First Nations

When you visit southeast Alaska you encounter the Tlingit Indians and their very rich lands, diversified culture and wondrous art forms. You can visit from cruise ships, from the Alaska Ferry system, from private boats, from the air, or by following the highway systems though Hyder, Skagway or Haines.

The richness of the Tlingit culture flows from the incredible diversity and abundance of the surrounding seas: its fish, whales and sea life, the prolific clam beaches, and the incredible wealth from the spawning fish that feed the bears and eagles and nutrify the dense coniferous forest. The ease with which the natives could extract a good living provided much extra time to devote to developing an extraordinarily rich culture and a prolific art, as well as the warring and slave trading that set the northwest coast peoples apart from the other more food-deprived North American native peoples.

This book will give you a glimpse into the richess of their culture and art and afford you some understanding how the Tlingit evolved as part of this productive land.

Mink is a witness, a shape shifter, compelled to follow the story that has ensnared Celia and her village, on the West coast of Vancouver Island in Nu:Chahlnuth territory. Celia is a seer who - despite being convinced she's a little "off" - must heal her village with the assistance of her sister, her mother and father, and her nephews. While mink is visiting, a double-headed sea serpent falls off the house front during a fierce storm. The old snake, ostracized from the village decades earlier, has left his terrible influence on Amos, a residential school survivor. The occurrence signals the unfolding of an ordeal that pulls Celia out of her reveries and into the tragedy of her cousin's granddaughter. Each one of Celia's family becomes involved in creating a greater solution than merely attending to her cousin's granddaughter. Celia's Song relates one Nu:Chahlnuth family's harrowing experiences over several generations, after the brutality, interference, and neglect resulting from contact with Europeans.

Educator Information
Grade 11/12 English First Peoples resource for the unit Further Steps toward Reconciliation.

Additional Information
280 pages | 5.50" x 8.50"

The poetry of Clay Pots and Bones is Lindsay Marshall’s way of telling stories, of speaking with others about what things that matter to him. His heritage. His people. His life as a Mi’kmaw. For the reader, Clay Pots and Bones is a colourful journey from early days, when the People of the Dawn understood, interacted with and roamed the land freely, to the turbulent present and the uncertain future where Marshall envisions a rebirth of the Mi’kmaq. The poetry challenges and enlightens. It will, most certainly, entertain.

Additional Information
96 pages | 5.00" x 8.00"

“A good method of learning the Cree language, with its unique sounds, involves verbal communication between teacher and students.”

This Cree Dictionary and Everyday Phrases & Words book set was written by the last remaining fluent Cree Elders of Ochekiwi Sipi Cree Nation (Fisher River). Some of the Elders have passed on and this set is dedicated to their memory. The dialect is Maskekomowina – Swampy Cree, or N Dialect.
In both books, the English words are translated into Cree using Roman orthography, phonetics, and Cree syllabics. The Dictionary is a 149-page, coil bound publication. The Everyday Phrases & Words is a pocket-sized, 39-page booklet.

In Decolonizing Trauma Work, Renee Linklater explores healing and wellness in Indigenous communities on Turtle Island. Drawing on a decolonizing approach, which puts the “soul wound” of colonialism at the centre, Linklater engages ten Indigenous health care practitioners in a dialogue regarding Indigenous notions of wellness and wholistic health, critiques of psychiatry and psychiatric diagnoses, and Indigenous approaches to helping people through trauma, depression and experiences of parallel and multiple realities. Through stories and strategies that are grounded in Indigenous worldviews and embedded with cultural knowledge, Linklater offers purposeful and practical methods to help individuals and communities that have experienced trauma. Decolonizing Trauma Work, one of the first books of its kind, is a resource for education and training programs, health care practitioners, healing centres, clinical services and policy initiatives.

Additional Information
176 pages | 6.00" x 9.00" | Paperback

Enjoy imakhmakhap woyakapi (enjoyments that are told) in Dakota. Each chapter in this charmingly illustrated booklet focuses on a month of the year, with stories, poems and songs in the Dakota language. Doris Pratt, a long time language teacher and material developer, shares this Dakota collection to help students learn and practice the language.

Educator Information
This book is written in the Dakota language. It is useful as a total Dakota language program or can be used to supplement any Dakota language course. It is suitable for adult language courses. Included in the appendices are explanations of the Dakota language and a prayer by Hector Bunn.

Bern Will Brown, noted northern author, artist, photographer, and respected community leader living in Colville Lake, Northwest Territories, provides new insights and perspectives on the Sahtu Dene, the people referred to as the "Hareskin" in Alexander Mackenzie's 1793 journal. Having lived among them for over sixty years and as a speaker of their dialect, Brown is well positioned to provide an adventure in history and culture rooted in the Hareskin traditional way of life.

End-of-Earth People, his latest contribution and a valuable record of the North, is a portrait of a people Brown has come to know in ways that anthropologists and ethnologists can only envy.

The first comprehensive lexicographic work on Cayuga, an Iroquoian language spoken in southern Ontario at Six Nations of the Grand River, this dictionary, combines the work of Dyck, a professor of linguistics, and Froman, Keye, and Keye, all Cayuga language teachers at Six Nations. It contains over 3000 entries, including 1000 verb forms and many nouns never before printed; extensive cross-referencing, thematic appendices that highlight cultural references and provide 1600 further entries, and a short grammatical sketch complete this accomplished work.

Entries in the main dictionary are organized by bases, which will make the dictionary especially helpful to those learning Cayuga as a second language. The dictionary's accuracy and extensiveness will make it an indispensable reference not only to the Cayuga speaker and student, but also to other Iroquoian speakers, linguists, anthropologists, and historians of Indigenous Peoples.

