Métis

A testimony to Indigenous resilience in business.

Despite investments in nation building, self-autonomy, and cultural resurgence, Indigenous economic development has remained an underexplored and underestimated area of research. Engraved on Our Nations overturns the discouraging deficit perspective too common in policy and academia and amplifies the largely undocumented history of successful Indigenous economic activity in Canada.

Following David Newhouse’s overview of Indigenous economic history, the authors of this collection illustrate how First Nation and Métis individuals and communities have met and overcome an array of challenges. Case studies focus on First Nations from Membertou (Nova Scotia) to Tahltan (British Columbia) and Indigenous-led enterprises like McDonald Brothers Electric (Northwest Territories) and Neechi Commons (Manitoba). Simultaneously celebrating Indigenous entrepreneurs and exploring concerns around sustainable development, the book also asks: can capitalism be Indigenized?

This first-of-its-kind collection shares stories not only of entrepreneurial excellence and persistence but savvy leadership, innovation, and reciprocity. In doing so, Engraved on Our Nations provides hope to Indigenous business leaders, youth, and elected officials working on the front lines to improve economic conditions and achieve "a good life" for their communities.

Reviews
“There are few books that can compare to this. The strengths-based approach used by each author is refreshing and will be of service to First Nations communities and to Indigenous and non-Indigenous scholars in community economic development.” — Shelley T. Price

“Engraved on Our Nations clearly articulates the strength, courage, and foresight of Indigenous people. The uplifting stories within this volume will open the eyes of readers and elicit hope, inspiration, and pride.” — Bob Kayseas

Educator Information

Table of Contents
Preface: Exploring Indigenous Economic Tenacity in Canada – Wanda Wuttunee and Fred Wien

Introduction: Indigenous Economic History as the History of Tenacity – David Newhouse

Part One: Strategic Leadership

1. How Does First Nation Social and Economic Development Contribute to the Surrounding Region? A Case Study of Membertou – Mary Beth Doucette and Fred Wien

2. Incremental Planning: The Tsawwassen First Nation Experience – Daniel M. Millette

3. Fulfilling Treaty Promises: Treaty Land Entitlement and Urban Reserves in Saskatchewan – Charlotte Bezamat-Mantes

Part Two: Culturally on Point

4. Trading on Tradition: Innovative Indigenous Enterprise – Isobel M. Findlay

5. Capitalism: Can It Be Indigenized? – Clifford Gordon Atleo

6. Challenges and Opportunities for BC First Nations’ Economic Self-Determination – J. Sayers

Part Three: Family Connections

7. Honouring Entrepreneurial Resilience: Atlantic Region Lifetime Achievers – Chris Googoo, Catherine Martin, and Fred Wien

8. A Métis Light in the Northern Darkness—Case Study – Wanda Wuttunee

9. Neechi Commons Case Study: A Lost Love Letter to Winnipeg – Wanda Wuttunee

Part Four: Partnering for Success

10. Tahltan Economic Tenacity—From Affluence to Poverty to Affluence – Jerry Asp

11. Stronger Together: First Nation Community/Municipality Collaborations – Wanda Wuttunee

Conclusion: What Did We Learn About Indigenous Tenacity? Fred Wien and Wanda Wuttunee

Acknowledgements

Contributors

Index

Additional Information
304 pages | 6.00" x 9.00" | Index, Bibliography | Paperback

A Sixties Scoop survivor's journey back to her Nation and the truth of who she is

Otipemisiwak is a Plains Cree word describing the Metis, meaning "the people who own themselves."

Andrea Currie was born into a Metis family with a strong lineage of warriors, land protectors, writers, artists, and musicians - all of which was lost to her when she was adopted as an infant into a white family with no connection to her people. It was 1960, and the Sixties Scoop was in full swing. Together with her younger adopted brother, also Metis, she struggled through her childhood, never feeling like she belonged in that world. When their adoptions fell apart during their teen years, the two siblings found themselves on different paths, yet they stayed connected. Currie takes us through her journey, from the harrowing time of bone-deep disconnection, to the years of searching and self-discovery, into the joys and sorrows of reuniting with her birth family.

