Autobiographies

An Indigenous artist blends the aesthetics of punk rock with the traditional spiritual practices of the women in her lineage in this bold, contemporary journey to reclaim her heritage and unleash her power and voice while searching for a permanent home.

Sasha taqʷšəblu LaPointe has always longed for a sense of home. When she was a child, her family moved around frequently, often staying in barely habitable church attics and trailers, dangerous places for young Sasha.

With little more to guide her than a passion for the thriving punk scene of the Pacific Northwest and a desire to live up to the responsibility of being the namesake of her beloved great-grandmother—a linguist who helped preserve her Indigenous language of Lushootseed—Sasha throws herself headlong into the world, determined to build a better future for herself and her people.

Set against a backdrop of the breathtaking beauty of Coast Salish ancestral land and imbued with the universal spirit of punk, Red Paint is ultimately a story of the ways we learn to find our true selves while fighting for our right to claim a place of our own.

Examining what it means to be vulnerable in love and in art, Sasha offers up an unblinking reckoning with personal traumas amplified by the collective historical traumas of colonialism and genocide that continue to haunt native peoples. Red Paint is an intersectional autobiography of lineage, resilience, and, above all, the ability to heal.

Awards

• Winner of the 2023 Pacific Northwest Book Award 

Reviews
"Red Paint is a miraculous book. Sasha LaPointe walks us through the sites of her evisceration while rebuilding a home within her body using sturdy materials: rose quartz, cedar bark, red clay, and the words of her ancestors. With each potent sentence, she shows us what access to power looks like. She shows us how to become whole.” —Elissa Washuta, author of White Magic

"As luminous as the morning sun over the fir forests, Red Paint is a story of where strength takes us. Sasha taqwšəblu LaPointe goes looking to the past to help heal from terrible traumas, finding inspiration in her ancestors, the Salish people. This is a book destined to be a classic. Read it." —Rene Denfeld, bestselling author of The Child Finder

Additional Information
240 pages | 5.01" x 8.00" | Paperback

Stephen Kakfwi was born in a bush camp on the edge of the Arctic Circle in 1950. In a family torn apart by tuberculosis, alcohol and the traumas endured by generations in residential school, he emerged as a respected Dene elder and eventually the Premier of the Northwest Territories.

Stephen belongs to a cohort of young northerners who survived the childhood abuses of residential school only to find themselves as teenagers in another residential school where one Oblate father saw them as the next generation of leaders, and gave them the skills they would need to succeed. Kakfwi, schooled on civil rights and 1960s protest songs, dedicated himself to supporting chiefs in their claim to land that had been taken away from them and in their determination to seize control of the colonial political system.

Kakfwi’s life has been a series of diverse endeavours, blending traditional Dene practices with the daily demands of political office—hunting moose one day and negotiating with European diamond merchants the next. Throughout his career, Kakfwi understood that he held the power to make change—sometimes he succeeded, sometimes he did not. But he also embraced the power of story-telling, and has helped change the story of the North.

Kakfwi combines his remarkable memory for detail with his compelling raconteur’s skill in taking us through the incredible story of his life and one of the most transformative times in Canadian history. In his candid description of the loneliness of leadership and his embrace of Dene spirituality, Kakfwi’s Stoneface transforms politics into philosophy and an intensely personal guide to reconciliation.

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

Mi’kmaw artists are creating a wide range of imaginative and beautiful work using the skills and traditions of basketry weaving given to them by their elders and ancestors. In this book, nine artists present their work and their stories in their own words. Their unique artistic practices reflect their relationships to the natural world around them and their abilities to create unique and beautiful objects using a mix of traditional and contemporary materials and forms.

Each artist's account of their background and practice is introduced by editor shalan joudry. Their words stand alongside examples of their art, photographed in their studios by Holly Brown Bear.

This book is a milestone in creating awareness of and celebrating a group of important contemporary artists working today in Mi’kma'ki, the traditional territory which embraces Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and portions of Quebec.

