Books

This art book features artwork by Anishinaabe artist Donna Langhorne.

In the Seven Visions, Anishinaabe artist Donna Langhorne describes to you the meaning behind her seven pieces of artwork. Her visions were inspired by the seven sacred teachings, and draw on contemporary issues affecting Indigenous people.

Diana Frost from Colouring It Forward adds suggestions of activities that you can engage in to do something about these issues and to participate in reconciliation.

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8.5"x11", 24 pages, full colour book

A teacher lesson plan that accompanies the book, The Seventh Direction. Includes comprehension questions, group activities, colouring pages, and more. In this enlightening legend shared by Lakota Elder Kevin Locke, Wakhan Thanka  (The Great Spirit) created the entire world in seven days; leaving the most precious creation for last. In order to protect this precious creation, Wakhan Thanka needed to hide it where it would always be safe and turned to our animal relatives for help. Together, they found the perfect place. Do you know where they chose?

Educator Information
This lesson plan accompanies the book The Seventh Direction: A Legend of Creation.

This lesson plan is available in French: La septième direction Plan de cours 

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12 pages | 8.75" x 11.00" | Paper Packet 

Eli and Morgan embark on a dangerous mission to rescue kidnapped animal beings in this new adventure in the award-winning, Narnia-inspired Indigenous middle-grade fantasy series.

Eli, Morgan and Emily embark on their most dangerous mission yet, to save the kidnapped animal beings of Ministik. But before they can reach the heavily guarded Land of the Sleeping Giant, Eli must rally more help, not just from old friends, but from surprising new allies. And he must rely on a new way to travel: on the back of the leader of the Bird Warriors himself, Pip. Together they will journey across the North Country, on a mission to reconnect the Bird Warriors, as well as confront old enemies. But even as he must fight for his life – and the lives of his friends and new family – Eli must also come to terms with his newfound knowledge: What does it mean that he is only part human?

Educator & Series Information
Recommended for ages 10+.

This is the fifth book in the Misewa Saga. Narnia meets traditional Indigenous stories of the sky and constellations in this epic middle-grade fantasy series from award-winning author David Robertson.

The Misewa Saga series reflects stories of the sky and the constellations held within its great canvas. The word “misewa” is Cree for “all that is” — elders say that what is above is mirrored below, and this is the connection we have with misewa.

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216 pages | 5.50" x 8.25" | Hardcover 

The Spaces In Between examines prospects for the enhanced practice of Indigenous political sovereignty within the Canadian state. As Indigenous rights include the right to self-determination, the book contends that restored practices of Indigenous sovereignty constitute important steps forward in securing better relationships between Indigenous peoples and the Canadian state.

While the Canadian state maintains its position of dominance with respect to the exercise of state sovereignty, Tim Schouls reveals how Indigenous nations are nevertheless carving out and reclaiming areas of significant political power as their own. By means of strategically acquired legal concessions, through hard-fought political negotiations, and sometimes through simple declarations of intent, Indigenous nations have repeatedly compelled the Canadian state to roll back its jurisdiction over them. In doing so, they have enhanced their prospects for political sovereignty within Canada. As such, they now increasingly occupy what Schouls refers to metaphorically as “the spaces in between.”

The book asserts that occupation of these jurisdictional “spaces in between” not only goes some distance in meeting the requirements of Indigenous rights but also contributes to Indigenous community autonomy and well-being, enhancing prospects for reconciliation between Indigenous peoples and the Canadian state.

Reviews
“The Space In Between is a vital resource for understanding how the concept of sovereignty has helped and hindered the Indigenous emancipation project in Canada. Schouls is a gifted educator, who shares his astute insight and considerable knowledge of Indigenous law and politics in a highly accessible and common sense fashion that will be of interest to students, instructors and the broader Canadian public.” — Dimitrios Panagos, Associate Professor of Political Science, Memorial University of Newfoundland

“The Spaces In Between addresses many of the key issues that are most salient in Indigenous–state relations. Tim Schouls presents a good balance between exploring theoretical concepts and examining case studies to contextualize and show how important debates play out in real-world settings. This book will serve as an essential resource for many universities and colleges seeking to build more Indigenous programming and courses, as per the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s recommendations.” — Minh Do, Assistant Professor of Political Science, University of Guelph

“Drawing on a range of themes and issues, The Spaces In Between provides students with a strong academic grounding in Indigenous politics and Indigenous–settler relations. It articulates the ways Indigenous peoples have opened space within Canadian state claims to sovereignty and filled it with their own articulations and practices of sovereignty. Well-written and accessible, this book presents complex information in an eminently readable and engaging way, offering a clear articulation for a possible path forward for Indigenous–settler relations.” — Liam Midzain-Gobin, Assistant Professor of Political Science, Brock University