Finding Otipemisiwak weaves lyrical prose, poetry, and essays into an incisive commentary on the vulnerability of Indigenous children in a white supremacist child welfare system, the devastation of cultural loss, and the rocky road some people must walk to get to the truth of who they are. Her triumph over the state's attempts to erase her as an Indigenous person is tempered by the often painful complexities of re-entering her cultural community while bearing the mark of the white world in which she was raised. In Finding Otipemisiwak, one woman's stories about surviving, then thriving as a fully present member of her Nation and the human family are a portal. Readers who walk through will better understand the impact of the Sixties Scoop in the country now called Canada.

Reviews
"Finding Otipemisiwak is a stunning, illuminating, and gutting journey through the life of a Sixties Scoop survivor. Page turning, genre bending, personal and political, staggeringly honest, heartbreaking, and glorious, it is a story of resistance, possibility, healing, and hope, of reclamation and reconciliation. With words to stop you in your tracks, Currie braids together heart, soul, and smarts in memoir, poems, threads of her family histories, the Red and Assiniboine Rivers, unflinching questions, and courage, making herself magnificently vulnerable. This book cuts to the heart of the Sixties Scoop crisis, addresses the intergenerational trauma of not only its survivors but its effects on all of us. It gives us all a chance to relearn the history of Canada and to dream of a healing in it. It is part of the truth-telling change this country so desperately needs." — Camille Fouillard, author of Precious Little

"Finding Otipemisiwak is a beautifully written story of tragedy and triumph, as well as one of escape from a false family into the embrace of a loving one. Threading through Currie's remarkable tale is a heart-wrenching bond between her and her adoptive brother, Rob. This book contains a story that desperately needs to be told." —Frank Macdonald, author of A Forest for Calum

"This book takes on the quality of a great radio documentary, splicing prose, poetry, and actuality as Andrea Currie cross-examines colonization and the story that settler society placed over her like a net. When she comes to know who she and her people are, there is joy and there is sadness, but also truth and belonging, a firm scaffolding as Andrea comes to own herself. Finding Otipemisiwak is a powerful act of resistance and gripping to read. It is a balm. —Shelagh Rogers, founding host and co-creator of The Next Chapter CBC Radio

"Finding Otipemisiwak is a poignant story of self-discovery, weaving Red River Metis heritage with personal narrative and ancestral lore and honouring resilience amidst the Sixties Scoop." —Albert G.D. Beck, Director, Manitoba Metis Federation

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

Matt and Masha hit it off during a theatre research trip in Ukraine. At first they seem like opposites: Masha loves the sea, Matt loves mountains. Masha is Ukrainian, Matt is Métis. But the passionate spark ignited between them cannot be denied. Despite the improbabilities of a cross-continental relationship, a few fairy-tale visits overseas solidifies their bond. But when it seems distance could be the only obstacle in their path, a series of extreme circumstances put their commitment to the ultimate test.

Based on actual events, First Métis Man of Odesa is the extraordinary true story of a whirlwind romance that withstands a global pandemic, a surprise pregnancy, and the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Transcending the usual tropes of documentary theatre, this heartwarming how-we-got-together tale turns art of the here and now into a catalyst for action and a hopeful ode for a better future.

Awards

• 2024 Dora Mavor Moore Award for Outstanding New Play winner

Reviews
“A star-crossed, windswept, war-torn romcom that waltzes back and forth across the threshold that separates dreams from nightmares.” — Ben Waldman, Winnipeg Free Press

“Many of the best tales in the show are so deeply improbable, or so straightforwardly honest, that the plot lines could never have held up as fiction; but as the true stories they are, they triumph.” — Julia Peterson, Saskatoon StarPhoenix

“For all its full-blown drama, First Métis Man of Odesa retains a dreamy charm without ever letting go of the truth.”— Liane Faulder, Edmonton Journal

Additional Information
80 pages | 5.12" x 7.62" | Paperback

From one of the country’s most celebrated new writers, a blistering collection of short fiction that is bracingly relevant, playfully irreverent, and absolutely unforgettable.