Featured artists:

• Peter Clair, Elsipogtog First Nation, New Brunswick.
• Virick Francis, Eskasoni First Nation, Nova Scotia.
• Stephen Jerome, Gesgapegiag, Quebec.
• Della Maguire, Glooscap First Nation, Nova Scotia.
• Frank Meuse, L'sittkuk First Nation (Bear River), Nova Scotia.
• Margaret Peltier, We'koqma'q First Nation, Nova Scotia.
• Sandra Racine, Elsipogtog First Nation, New Brunswick.
• Nora Richard, Lennox Island, Prince Edward Island.
• Ashley Sanipass, Indian Island, New Brunswick.

Additional Information
10.00" x 8.03" | Paperback | 100+ Colour Photographs 

Hailed as a contemporary classic of oral literature, The Days of Augusta is Shuswap elder Augusta Evans’ memories of a lifetime that spanned from 1888 to 1978.

Accompanied by Robert Keziere’s intimate photographs, Augusta’s rhythmic prose reads like poetry. She depicts with strength and eloquence her own story—her days at the Mission School, making baskets and catching salmon, the pain of giving birth and the death of a son—as well as the legends and stories of events told to her—a stagecoach robbery, a woman who was the prisoner of a bear. First printed in 1973, Augusta’s story continues to be a fascinating glimpse into the past, with throughlines to the present.

Additional Information
80 pages | 8.00" x 9.00"| 25 b&w photos | Paperback

Named a Most Anticipated Book of 2023 by The Millions

A vibrant new voice blends Native folklore and the search for identity in a fierce debut work of personal history.

Leah Myers may be the last member of the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe in her family line, due to her tribe’s strict blood quantum laws. In this unflinching and intimate memoir, Myers excavates the stories of four generations of women in order to leave a record of her family. Beginning with her great-grandmother, the last full-blooded Native member in their lineage, she connects each woman with her totem to construct her family’s totem pole: protective Bear, defiant Salmon, compassionate Hummingbird, and perched on top, Raven.

As she pieces together their stories, Myers weaves in tribal folktales, the history of the Native genocide, and Native mythology. Throughout, she tells the larger story of how, as she puts it, her “culture is being bleached out,” offering sharp vignettes of her own life between White and Native worlds: her naive childhood love for Pocahontas, her struggles with the Klallam language, the violence she faced at the hands of a close White friend as a teenager.

Crisp and powerful, Thinning Blood is at once a bold reclamation of one woman’s identity and a searingly honest meditation on heritage, family, and what it means to belong.

Reviews"
[A] searing debut…Myers's fierce testimony is both record and reclamation of [family] history, told beautifully and simply. Any family would be lucky to have their story handled with this much care."—Publishers Weekly

"A quietly elegiac memoir that could serve as an enduring historical document."—Kirkus Reviews

"This powerful, memorable debut runs hot with Leah Myers’s fierce intelligence. She admirably interrogates her relationship to identity, her place in her family’s history, and the future of her people—and demands a long-delayed justice."—Matt Bell, author of Appleseed

"Thinning Blood is a powerful testament to the power of storytelling. It is both personal and historical, factual and deeply imaginative. Leah Myers is an honest and passionate witness to the culture and people that produced her. Her essays pay tribute to the complexity of memory, and the tenacity of experience." —Emily Bernard, author of Black Is the Body

"In this powerful debut, Leah Myers reveals with unvarnished honesty something that so often remains unspoken: what it feels like to teeter on the edge of identity, to face down the specter of erasure and a dwindling sense of self. By reconstructing family history and myth, she uncovers old foundations and builds a new home atop them, throwing its doors open, miraculously, to all of us."—Francisco Cantú, author of The Line Becomes a River

Additional Information
176 pages | 5.71" x 8.54" | Hardcover

The long-awaited collection of talks, presentations, prayers, and ceremonies of renowned Mi'kmaw Elder, human rights activist, and language and culture warrior, Sister Dorothy Moore.

Mi'kmaw Elder Sister Dorothy Moore has spent a lifetime advocating for the rights of her people. As a well-known educator and a survivor of the Shubenacadie Indian Residential School, she has broken down systemic barriers, leading the Mi'kmaq to access all levels of education, and worked tirelessly to reclaim and promote Indigenous ways of knowing and being.

