DePeel, and biographies of the storytellers and project team are available on the Virtual Museum of Métis History and Culture: www.metismuseum.ca/browse/index.php?id=13100

Based on stories by Norman Fleury, Gilbert Pelletier, Jeanne Pelletier, Joe Welsh, and Norma Welsh.

Stories of Our People/Lii zistwayr di la naasyoon di Michif Series:
Book 1: How Michif was Lost
Book 2: Chi-Jean and the Red Willows
Book 3: Whistle for Protection
Book 4: Sins of the Righteous
Book 5: Attack of the Roogaroos!

This is the second book in the Stories of Our People series.

Educator & Series Information
Stories of Our People/Lii zistwayr di la naasyoon di Michif Series is a departure from other books about Aboriginal or traditional stories. It includes five stories. As readers go through the series, they will notice that the narrative and artwork gets progressively darker. The series starts with trickster stories, then moves to a Whiitigo and Paakuk story, then jumps to a story about selling one’s soul and personal redemption, and finally to a Roogaroo story.

This project came to life from the stories of our Elders, and as such, original transcripts of the stories, prose renditions by Janice DePeel, and biographies of the storytellers and project team are available on the Virtual Museum of Métis History and Culture: www.metismuseum.ca/browse/index.php?id=13100

Based on stories by Norman Fleury, Gilbert Pelletier, Jeanne Pelletier, Joe Welsh, and Norma Welsh.

Stories of Our People/Lii zistwayr di la naasyoon di Michif Series:
Book 1: How Michif was Lost
Book 2: Chi-Jean and the Red Willows
Book 3: Whistle for Protection
Book 4: Sins of the Righteous
Book 5: Attack of the Roogaroos!

This is the first book in the Stories of Our People series.

Educator & Series Information
Stories of Our People/Lii zistwayr di la naasyoon di Michif Series is a departure from other books about Aboriginal or traditional stories. It includes five stories. As readers go through the series, they will notice that the narrative and artwork gets progressively darker. The series starts with trickster stories, then moves to a Whiitigo and Paakuk story, then jumps to a story about selling one’s soul and personal redemption, and finally to a Roogaroo story.

This project came to life from the stories of our Elders, and as such, original transcripts of the stories, prose renditions by Janice DePeel, and biographies of the storytellers and project team are available on the Virtual Museum of Métis History and Culture: www.metismuseum.ca/browse/index.php?id=13100

Based on stories by Norman Fleury, Gilbert Pelletier, Jeanne Pelletier, Joe Welsh, and Norma Welsh.

Stories of Our People/Lii zistwayr di la naasyoon di Michif Series:
Book 1: How Michif was Lost
Book 2: Chi-Jean and the Red Willows
Book 3: Whistle for Protection
Book 4: Sins of the Righteous
Book 5: Attack of the Roogaroos!

This is the fourth book in the Stories of Our People series.

Educator & Series Information
Stories of Our People/Lii zistwayr di la naasyoon di Michif Series is a departure from other books about Aboriginal or traditional stories. It includes five stories. As readers go through the series, they will notice that the narrative and artwork gets progressively darker. The series starts with trickster stories, then moves to a Whiitigo and Paakuk story, then jumps to a story about selling one’s soul and personal redemption, and finally to a Roogaroo story.

This project came to life from the stories of our Elders, and as such, original transcripts of the stories, prose renditions by Janice DePeel, and biographies of the storytellers and project team are available on the Virtual Museum of Métis History and Culture: www.metismuseum.ca/browse/index.php?id=13100

Based on stories by Norman Fleury, Gilbert Pelletier, Jeanne Pelletier, Joe Welsh, and Norma Welsh.

Stories of Our People/Lii zistwayr di la naasyoon di Michif Series:
Book 1: How Michif was Lost
Book 2: Chi-Jean and the Red Willows
Book 3: Whistle for Protection
Book 4: Sins of the Righteous
Book 5: Attack of the Roogaroos!

When Stella, a young Métis mother, looks out her window one evening and spots someone in trouble on the Break — a barren field on an isolated strip of land outside her house — she calls the police to alert them to a possible crime.