There’s a hole in the ozone layer. Are teenage girls to blame?

Floods and wildfires, toxic culture, billionaires in outer space, or a purse-related disaster while on mushrooms—in today’s hellscape world, there’s no shortage of things to worry about. Last Woman, the new collection of short fiction by award-winning author Carleigh Baker, wants you to know that you’re not alone. In these 13 brilliant new stories, Baker and her perfectly-drawn characters are here for you—in fact, they’re just as worried and weirded-out as everyone else.

A woman’s dream of poetic solitude turns out to be a recipe for loneliness. A retiree is convinced that his silence is the only thing that will prevent a deadly sinkhole. An emerging academic wakes up and chooses institutional violence. A young woman finds sisterhood in a strange fertility ritual, and an enigmatic empath is on a cleanse. Baker’s characters are both wildly misguided and a product of the misguided times in which we live. Through them we see our world askew and skewered—and, perhaps, we can begin to see it anew.

Carleigh Baker’s signature style is irreverent, but her heart is true—these stories delve into fear for the future, intergenerational misunderstandings, and the complexities of belonging with sharp wit and boundless empathy. With equal parts compassion and critique, she brings her clear-eyed attention to bear on our world, and the results are hilarious, heartbreaking, and startling in their freshness.

Reviews
“Carleigh Baker’s Last Woman is a knockout. These fifteen stories are probing contemplations on technology, the climate crisis, childhood, adulthood, parenthood, dreams, identity, creativity, and those staggering moments when the uncanny burbles up through the cracks of everyday experience. I gulped these pages in one sitting, but their insights will linger for years to come.”—Michael Christie, author of Greenwood
 
“Carleigh Baker’s Last Woman is a satirical, energetic look at our messed-up world. The stories in this collection ask original, surprising what-if questions, exploring disasters small and large, personal and public, and the past, present, and future of this planet—and beyond. I’m so impressed with Baker’s ability to craft such a range of voices, by turns funny and vulnerable and exuberant and idiosyncratic. These stories are inventive, a little weird, and very, very cool.”—Shashi Bhat, author of The Most Precious Substance on Earth

Additional Information
208 pages | 5.18" x 8.00" | Paperback

This transdisciplinary collection investigates relations of “living and learning with” as compelling forms of engagement and care between humans, nonhumans, and more-than-humans. Through academic and creative writings, contributors address the need for sustainable relationships between various feminist positions, focussing on Indigenous and Black knowledges, queer and trans artistic interventions, and anti-racist methodologies. They pursue crucial conversations on intersecting oppressions, intersubjectivities, voices, and positionalities. Rooted in feminist literary and artistic practices, the volume explores urgent ongoing transnational issues and will benefit scholars in literature, Indigenous studies, intercultural studies, and gender studies.

Contributors: Kim Anderson, Alexandre Baril, Sissel M. Bergh, Marie Carrière, Élise Couture-Grondin, Junie Désil, Amanda Fayant, Mylène Yannick Gamache, Libe García Zarranz, Dominique Hétu, Larissa Lai, Amina Lalor, Sheri Longboat, Brittany Luby, Stephanie Oliver, Anne Quéma, Veronika Schuchter, Erin Soros, Erin Wunker

Reviews
"This groundbreaking collection redefines feminist poetics, offering timely provocations and sophisticated insights. Engaging with critical university studies, Indigenous studies, trans studies, disability studies, and more, it explores ethical encounters and practices of care and reciprocity not just among humans, but beyond the human as well. The diverse yet thematically cohesive contributions highlight poetry’s role in addressing urgent cultural and political issues." - Sarah Dowling, University of Toronto

"Rarely has such an assortment of talented theorists and literary critics been collected to discuss feminist ethics. With essays arising from vigorous scholarly and artistic practices, the work will engage feminists, literary scholars, poets, activists, and scholars of gender and critical race theory." -Deanna Reder, Simon Fraser University

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

Explores the integral roles that Métis women assumed to ensure the survival of their communities during the fur trade era and onward

Métis Matriarchs examines the roles of prominent Métis women from across Western Canada from the late 19th to the mid-20th century, providing a rare glimpse into the everyday lives of these remarkable women who were recognized as Matriarchs and respected for their knowledge, expertise, and authority within their families and communities.