In A Journey of Love and Hope, Sister Dorothy's words are collected in print, as she originally spoke them, for the first time. Included are speeches, talks, presentations, and ceremonies delivered between 1985 and 2015 to universities, government departments, and Indigenous organizations and gatherings. Thematic sections include Culture and Language, Spirituality, Racism, Education, and Prayers and Ceremonies, framed by Ikantek (introductions) from well-known Mi'kmaw writers and educators, as well as an Associate Sister of the Sisters of St Martha.

Sister Dorothy's talks and presentations will inspire and serve to disrupt the dominant narratives of complex Indigenous issues such as colonialism, oppression, racism, and discrimination. A Journey of Love and Hope gives a voice to Mi'kmaw lived experiences and provides a valuable resource for use in schools, postsecondary education institutions, and communities. Her words are an inspiration to all Treaty people.

Features original illustrations by celebrated Mi'kmaw artist Gerald Gloade and appendices, including a complete list of Sister Moore's talks and presentations and a timeline of life events.

Additional Information
184 pages | 6.00" x 9.00" | Hardcover | Colour photo insert

Autobiography as Indigenous Intellectual Tradition critiques ways of approaching Indigenous texts that are informed by the Western academic tradition and offers instead a new way of theorizing Indigenous literature based on the Indigenous practice of life writing.

Since the 1970s non-Indigenous scholars have perpetrated the notion that Indigenous people were disinclined to talk about their lives and underscored the assumption that autobiography is a European invention. Deanna Reder challenges such long held assumptions by calling attention to longstanding autobiographical practices that are engrained in Cree and Métis, or nêhiyawak, culture and examining a series of examples of Indigenous life writing. Blended with family stories and drawing on original historical research, Reder examines censored and suppressed writing by nêhiyawak intellectuals such as Maria Campbell, Edward Ahenakew, and James Brady. Grounded in nêhiyawak ontologies and epistemologies that consider life stories to be an intergenerational conduit to pass on knowledge about a shared world, this study encourages a widespread re-evaluation of past and present engagement with Indigenous storytelling forms across scholarly disciplines

Educator Information
Table of Contents

Trailblazer. Residential school Survivor. First Treaty Indigenous player in the NHL. All of these descriptions are true--but none of them tell the whole story.

Fred Sasakamoose, torn from his home at the age of seven, endured the horrors of residential school for a decade before becoming one of 120 players in the most elite hockey league in the world. He has been heralded as the first Indigenous player with Treaty status in the NHL, making his official debut as a 1954 Chicago Black Hawks player on Hockey Night in Canada and teaching Foster Hewitt how to pronounce his name. Sasakamoose played against such legends as Gordie Howe, Jean Beliveau, and Maurice Richard. After twelve games, he returned home.

When people tell Sasakamoose's story, this is usually where they end it. They say he left the NHL to return to the family and culture that the Canadian government had ripped away from him. That returning to his family and home was more important to him than an NHL career. But there was much more to his decision than that. Understanding Sasakamoose's choice means acknowledging the dislocation and treatment of generations of Indigenous peoples. It means considering how a man who spent his childhood as a ward of the government would hear those supposedly golden words: "You are Black Hawks property."

Sasakamoose's story was far from over once his NHL days concluded. He continued to play for another decade in leagues around Western Canada. He became a band councillor, served as Chief, and established athletic programs for kids. He paved a way for youth to find solace and meaning in sports for generations to come. Yet, threaded through these impressive accomplishments were periods of heartbreak and unimaginable tragedy--as well moments of passion and great joy.

This isn't just a hockey story; Sasakamoose's groundbreaking memoir sheds piercing light on Canadian history and Indigenous politics, and follows this extraordinary man's journey to reclaim pride in an identity and a heritage that had previously been used against him.