Educator Information 
Table of Contents
Introduction: Claiming the Spaces In Between
1. Contending Sovereignties: Prospects for Coexistence
2. Identity Politics: Citizenship and Belonging
3. Policy: From Political Sovereigns to Colonial Subjects
4. Policy: Signs of a Post-colonial Reality?
5. The Courts: Colonialism’s Constraints and Sovereignty’s Opportunities
6. Treaties Old: Sharing Lands and Resources
7. Treaties New: Landed Citizenship
8. Self-Government: Incremental Sovereignty
9. Partnerships: Shared Sovereignty, Shared Ventures
Conclusion: Occupying the Spaces In Between
References
Index

Additional Information 
436 pages | 7.50" x 9.25"

In this complex and emotionally resonant novel about a Métis girl living on the Canadian prairies, debut author Jen Ferguson serves up a powerful story about rage, secrets, and all the spectrums that make up a person—and the sweetness that can still live alongside the bitterest truth.

Lou has enough confusion in front of her this summer. She’ll be working in her family’s ice-cream shack with her newly ex-boyfriend—whose kisses never made her feel desire, only discomfort—and her former best friend, King, who is back in their Canadian prairie town after disappearing three years ago without a word.

But when she gets a letter from her biological father—a man she hoped would stay behind bars for the rest of his life—Lou immediately knows that she cannot meet him, no matter how much he insists.

While King’s friendship makes Lou feel safer and warmer than she would have thought possible, when her family’s business comes under threat, she soon realizes that she can’t ignore her father forever.

Reviews
"Debut author Ferguson, who is Métis and White, touches on intergenerational family suffering at the hands of the state, mental health, substance abuse, racism, sexual harassment and assault, and missing and murdered Indigenous women—all with nuance and care. Heart-rending and healing; a winning blend that will leave readers satisfied."— Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

"Young adult readers can relate to the struggles Lou is facing as she navigates her transition from high school to college, and also use them as a conversation starter about race, identity, sexuality, dating, and friendship." — Horn Book (starred review)

"In a layered first-person portrayal of a young Indigenous woman navigating the edge of adulthood, Ferguson (who is Métis and white) tackles necessary issues—of identity and sexuality alongside colonialism, generational trauma, racism, physical and sexual assault, and substance reliance—through well-wrought, complicated characterizations and prose that sings with poetry." — Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"Ferguson’s frank and powerful debut opens readers’ eyes to the multiplicity of daily traumas faced by people of color, especially Indigenous women and girls. Ferguson, herself Michif/Métis and white, boldly writes on many challenging topics, including racism, physical violence, sexual identity, sexual assault, and teen alcohol use. Lou is complex, smart, and honest, and a narrator readers will trust, love, and learn from as she works to repair friendships and gain security for her treasured family." — Booklist (starred review)

Educator Information
Recommended for ages 13+

This book is part of the Heartdrum imprint centers a wide range of intertribal voices, visions, and stories while welcoming all young readers, with an emphasis on the present and future of Indian Country and on the strength of young Native heroes. In partnership with We Need Diverse Books.

Content Warnings for The Summer of Bitter and Sweet: discussion of sexual assault, instances of racism, instances of physical assault, instances of intimate partner abuse, discussions of drug use, discussions of under-aged alcohol use, instances of arson.

Additional Information
384 pages | 5.31" x 8.00" | Paperback

Sascha Stronach’s queer, Maori-inspired Endsong trilogy reopens on a city in flames, where a magic-wielding pirate crew uncovers an age-old fight between the gods that threatens their world.

The steel city of Radovan is consumed by fire between. Stranded in its harbor is the crew of the Kopek, the survivors of a bioterror attack overseas. But they bear scars: their captain, Sibbi, has gone missing; Yat, their newest Weaver, is fighting for control of her own mind; and their Weaving powers are in a badly weakened state.

To disable the technology that prevents the group from escaping, Sen and Kiada must plot their way through the ruins of the foreign capital, which is patrolled by a hostile militia, using wits alone. But to navigate through Radovan, Kiada will have to rely on her own history with the city—one she shares with a band of misfits dubbed Fort Tomorrow and their leader, Ari, a charismatic thief.

Ari may hold the key not only to saving Radovan from complete annihilation, but the history of their world, which will come into play as the gods begin to unleash destruction on humanity and one another.

Educator & Series Information
This book is part of The Endsong series.

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

A Chickasaw woman who can’t catch a break serves up a little white lie that snowballs into much more in this witty and irresistible rom-com by debut author Danica Nava.

Ember Lee Cardinal has not always been a liar—well, not for anything that counted at least. But her job search is not going well and when her resumé is rejected for the thirty-seventh time, she takes matters into her own hands. She gets “creative” listing her qualifications and answers the ethnicity question on applications with a lie—a half-lie, technically. No one wanted Native American Ember, but white Ember has just landed her dream accounting job on Park Avenue (Oklahoma City, that is).