In a series of shifting narratives, people who are connected, both directly and indirectly, with the victim — police, family, and friends — tell their personal stories leading up to that fateful night. Lou, a social worker, grapples with the departure of her live-in boyfriend. Cheryl, an artist, mourns the premature death of her sister Rain. Paulina, a single mother, struggles to trust her new partner. Phoenix, a homeless teenager, is released from a youth detention centre. Officer Scott, a Métis policeman, feels caught between two worlds as he patrols the city. Through their various perspectives a larger, more comprehensive story about lives of the residents in Winnipeg’s North End is exposed.

A powerful intergenerational family saga, The Break showcases Vermette’s abundant writing talent and positions her as an exciting new voice in Canadian literature.

Awards

• 2017 Burt Award for First Nations, Inuit, and Métis Literature Winner
• Margaret Laurence Award for Fiction Winner
• McNally Robison Book of the Year Winner
• Amazon.ca First Novel Award 

Reviews
“Vermette is a staggering talent. Reading The Break is like a revelation; stunning, heartbreaking and glorious. From her exquisitely rendered characters to her fully realized world and the ratcheting tension, I couldn’t put it down. Absolutely riveting.” — Eden Robinson, author of Monkey Beach

“In Vermette’s poetic prose, The Break offers a stark portrayal of the adversity that plagues First Nations women in this country — and the strength that helps them survive.” — Toronto Star

“The Break doesn’t read like an impressive first novel; it reads like a masterstroke from someone who knows what they’re doing . . . Vermette is skilled at writing with a language that is conversational and comfortable and with a poetic ease that makes the hard things easier to swallow. The result is a book that is at times emotionally demanding, funny, suspenseful, and always engaging.”—The Winnipeg Review

“This is a debut novel by the Governor General's Literary Award-winning Métis poet Katherena Vermette. The story takes place in Winnipeg's North End. And it starts when Stella thinks she sees a violent assault taking place in a barren strip of land outside her window, known as The Break. Turns out, she is right. In fact, there is a threat of violence that hovers over all the women in the story, three generations of them, and the story is told in many voices. Katherena writes with empathy and understanding about people who are living with the pain of intergenerational trauma. The Winnipeg winter she evokes is cold and cruel. But there is such love, loyalty and support in this story. If you enjoy a gripping family saga, I would recommend The Break.” — Shelagh Rogers, CBC The Next Chapter

Educator Information
Grades 11-12 BC English First Peoples resource for the unit What Creates Family?

The Canadian Indigenous Books for School list recommends this resource for Grades 10-12 English Language Arts.

Curriculum Connections: English, Indigenous Studies, Anthropology

Note: This novel contains mature and challenging content, such as incidents of drug use, rape, and, violence.

Additional Information
288 pages | 5.25" x 8.00"

D.J. awakens from a coma with no memory of what happened to him. The only thing that he knows for sure is that he was severely beaten and his face is disfigured. When his grandmother places a stone necklace around his neck, he begins to heal at a rapid pace. Then D.J. begins to experience a series of visions that take him through segments of a friendship between a boy named Jeff and a foster kid named Tim. It is through these visions that he learns about events that led up to a school gang blaming Jeff for preventing Tim's gang membership, Tim's subsequent death and to D.J. being hospitalized. Most of all D.J. learns about himself and his family's historical connection to the 'Grandfather Stone.' What strange power does the stone hold and who is the beautiful girl caring for him?

Reviews
"Deborah has written a true-in-its-bones story about Métis youth and shares her own wisdom in a generous fashion. This book is a gift in itself from a talented story-teller. We should all look forward to more of her stories!" - Parkland Regional Library, Jean-Louis

Educator Information
Young Adult Fiction | Recommended for ages 13-18

Subjects/Themes: Indigenous, Fantasy, Friendship

Additional Information
150 pages | 5.50" x 8.50"

This is the third book in the Stories of Our People series.