Reviews
“Fred Sasakamoose played in the NHL before First Nations people had the right to vote in Canada. This page turner will have you cheering for “Fast Freddy” as he faces off against huge challenges both on and off the ice—a great gift to every proud hockey fan, Canadian, and Indigenous person.”—Wab Kinew, Leader of the Manitoba NDP and author of The Reason You Walk

“Call Me Indian needs to be in every library and on every school curriculum in Canada. Fred Sasakamoose’s story is gripping and powerfully told—a story of triumph and tragedy, of great success and the perils of excess. There is laughter and tears here aplenty, but also inspiration. Characters as large as Gordie Howe and Bobby Hull are easily matched by the likes of Moosum, Freddy’s grandfather; Father Roussel, the only good to be found in residential school; George Vogan, who always believed in Fred—and Loretta, who loved him, gave him family, and ultimately saved him.”—Roy MacGregor, bestselling author of Chief: The Fearless Vision of Billy Diamond and Canadians: Portrait of a Country

Additional Information
288 pages | 5.20" x 7.94" | 8 pp 4/c photo insert

Meg Masters assisted Fred in writing his memoir.  She is a Toronto-based writer and editor who has worked with many bestselling Canadian authors.

Conversations with Khahtsahlano, 1932–1954 contains twenty-two years of conversations between Sḵwx̱uwú7mesh Chief X̱ats’alanexw, a.k.a. Chief August Jack Khahtsahlano, and Major J.S. Matthews. Originally published in 1955 by the Vancouver City Archives, Conversations with Khahtsahlano received a limited publication and is reproduced here in facsimile.

Chief X̱ats’alanexw’s reminiscences travel as far back as 1881. He recounts neighbourhood tales, the Traditional Stories he grew up with, local genealogies, cultural histories, and detailed accounts of practices for everything from fishing sturgeon to building houses. Knowledgeable and forthcoming, Chief X̱ats’alanexw’s recollections weave a meticulous tapestry.

After centuries of violent erasure of Indigenous world views, here is a rare first-hand account detailing traditional life of the Coast Salish peoples, an insightful record rich with art, diagrams, maps, letters, and photographs. Chief X̱ats’alanexw’s observations give shape to the social and physical changes of the region, and offer an illuminating glimpse into so-called Vancouver in its infancy. Conversations with Khahtsahlano is an essential text that brings history indelibly to life.

This facsimile reprint is a co-production by Talonbooks and Massy Books.

Reviews
“Chief X̱ats’alanexw provides incredible insight into the history, culture, and lifestyle of our peoples. His descriptive accounts help readers to visualize our historical villages around k’emk’emeláy̓, learn how we’ve thrived off our lands for millennia and understand how we were forcibly removed from them during colonization.”—Syex̱wáliya Ann Whonnock, Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Úxwumixw Councillor and grandniece of Chief X̱ats’alanexw

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

Horses in the Sand is a collection of stories that document a queer woman's journey from her sparse beginnings as a child to becoming a tradeswoman, teacher, and artist. With courage, humour, and frank honesty, the stories describe what it was like to grow up as a girl who was starkly different from "normal" and how "coming out" became a lifelong process of self-acceptance and changing identities. The stories also speak to the difficulties in participating in and maintaining healthy adult relationships when childhood beginnings are rooted in violence and trauma, and end with a triumphant account of fulfilling a long-time dream of buying land and building a home with her own hands. Ultimately, the memoir is a celebration of making art, telling stories, and of finding her birth father, a family of half-siblings, and an Indigenous community whose presence she had always felt, but never knew she belonged to.

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

Born at a traditional Inuit camp in what is now Nunavut, Joan Scottie has spent decades protecting the Inuit hunting way of life, most famously with her long battle against the uranium mining industry. Twice, Scottie and her community of Baker Lake successfully stopped a proposed uranium mine. Working with geographer Warren Bernauer and social scientist Jack Hicks, Scottie here tells the history of her community’s decades-long fight against uranium mining.

Scottie's I Will Live for Both of Us is a reflection on recent political and environmental history and a call for a future in which Inuit traditional laws and values are respected and upheld. Drawing on Scottie’s rich and storied life, together with document research by Bernauer and Hicks, their book brings the perspective of a hunter, Elder, grandmother, and community organizer to bear on important political developments and conflicts in the Canadian Arctic since the Second World War.