Produced under the auspices of the Sweetgrass First Nations Language Council Inc.

Reviews
"The first extensive dictionary of Cayuga, this benchmark work documents the language in 3,000 entries and in word lists organized thematically in appendixes ... A valuable tool for linguists of Iroquoian languages and anthropologists, as well as those who study the Cayuga language. Summing up: Highly recommended."— R. Hanson, Choice

"A major milestone in Iroquoian studies and an extremely important tool in the preservation of the Cayuga language."— Blair A. Rudes, Department of English, University of North Carolina at Charlotte

Additional Information
786 pages | 6.88" x 9.73" | Paperback

The First Nations of British Columbia, now in its third edition, is a concise and accessible overview of BC's First Nations peoples, cultures, and issues. Robert J. Muckle familiarizes readers with the history, diversity, and complexity of First Nations to provide a context for contemporary concerns and initiatives. This latest edition of the classic work has been fully revised, with new chapters added and previous ones rewritten, arguments reframed in light of current developments, and resources brought right up to date. The First Nations of British Columbia is an indispensable resource for teachers and students and an excellent introduction for anyone interested in BC First Nations.

In Indian School Road, journalist Chris Benjamin tackles the controversial and tragic history of the Shubenacadie Indian Residential School, its predecessors, and its lasting effects, giving voice to multiple perspectives for the first time. Benjamin integrates research, interviews, and testimonies to guide readers through the varied experiences of students, principals, and teachers over the school’s nearly forty years of operation (1930–1967) and beyond. Exposing the raw wounds of Truth and Reconciliation as well as the struggle for an inclusive Mi’kmaw education system, Indian School Road is a comprehensive and compassionate narrative history of the school that uneducated hundreds of Aboriginal children.

George Kenny is an Anishinaabe poet and playwright who learned traditional ways from his parents before being sent to residential school in 1958. When Kenny published his first book, 1977’s Indians Don’t Cry, he joined the ranks of Indigenous writers such as Maria Campbell, Basil Johnston, and Rita Joe whose work melded art and political action. Hailed as a landmark in the history of Indigenous literature in Canada, this new edition is expected to inspire a new generation of Anishinaabe writers with poems and stories that depict the challenges of Indigenous people confronting and finding ways to live within urban settler society.

Educator & Series Information
Indians Don’t Cry: Gaawin Mawisiiwag Anishinaabeg is the second book in the First Voices, First Texts series, which publishes lost or underappreciated texts by Indigenous artists. This new bilingual edition includes a translation of Kenny’s poems and stories into Anishinaabemowin by Patricia M. Ningewance and an afterword by literary scholar Renate Eigenbrod.

Although most of the books in this series are non-fiction, this one is listed as fiction.

Additional Information
190 pages | 5.50" x 8.50"

In the winter of 1989, Eva Gibson is a university student living in downtown Toronto. She's homesick and anxious to finish her education and return home to serve her Anishinaabe community. Then tragedy strikes and it becomes the Gibson family's legacy. Back on the rez, Eva's brothers and sister struggle to cope with their losses and redefine "their legacy." Some turn to ceremony; some turn to vice. All the while, they contend with a creeping sentiment of revenge.

Additional Information
192 pages | 6.00" x 9.00" | Paperback 

First published in 1969, this expanded third edition is an excellent reference for both collectors and craftspeople. Detailed instructions for measuring, patternmaking, fitting, and construction guide the crafts worker in producing a wide variety of authentic Native American footwear that's tailored to each individual's foot. Readers are provided with a fascinating overview of the history of indigenous footwear in North America and an in-depth Introduction to rawhide, leather, and buckskin by G. D. Wood. Patterns for 28 moccasin types covering over 30 tribes - including the Assiniboine (Alberta/Manitoba), Kootenai (British Columbia), and Yellowknives (Northern Territories) of Canada - are featured along with new instructions for making Plains hard-sole, Northern Plains soft-sole, and Cherokee/Southeastern-style moccasins. Also included is a brief history of the tribes, additional resources, and website references. Forty-one full-color photographs accompany the patterns, along with 22 historic period photos of camp life, tanning hides, individual chiefs, and more.

Set of two language books:

• Cree Sayings and Phrases in Roman Orthography and Syllabics
• 1000 Cree Words in Roman Orthography and Syllabics

In 2015-2016, Peace Pipe Dreams was the award recipient for First Nation Communities Read.

Darrell Dennis is a stereotype-busting, politically incorrect Native American/Aboriginal/Shuswap (Only he's allowed to call himself an "Indian." Maybe. Under some circumstances). With a large dose of humour and irreverence, he untangles some of the truths and myths about First Nations: Why do people think Natives get free trucks, and why didn't he ever get one? Why does the length of your hair determine whether you’re good or bad? By what ratio does the amount of rain in a year depend on the amount of cactus liquor you consume?

In addition to answering these burning questions, Dennis tackles some tougher subjects. He looks at European-Native interactions in North America from the moment of first contact, discussing the fur trade, treaty-signing and the implementation of residential schools. Addressing misconceptions still widely believed today, Dennis explains why Native people aren't genetically any more predisposed to become alcoholics than Caucasians; that Native religion doesn't consist of worshipping rocks, disappearing into thin air, or conversing with animals; and that tax exemptions are so limited and confusing that many people don't even bother.

Employing pop culture examples, personal anecdote and a cutting wit, Darrell Dennis deftly weaves history with current events to entertain, inform and provide a convincing, readable overview of First Nations issues and why they matter today.

Additional Information
224 pages | 5.65" x 8.52"