This edited collection provides an opportunity to learn about the significant contributions made by Métis women during a transitional period in Western Canadian history as the fur trade gave way to a more sedentary, industrialized, and agrarian economy. Challenging how we think about Western Canadian settlement processes that removed Indigenous peoples from the land, this collection of stories examines the ways Métis matriarchs responded to colonial and settler colonial interventions into their lives and livelihoods and ultimately ensured the cultural survival of their communities.

Awards

• 2025 Canadian Historical Association Indigenous History Book Prize

Reviews
“A nuanced account of the lives of Métis women and their vital roles as they helped guide their families and communities through generations of transitions.” —Michel Hogue, author of Metis and the Medicine Line

Additional Information
336 pages | 5.00" x 8.00"| Paperback

Reimagining Métis/settler relations through music

What makes music Métis, and who gets to decide? Complex dynamics of recognition, non-recognition, and erasure have played out over a history of Métis music-making, from the Red River Resistance all the way to the present day.

Monique Giroux argues that Métis music reflects broader social relationships, in particular the politics of recognition. Drawing on newspaper articles, archival documents, interviews with Métis and non-Métis musicians, and over a decade of research at cultural festivals, she charts a history of reframings: a changing but problematic relationship whereby settlers define the boundaries of acceptance to assert control over Métis identity and culture. Complicating this narrative, Giroux points to the many ways Métis have resisted settler recognition and erasure – both within mainstream old-time fiddling and at Métis-run events where people have continued to gather, tell stories, and draw on music to rebuild relationships in a time of resurgence.

Métis Music critically examines music as a shifting site of encounter, showing its readers what to listen for, how to learn by listening, and the importance of acting intentionally with the learning gained through listening.

Reviews

Educator Information
Table of Contents
Figures and Tables ix

Preface: Acknowledging Indigenous Presence, Tracing Ancestral Lines xi
1 Recognition, Resurgence, and Ethical Responsiveness 3
2 Fiddle Dance in the Fur Trade and across the Métis Homeland 34
3 Writing Métis Music in Manitoba Newspapers 60
4 Exchange, Multicultural Compartmentalization, and the New Old-Time Style 86
5 Métis Music at Manitoba’s Old-Time Fiddle Competitions 110
6 Cultural Festivals as Recognition and Resurgence 134
7 On Moving from Louis Riel to Li Keur 169
Postlude: Métis Music 203

Notes 209
References 231
Index 255

Additional Information
288 pages | 6.00" x 9.00" | 9 photos, 3 tables | Paperback 

A teacher lesson plan that accompanies the book, My Little Ogichidaa. Includes comprehension questions, group activities, colouring pages, and more. My Little Ogichidaa is inspired by Indigenous motherhood. It invites readers to explore the compelling dreams and hopes of an Indigenous parent for her soon-to-be-born warrior. The word Ogichidaa itself means warrior in Anishinaabemowin, and this beautifully illustrated book is a tribute to Indigenous families everywhere who are proudly raising their children to carry forward their culture, language, and love with resilience, strength, and kindness. This story is proof that despite colonization, our world is full of Indigenous art, beauty, love, and brilliance. Through the eyes of a mother, readers gain insight into the profound bonds of family and community that are central to Indigenous life. This heartwarming and empowering story is a celebration of Indigenous love and the powerful legacy that it creates.

Educator Information
Find the accompanying student book here: My Little Ogichidaa: An Indigenous Lullaby

Additional Information
12 pages | 8.50" x 11.00" | Paper Packet 

The incomparable first-hand account of the historic Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada told by one of the commissioners who led it.