In addition to telling the story of her community’s struggle against the uranium industry, I Will Live for Both of Us discusses gender relations in traditional Inuit camps, the emotional dimensions of colonial oppression, Inuit experiences with residential schools, the politics of gold mining, and Inuit traditional laws regarding the land and animals. A collaboration between three committed activists, I Will Live for Both of Us provides key insights into Inuit history, Indigenous politics, resource management, and the nuclear industry.

Reviews
“I Will Live for Both of Us is the first-hand account of an incredible woman’s resistance to uranium mining in her region specifically, but it is also a detailed description of the history of colonialism in the Kivalliq region, and the past and present structures that perpetuate colonialism. It shines a light on the critical activism that has been happening in this region over the course of decades.” — Willow Scobie

"I Will Live for Both of Us offers a unique and important contribution to our understanding of the history and contemporary debates around mining in the Canadian North. It foregrounds the voice and activism of an Inuk woman, Joan Scottie, and documents her long struggle against the incursions of uranium mining in the Kivalliq Region of Nunavut. Written accessibly it will appeal to readers interested in the North, Indigenous issues, and industrial development.” — Arn Keeling

Educator Information
Table of Contents
Ch 1: Growing Up on the Land
Ch 2: Qallunaat, Moving to Town, and Going to School
Ch 3: Uranium Exploration, Petitions, and a Court Case
Ch 4: Kiggavik Round One, the Urangesellschaft Proposal
Ch 5: The Nunavut Agreement and Gold Mining Near Baker Lake
Ch 6: Uranium Policy in Nunavut
Ch 7: Kiggavik Round Two, the AREVA Proposal
Ch 8: Protecting the Land and the Caribou
Conclusion

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

A first-hand account of a Swampy Cree boy’s experiences growing up in the Saskatchewan River Delta, one of the world’s largest inland deltas and one of North America’s most important ecosystems.

Depicting an Indigenous lifestyle that existed in Northern Saskatchewan way past the Fur Trade era, Ken Carriere shares his first-hand account of experiences as a young boy helping his father trapping, fishing, and hunting in the Saskatchewan River Delta.

Opimōtēwina wīna kapagamawāt Wītigōwa / Journeys of The One to Strike the Wetigo contains interviews with elders, stories, personal photographs, and poetry, along with some original Swampy Cree translations.

Creating a vivid portrait of what it was like to live off the land, Carriere also reveals how hydro-electric dams and other Western endeavours have impacted the livelihoods of so many Northern communities.

Reviews
"Wow! This is an excellent resource for those engaged in, or interested in, land-based education. It gives a wonderful, engaging account of living on the land in the past and, to some extent, in the present day. It's also a good resource for N-dialect speakers." —Solomon Ratt, author of The Way I Remember and Beginning Cree

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

A wildfire of a debut memoir by internationally recognized French/Cree/Iroquois journalist Brandi Morin set to transform the narrative around Indigenous Peoples.

Brandi Morin is known for her clear-eyed and empathetic reporting on Indigenous oppression in North America. She is also a survivor of the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls crisis and uses her experience to tell the stories of those who did not survive the rampant violence. From her time as a foster kid and runaway who fell victim to predatory men and an oppressive system to her career as an internationally acclaimed journalist, Our Voice of Fire chronicles Morin’s journey to overcome enormous adversity and find her purpose, and her power, through journalism. This compelling, honest book is full of self-compassion and the purifying fire of a pursuit for justice.

Reviews
"Our Voice Of Fire is a searingly honest, thought-provoking, and ultimately empowering exploration of pain and the quest for justice. By sharing her stories with the world, Brandi Morin makes a beautiful proclamation that there can be a hopeful path through trauma without diminishing the significance of the trauma itself, both personal and intergenerational. These are stories that need to be told and stories that need to be read." — Dan Levy

"Brandi Morin is one of the most important Indigenous journalists and warriors of our time. Her raw, honest, and beautifully written story of her experiences, trauma, reliance, and perseverance is a must-read for all." — Crystal Echo Hawk, founder and executive director, IllumiNative

Additional Information
224 pages | 5.00" x 7.50" | Paperback

An Indigenous artist blends the aesthetics of punk rock with the traditional spiritual practices of the women in her lineage in this bold, contemporary journey to reclaim her heritage and unleash her power and voice while searching for a permanent home.