Educator & Series Information
Stories of Our People/Lii zistwayr di la naasyoon di Michif Series is a departure from other books about Aboriginal or traditional stories. It includes five stories. As readers go through the series, they will notice that the narrative and artwork gets progressively darker. The series starts with trickster stories, then moves to a Whiitigo and Paakuk story, then jumps to a story about selling one’s soul and personal redemption, and finally to a Roogaroo story.

This project came to life from the stories of our Elders, and as such, original transcripts of the stories, prose renditions by Janice DePeel, and biographies of the storytellers and project team are available on the Virtual Museum of Métis History and Culture: www.metismuseum.ca/browse/index.php?id=13100

Based on stories by Norman Fleury, Gilbert Pelletier, Jeanne Pelletier, Joe Welsh, and Norma Welsh.

Stories of Our People/Lii zistwayr di la naasyoon di Michif Series:
Book 1: How Michif was Lost
Book 2: Chi-Jean and the Red Willows
Book 3: Whistle for Protection
Book 4: Sins of the Righteous
Book 5: Attack of the Roogaroos!

A short story collection by Cherie Dimaline.

The inspiration for the collection comes from American Poet Charles Bukowski who wrote "In between the punctuating agonies, life is such a gentle habit." Following this theme of extraordinary ordinariness, A Gentle Habit is a collection of six new short stories focusing on the addictions of a diverse group of characters attempting normalcy in an unnatural world.

Reviews
"Cherie Dimaline is a fantastic writer, her prose a gorgeous tightrope walk between the traditional and contemporary. One of our most fresh and exciting voices." - Joseph Boyden, author of award-winning novel The Orenda.

“Cherie Dimaline has strongly established herself as a gifted, essential voice in the vibrant realm of global Indigenous literature. The compelling journeys she creates for her richly complex characters invoke the profound storytelling of her Anishinaabe heritage. With A Gentle Habit, Dimaline delivers yet another beautiful set of influential stories that take modern Indigenous writing on a bold, exciting path forward.” – Waubgeshig Rice, CBC Journalist and author of Midnight Sweatlodge and Legacy.

Additional Information 
250 pages | 6.00" x 9.00"

Deluxe redesign of the Gerald Lampert Award-winning classic.

This edition of A Really Good Brown Girl features a new Introduction by Lee Maracle, a new Afterword by the author, and a new cover and design by the renowned typographer Robert Bringhurst.

First published in 1996, A Really Good Brown Girl is a fierce, honest and courageous account of what it takes to grow into one's self and one's Métis heritage in the face of myriad institutional and cultural obstacles. It is an indispensable contribution to Canadian literature.

"No other book so exonerates us, elevates us and at the same time indicts Canada in language so eloquent it almost hurts to hear it." --Lee Maracle, from the Introduction

Educator Information
This resource is also available in French: Une vraie bonne petite Métisse.

Additional Information
112 pages | 6.00" x 8.50"

“The Gabriel Dumont Institute Press is pleased to be able to preserve and share Jeanne Pelletier’s work and life story through Let Me See Your Fancy Steps—Story of a Métis Dance Caller. The Story of Jeanne Pelletier as told to Sylvie Sara Roy and Wilfred Burton. Jeanne’s achievement as the first female Métis dance caller is, of course, about Métis dance, but it is also about the determination of a young Métis girl who achieves her dream to become a dance caller during a time when this was only done by men.”

This resource includes dance calls for 16 dances and is accompanied by the instructional DVD All My Relations which features dance company V’ni Dansi which is led by renowned dancer and artistic director, Yvonne Chartrand.

Reviews
"The recounting of Jeanne’s work is supplemented throughout the book by testimonials of her former dance students and community members, all of whom praise the dance caller for the substantial impact that she’s had both on their personal lives, as well as the academic and social climates of the Métis community in Saskatchewan. As a Métis myself, I feel lost at times, as if my culture is fuzzy or foreign to me. Reading the life experiences, knowledge, and not to mention the wealth of Métis Jig steps found in this book gave me an overwhelming sense of peace to see research of this caliber and this level of care being invested in my culture. I would highly recommend this book to anyone with an interest in Métis culture and the significance that the jig has to the culture. Anyone who has seen the Métis Jig performed live knows that it is a beautiful and awe-inspiring dance, but after reading Jeanne’s explanations of the cultural significance of the dances, I will now appreciate the dance that much more as a story and celebration of my culture. It is also worth mentioning that entire dance sequences are written out to follow with Jeanne’s notes, and the book includes an instructional DVD." - Ben Charles for SaskBook Reviews

Educator Information
Recommended by Gabriel Dumont Institute for Secondary/Post Secondary/Adult.