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission was established to record the previously hidden history of more than a century of forced residential schooling for Indigenous children. Marie Wilson helped lead that work as one of just three commissioners. With the skills of a journalist, the heart of a mother and grandmother, and the insights of a life as the spouse of a residential school survivor, Commissioner Wilson guides readers through her years witnessing survivor testimony across the country, providing her unique perspective on the personal toll and enduring public value of the commission. In this unparalleled account, she honours the voices of survivors who have called Canada to attention, determined to heal, reclaim, and thrive.

Part vital public documentary, part probing memoir, North of Nowhere breathes fresh air into the possibilities of reconciliation amid the persistent legacy of residential schools. It is a call to everyone to view the important and continuing work of reconciliation not as an obligation but as a gift.

Reviews
"I found Marie Wilson's North of Nowhere profoundly moving and surprisingly optimistic. With humility and wisdom, she takes us behind the scenes of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. As a non-Indigenous woman long settled in the North, she has a unique viewpoint, and she leavens an account of the traumatic intergenerational impact of residential schools with details from her own personal story. Wilson goes beyond the grief and misery triggered by the Truth aspect of the TRC to suggest the joy and laughter that true Reconciliation can produce in survivors. But reconciliation will be achieved only if we don't look away. North of Nowhere is a powerful book that shifted my perspective, and, thanks to Wilson's lucid prose, helps the rest of us glimpse what is needed." — Charlotte Gray (CM), author of Passionate Mothers, Powerful Sons: The Lives of Jennie Jerome Churchill and Sara Delano Roosevelt

"For anyone wanting a front row seat to the Spirit, the vision, and the mechanics of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, North of Nowhere is definitely it. Commissioner Dr. Marie Wilson recounts and celebrates the courage of everyone involved in one of Canada's most important chapters of coming to terms with residential school Survivors and their families and their communities forever changed with a policy of cultural genocide. I hope everyone reads this and finds their way to support Survivors, their families, and their communities as they continue to reclaim so much of what was stolen. What a profound and riveting read." — Richard Van Camp, author of The Lesser Blessed and Godless but Loyal to Heaven

"The long-matured work of a true elder, this magnificent book is a sober masterpiece of sacred activism. It deserves to be read by everyone aghast at the chaos and cruelty of our world. Its level decency of tone, its lucidity, its determined hope in terrible circumstances both transmit and model those qualities we all now need to build a new world out of the smouldering ashes of the old." — Andrew Harvey, author of The Hope: A Guide to Sacred Activism

"In North of Nowhere, Marie Wilson honours her vow to residential school Survivors to 'do no harm' and to bear witness to and honour their experiences. Marie has achieved her purpose to educate readers and inspire reconciliation and, most importantly, hope. 'I see you. I hear you. I believe you. And I love you'-Marie's words as a Commissioner to Survivors set the tone for this very important book." — Perry Bellegarde, former National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations

"This book is one of the best I've ever read. It made me laugh, get emotional, and helped reset my journey on the role I need to play. As a child of residential school Survivors, I was motivated to continue to learn my language and strengthen my pride as an Indigenous person. Truth must come before reconciliation; this book will empower Canadians to focus on what we can control today when it comes to implementing the Calls to Action. This book advocates for building awareness, understanding, and long-term relationships between Indigenous people and Canadians. If every Canadian reads this book, the Truth and Reconciliation Calls to Action can be achieved." — Cadmus Delorme, former chief of Cowessess First Nation

"Journalist Marie Wilson brings us into the emotion-charged rooms, the sacred spaces of Canada's Truth and Reconciliation hearings. She listens with the heart of a mother, looking into the souls of the adult Survivors standing before her and seeing the children they once were. Though she holds nothing back, in the end this is a triumphant, restorative narrative-a testament to the healing that happens when we share our deepest, darkest truths." — Judy Rodgers, founding director of Images & Voice of Hope, board member of The Peace Studio

"North of Nowhere is the story of a national soul-searching, braided with Dr. Marie Wilson's own personal story and her unique perspective as a Truth and Reconciliation Commissioner. Every page tells a story. This is a book that is bound to ignite dialogue. It has been a catalyst that has been the spark for numerous visits, deep discussions, and reflections, which is why we wanted to write a collective review. Marie's writing had us thinking and talking about the stories, truths, and wisdom shared throughout the pages. Through her writing, Marie elicits emotional and insightful responses that move us along our own journeys of understanding the truth of Canada." — Shelagh Rogers and Monique Gray Smith