Sasha taqʷšəblu LaPointe has always longed for a sense of home. When she was a child, her family moved around frequently, often staying in barely habitable church attics and trailers, dangerous places for young Sasha.

With little more to guide her than a passion for the thriving punk scene of the Pacific Northwest and a desire to live up to the responsibility of being the namesake of her beloved great-grandmother—a linguist who helped preserve her Indigenous language of Lushootseed—Sasha throws herself headlong into the world, determined to build a better future for herself and her people.

Set against a backdrop of the breathtaking beauty of Coast Salish ancestral land and imbued with the universal spirit of punk, Red Paint is ultimately a story of the ways we learn to find our true selves while fighting for our right to claim a place of our own.

Examining what it means to be vulnerable in love and in art, Sasha offers up an unblinking reckoning with personal traumas amplified by the collective historical traumas of colonialism and genocide that continue to haunt native peoples. Red Paint is an intersectional autobiography of lineage, resilience, and, above all, the ability to heal.

Awards

• Winner of the 2023 Pacific Northwest Book Award 

Reviews
"Red Paint is a miraculous book. Sasha LaPointe walks us through the sites of her evisceration while rebuilding a home within her body using sturdy materials: rose quartz, cedar bark, red clay, and the words of her ancestors. With each potent sentence, she shows us what access to power looks like. She shows us how to become whole.” —Elissa Washuta, author of White Magic

"As luminous as the morning sun over the fir forests, Red Paint is a story of where strength takes us. Sasha taqwšəblu LaPointe goes looking to the past to help heal from terrible traumas, finding inspiration in her ancestors, the Salish people. This is a book destined to be a classic. Read it." —Rene Denfeld, bestselling author of The Child Finder

Additional Information
240 pages | 5.31" x 8.29" | Hardcover

Collected wisdoms, reflections and stories from Indigenous Elder Naanii Nora of the Haida Nation.

So You Girls Remember That is an oral history of a Haida Elder, Naanii Nora, who lived from 1902 to 1997. A collaborative effort, this project was initiated and guided by Charlie Bellis and Maureen McNamara and was years in the making. The resulting book, compiled by Jenny Nelson, is a window into Nora’s life and her family—from the young girl singing all day in the canoe, bossing her brothers around or crossing Hecate Strait on her dad’s schooner, to the young woman making her way in the new white settlers’ town up the inlet, with music always a refrain—these are stories of childhood; of people and place, seasons and change; life stages and transitions such as moving and marriage; and Haida songs and meanings.

This book also contains the larger story of Nora’s times, a representation of changing political relationships between Canada and the Haida people and a personal part of the Haida tale.

What ultimately shines through is Nora’s singular and dynamic voice speaking with the wisdom of years. For example, on giving advice she says: “I like to give anybody advice because when you’re young you don’t know nothing on this world. What’s coming; what’s going … You have to remember it’s a steep hill; you’re right on the top. You slide down anytime if you don’t be careful.”

This is a work of great generosity, expressing Nora’s spirit of living—her joy, humour, spirituality and resourcefulness; her love of children, music and social life; her kindness, strong will and creativity; and her spirit that has nurtured a community and endures to this day.

Royalties will be donated to the Carl Hart Legacy Trust through the Haida Gwaii Community Foundation, to support the Rediscovery Camp at T'aalan Stl'ang.

Reviews
"You can tell if someone has ever met Naanii Nora Brown Bellis Yahgulanaas as the mere mention of her name will make them smile." –Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas, author of Carpe Fin: A Haida Manga

"Reading my Nanny’s stories in So You Girls Remember That, filled me with emotions. It brought me back to Nanny’s strong warm hugs and her cheeky demeanor, memories of her cluttered house and all the time spent with her. As a Haida, and a father, I worry about the rapidly advancing world, where we are now and where we’re heading. Nanny has laid the blueprint for tackling such worries. Her words remind us to always believe in ourselves, and that love of family and community are essential, not only for survival but also for the flourishing of love, laughter and music." –Tyler Hugh Charlie Bellis, played the melodica in grades 6 and 7 at Tahayghen elementary school

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