Includes a DVD.

Recommended in the Canadian Indigenous Books for Schools 2019-2020 resource list as being useful for grades 5-12 with regard to these subjects: English Language Arts, Physical Education, Social Studies, Teacher Resource.

Mary Siisip Geniusz has spent more than thirty years working with, living with, and using the Anishinaabe teachings, recipes, and botanical information she shares in Plants Have So Much to Give Us, All We Have to Do Is Ask. Geniusz gained much of the knowledge she writes about from her years as an oshkaabewis, a traditionally trained apprentice, and as friend to the late Keewaydinoquay, an Anishinaabe medicine woman from the Leelanau Peninsula in Michigan and a scholar, teacher, and practitioner in the field of native ethnobotany. Keewaydinoquay published little in her lifetime, yet Geniusz has carried on her legacy by making this body of knowledge accessible to a broader audience.

Geniusz teaches the ways she was taught—through stories. Sharing the traditional stories she learned at Keewaydinoquay’s side as well as stories from other American Indian traditions and her own experiences, Geniusz brings the plants to life with narratives that explain their uses, meaning, and history. Stories such as “Naanabozho and the Squeaky-Voice Plant” place the plants in cultural context and illustrate the belief in plants as cognizant beings. Covering a wide range of plants, from conifers to cattails to medicinal uses of yarrow, mullein, and dandelion, she explains how we can work with those beings to create food, simple medicines, and practical botanical tools.

Plants Have So Much to Give Us, All We Have to Do Is Ask makes this botanical information useful to native and nonnative healers and educators and places it in the context of the Anishinaabe culture that developed the knowledge and practice.

Additional Information
344 pages | 7.00" x 10.00" | Paperback

The compelling autobiography of Nick Sibbeston, residential school survivor and one of the North’s most influential leaders.

Growing up in a remote Northern community, Nick Sibbeston had little reason to believe he would one day fulfill his mother’s ambition of holding a career where he would “wear a white shirt.” Torn away from his family and placed in residential school at the age of five, Sibbeston endured loneliness, callous treatment and sexual assault by an older boy, but discovered a love of learning that would compel him to complete a law degree and pursue a career in politics.

As a young, firebrand politician, Sibbeston played an instrumental role during a critical moment in Northwest Territories politics, advocating tirelessly to support the economic and political development of First Nations people in the North, and participating in early discussions of the separation of Nunavut. Sibbeston’s career advanced in great strides, first as an MLA, then one of Canada’s first Aboriginal lawyers, then as a cabinet minister and eventually premier of the Northwest Territories. Finally, he was appointed to the Senate of Canada, where he continues to represent the people of Canada’s North, not least in advocating for the generations affected by residential school policies.

Although his years at residential school compelled Sibbeston to fight tirelessly for the rights of Aboriginal northerners, they also left a mark on his mental health, fuelling continual battles with anxiety, depression and addiction. It was only in later life that healing began to take place, as he battled his demons openly, supported not just by the medical community but also by his strong faith and the love of his wife and family.

Nick Sibbeston is a lawyer, distinguished member of the Northwest Territories (NWT) Legislative Assembly and a former premier. In 1970, Mr. Sibbeston was elected to a four-year term on the North West Territorial Council. And from 1979–91, he was elected to the NWT Legislative Assembly. Sibbeston has worked for the Government of NWT as Justice Specialist and as a Public Administrator for Deh Cho Health & Social Services and served four years on the Canadian Human Rights Panel/Tribunal. He is a current member of the Senate committees on Aboriginal Peoples, and Energy, Environment and Natural Resources. Mr. Sibbeston and his wife, Karen, live in Fort Simpson, NWT.

Additional Information
344 pages | 6.41" x 9.25"