"Marie Wilson is the truth keeper entrusted with the accounts of the First Nations, Métis, and Inuit children who went to residential schools, the memories of those who did not make it home and the fate of us all if we do not learn from the past. The savagery of 'civilization' comes into stark relief as children emerge from the pages to awaken the national consciousness and render the TRC Calls to Action imperative." — Cindy Blackstock, executive director, First Nations Child & Family Caring Society

"Beautifully written, Marie Wilson's North of Nowhere is a stunning work of truth, power, and wisdom. An imperative read for all Canadians to understand the layers of shrapnel left by the residential school system that will leave you with emotion and hope. Wilson is an incredibly brilliant and gifted writer." — Angela Sterritt, author of Unbroken: My Fight for Survival, Hope, and Justice for Indigenous Women and Girls

Educator Information
Curriculum Connections: Social Science, Ethnic Studies, Canadian Studies, Indigenous STudies

Additional Information
384 pages | 6.00" x 9.00" | Hardcover

Original People, Original Television is the behind-the-scenes account of a little known revolution in Canadian broadcasting—a journey begun in 1922 with Nanook of the North, wending its way across generations and the width and breadth of the traditional territories of the Inuit, First Nations and Métis; culminating in the 1999 launch of the world’s inaugural Indigenous led broadcast, the Aboriginal Peoples’ Television Network.

Additional Information
282 pages | 9.00" x 6.00" | b&w photos, index, bibliography | Special Edition | Paperback 

The Giller Prize-longlisted author of Avenue of Champions returns with a frenetic, propulsive crime thriller that doubles as a sharp critique of modern activism and challenges readers to consider what “Land Back” might really look like.

Meet Isidore “Ezzy” Desjarlais and Grey Ginther: two distant Métis cousins making the most of Grey’s uncle’s old trailer, passing their days playing endless games of cribbage and cracking cans of cheap beer in between. Grey, once a passionate advocate for change, has been hardened and turned cynical by an activist culture she thinks has turned performative and lazy. One night, though, she has a revelation, and enlists Ezzy, who is hopelessly devoted to her but eager to avoid the authorities after a life in and out of the group home system and jail, for a bold yet dangerous political mission: capture a herd of bison from a national park and set them free in downtown Edmonton, disrupting the churn of settler routine. But as Grey becomes increasingly single-minded in her newfound calling, their act of protest puts the pair and those close to them in peril, with devastating and sometimes fatal consequences.

For readers drawn to the electric storytelling of Morgan Talty and the taut register of Stephen Graham Jones, Conor Kerr’s Prairie Edge is at once a gripping, darkly funny caper and a raw reckoning with the wounds that persist across generations.

Additional Information
272 pages | 5.50" x 8.25" | Paperback

From the author of the nationally bestselling Strangers saga comes a heartrending story of two Michif sisters who must face their past trauma when their mother is called out for false claims to Indigenous identity.

June and her sister, lyn, are NDNs—real ones.

Lyn has her pottery artwork, her precocious kid, Willow, and the uncertain terrain of her midlife to keep her mind, heart and hands busy. June, a Métis Studies professor, yearns to uproot from Vancouver and move. With her loving partner, Sigh, and their faithful pup, June decides to buy a house in the last place on earth she imagined she’d end up: back home in Winnipeg with her family.

But then into lyn and June’s busy lives a bomb drops: their estranged and very white mother, Renee, is called out as a “pretendian.” Under the name (get this) Raven Bearclaw, Renee had topped the charts in the Canadian art world for winning awards and recognition for her Indigenous-style work.

The news is quickly picked up by the media and sparks an enraged online backlash. As the sisters are pulled into the painful tangle of lies their mother has told and the hurt she has caused, searing memories from their unresolved childhood trauma, which still manages to spill into their well-curated adult worlds, come rippling to the surface.