Accountant Ember thrives in corporate life—and her love life seems to be looking up too: Danuwoa Colson, the IT guy and fellow Native who caught her eye on her first day, seems to actually be interested in her too. Despite her unease over the no-dating policy at work, they start to see each other secretly, which somehow makes it even hotter? But when they're caught in a compromising position on a work trip, a scheming colleague blackmails Ember, threatening to expose their relationship. As the manipulation continues to grow, so do Ember’s lies. She must make the hard decision to either stay silent or finally tell the truth, which could cost her everything.

Reviews
“The Truth According to Ember is a truly funny and wonderfully heartfelt comedy of errors with a plucky, lovable heroine I rooted for from page one. Danica Nava is a fresh, exciting new voice in the world of romantic comedies and I can’t wait to see what she does next.”—Emily Henry, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Happy Place

"My heart was in my stomach as I watched Ember weave herself a tangled web and have to figure her way out. Danica Nava's The Truth According to Ember gives us a fresh, relatable heroine in Ember, who has been so focused on helping everyone else that she doesn't always know how to ask for help herself. And Danuwoa! No wonder Ember blushes every time the swoony IT technician tells her to unplug it and plug it back in. This book provided the perfect escape mixed with the perfect amount of grounded reality, bringing the characters to life."—Alicia Thompson, USA Today bestselling author of With Love, from Cold World

"Danica Nava has created a fantastic heroine in Ember Lee Cardinal, whose good heart and determination to do the right thing are as admirable as her occasional lies are understandable...Nava guides Ember along a compelling journey of empowerment while tackling complicated issues of identity, racism, corporate corruption, and the pain and joy that family can bring. And the book is so funny, too! The characters shine, each of them unique and interesting and so real they could step off the page. The Truth According to Ember was a delight from start to finish, and Nava delves into both heartbreaking and life-affirming topics with wit and wisdom. Danica Nava's writing is fresh, funny, and romantic, and I will read anything she writes."—Sarah Hawley, author of A Werewolf's Guide to Seducing a Vampire

“Fresh, funny, and full of heart, The Truth According to Ember delivers a romantic comedy delight. Ember is lovable and laugh-out-loud hilarious, and her journey as she learns to lean into the support of her community, discovers unconditional love, and embraces the power of telling her truth, is wonderfully touching. This is a romance I won’t soon forget.”—Chloe Liese, USA Today bestselling author of Always Only You

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

Threatened by encroaching colonialism, one Métis family struggles to protect their way of life.

In 1869, the arrival of surveyors from the new Dominion of Canada sends ripples of anxiety through the people of Red River. As the Métis Nation begins negotiating terms for joining Confederation, each member of the Rougeau family adapts in their own way: Clément looks outward, trying to maintain his livelihood as a carter, while his wife, Marienne, looks inward, determined to hold their fracturing family together. Julien, the eldest son, joins Louis Riel to confront the same intruders that so impress his sister, Charlotte. As the Red River Resistance unfolds, the consequences of each choice become heartbreakingly clear.

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256 pages | 5.50" x 8.50" | Paperback 

From ancestral healing expert Pānquetzani comes traditional Indigenous wisdom for helping women thrive in, rather than merely survive, the postpartum experience.

Though we now have more resources for ancestral birthing and self-care practices than ever, postpartum care is still largely stuck in an outdated, patriarchal paradigm that fails to serve mothers and newborns. “Slowing down, recovering fully, and giving your baby the best start isn’t a privilege—it’s a basic human need,” says Pānquetzani, a leading expert in Indigenous health care for women. In Thriving Postpartum, she shares the sacred ritual of la cuarentena (or quarantine) that honors, nurtures, and empowers a birthing person’s transition into their new life. Here, you’ll find guidance on:

• Herbal recipes and 25 yerbas for postpartum healing
• Newborn and immediate postpartum care
• Sacred foods in la cuarentena
• Bodywork
• Your emotional body in la cuarentena
• Sex, pleasure, and intimacy postpartum

Pānquetzani teaches this 40-day journey as a spiritual rite of passage, one that has endured colonization and supported women in Mesoamerican, Mexican, and Central American communities. She shares everything you’ll need—from ancestral recipes for lactation and replenishing, to prayers and somatic practices for physical, emotional, and sexual recovery. Through traditional stories and practical guidance, she also helps you engage your support network, become your own best advocate, and lay a healthy foundation for the years to come.

“This wisdom has come from my familia and is a direct inheritance from our collective body of knowledge,” says Pānquetzani. Imparted with love, tenderness, and respect, here is an invitation to participate in a rich tradition that celebrates birth and motherhood as sacred acts of creation.