In prose so powerful it could strike a match, real ones is written with the same signature wit and heart on display in The Break, The Strangers and The Circle. An energetic, probing and ultimately hopeful story, real ones pays homage to the long-fought, hard-won battles of Michif (Métis) people to regain ownership of their identity and the right to say who is and isn’t Métis.

Reviews
“With the same artistry and open heart that vermette’s character lyn practices in throwing and displaying her pottery, vermette has crafted real ones to explore—in real time—the traumatic outward rippling effect of a mother’s ethnic fraud on all her relations.” —Michelle Good, author of Five Little Indians and Truth Telling

“A brilliant novel, infused with anger and rich with empathy. In real ones, katherena vermette holds a mirror up to an issue that Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities are all grappling with—the rise of false claims to Indigenous identity. Vermette tells this story like no one else can. By focusing on the relationship between sisters June and lyn (who are Métis on their father’s side) following the public discovery of their own mother’s false claims, vermette offers up an understanding of the way the phenomenon reverberates at the personal and political levels. A healing and eye-opening story, real ones is a must-read.”—Michelle Porter, author of A Grandmother Begins the Story

“With conviction and compassion, vermette shines a light on pretendianism—motivations, tangled emotions, far-reaching consequences—and re-centres collective Métis identity and sovereignty.”—Chantal Fiola, author of Returning to Ceremony: Spirituality in Manitoba Métis Communities

Additional Information
320 pages | 5.50" x 8.25" | Hardcover 

For over twenty years, Nehiyawak-Metis artist and author John Brady McDonald’s day job has been working with youth. Over half of that time was spent as a Frontline Youth Outreach Worker on the streets of Prince Albert, Saskatchewan. During that time, John would write down his thoughts and feelings on scraps of paper and in little black hardcover notebooks, chronicling the struggles and traumas of the youth he worked with and which he himself had also experienced. Never being quite the right fit for his other poetry books, John took these poems and hid them away for years, until now. Recently rediscovered in his archives, John has compiled them, using a 54-year-old typewriter, into a work which gives voice to the experiences and resilience of those youth, along with his own experiences, thoughts and recollections of a poet in the midst of a turbulent moment in time amongst the concrete and asphalt of the city.

Educator & Series Information
This book is part of the Modern Indigenous Voices series.

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

A nuanced, relational, and community-minded new book from one of Canada's preeminent poets.

South Side of a Kinless River wrestles with concepts of Métis identity in a nation and territory that would rather erase it. Métis identity, land loss, sexual relationships between Indigenous women and European men, and midwifery by Indigenous women of the nascent settler communities figure into these poems. They add up to a Métis woman's prairie history, one that helps us feel the violence in how those contributions and wisdoms have been suppressed and denied.

Reviews
"Each poem is an anthem, every page showcasing the talent and necessity of this incredible poetic voice. Dumont brings the Métis tone, cadence and intricate stitch-work into all she creates." - Cherie Dimaline, author of The Marrow Thieves and Empire of the Wild

"The voice of this Métis woman is as loving, tender and humane, as it is powerful, satirical and political..."- Rita Bouvier, author of a beautiful rebellion

Additional Information
80 pages | 5.75" x 8.50" | Paperback 

Respected Elder Elmer Ghostkeeper takes us on a journey of rediscovery where we gain a new perspective on the world we take for granted. Ghostkeeper tells the story of his attempt to reclaim and reawaken to his Indigenous worldview on his own terms with his traditional knowledge intact.

As he returns to his roots, he shares the series of natural signs that have guided his family through time and shaped their ceremonial activities in living with the land rather than off the land. He reveals how to follow the natural ebb and flow of nature with its spiritual exchange of precise and well-thought-out duties and giftings. As a fluent Cree speaker, he names the Cree words for the 12 moons of the year, setting out these traditional duties and preparations. His writing is a breath of fresh reality and air—air free of exhaust and spiritual exhaustion—air filled with spiritual inspiration.

Additional Information
128 pages | 5.25" x 8.25" | Paperback