Reviews
“Thriving Postpartum is imperative to the ancestral healing of all birthing people and their families. Prioritizing Indigenous practices impacts more current social injustices than we even realize—everything from sustainability to the protection and equality of Black and Brown bodies. Pānquetzani’s book is saving lives, one generation at a time.” —Kehlani, activist, home birther, and award-winning singer and songwriter

“This much-needed book brings to light the important and historical knowledge of Mexican Indigenous herbal medicine for women during their postpartum time. Pānquetzani provides a rich, practical, and highly effective guide on how to care for yourself with traditional herbs, body practices, and sacred foods and recipes from her years of experience working with women and expanding on the wisdom of her abuelas. She also lovingly and unflinchingly guides BIPOC new mothers through the variety of emotions that surface during this transition into motherhood to help navigate ancestral and familial wounds, systemic oppression, and relationships and sexuality with a focus on nervous system support and regulation practices. Reading this book will make you feel like Pānquetzani is your doula guiding you along your postpartum journey, reconnecting and empowering you with your sacred heritage. This book is a reclamation and a healing for BIPOC women and a sacred gift to future generations.” —Alisa Vitti, functional nutrition and women’s hormone expert, author of WomanCode and In the FLO, creator of the Cycle Syncing® Method, and founder of FLOliving.com

Additional Information
256 pages | 6.00" x 9.00" | 20 b&w photos | Paperback 

The author of the award-winning memoir Red Paint returns with a razor-sharp, clear-eyed collection of essays on what it means to be a proudly queer indigenous woman in the United States today

Drawing on a rich family archive as well as the anthropological work of her late great-grandmother, Sasha taqʷšəblu LaPointe explores themes ranging from indigenous identity and stereotypes to cultural displacement and environmental degradation to understand what our experiences teach us about the power of community, commitment, and conscientious honesty.

Unapologetically punk, the essays in Thunder Song segue from the miraculous to the mundane, from the spiritual to the physical, as they examine the role of art—in particular music—and community in helping a new generation of indigenous people claim the strength of their heritage while defining their own path in the contemporary world.

Reviews
"Blending beautiful family history with her own personal memories, LaPointe’s writing is a ballad against amnesia, and a call to action for healing, for decolonization, for hope." —Lauren Puckett-Pope, Elle

“It’s a provocative and wonderfully crafted collection exploring cultural legacies, colonialism, and finding your own path forward.” —Susie Dumond, BookRiot

"Lyrical prose elevates LaPointe’s incisive and heartfelt personal reflections. The result is a beautifully rendered snapshot of contemporary American Indigenous life." —Publishers Weekly

"These passionate essays, adamant in their activist pleas, reflect hard-won wisdom, as well as the representative significance of the author’s experiences. Probing and poignant reflections on Indigenous America." —Kirkus Reviews

“Sasha taqʷšəblu LaPointe’s essays in Thunder Song are loud, bold, and startlingly majestic. None of Sasha’s examinations fail to find truth: page after page, the intersections of family, heritage, history, and music build to countless transcendental moments for the reader, which is not only the magic of this book but a clear testament to Sasha’s immense storytelling power. She is a major talent. Thunder Song is masterful and wise, and it will not be forgotten.” ––Morgan Talty, National Bestselling author of Night of the Living Rez

Additional Information
256 pages | 5.36" x 8.30" | Hardcover

A story of the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Úxwumixw (Squamish Nation): past, present, and future.

One hundred years after Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) leadership signed an amalgamation agreement that declared several communities in Squamish territory as one nation, this accessible history of the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh people traces our stories from ancient times to the present. Tiná7 Cht Ti Temíxw: We Come from This Land offers the culmination of generations of knowledge about the Squamish People and Sḵwx̱wú7meshulh Temíx̱w (Squamish People’s Territory).

Today, we are over 4,100 people and growing, living within Sḵwx̱wú7meshulh Temíx̱w and beyond. Our 6,732-square-kilometre territory includes the watersheds of the Squamish River, Mamquam River, and Howe Sound in the north, and English Bay, False Creek, and Burrard Inlet in the south. It encompasses saltwater and rushing rivers, old-growth forests at valley bottoms, and alpine forests high above the ocean.

Oral histories and archaeological sites demonstrate our relationship with the lands and waters going back over twelve thousand years. Here, we introduce ancient Squamish stories and ways, as well as describe relationships with our neighbours from time immemorial. We discuss early contact with Europeans and the disastrous effects of racism and colonialism, the Indian Act, reserves, and residential schools. We detail our engagement with the imperfect tool of the Canadian judicial system in several significant court cases that have advanced Indigenous rights. And we show how the Squamish Nation is taking back ownership and stewardship within our homelands.

Tiná7 Cht Ti Temíxw: We Come from This Land is a powerful introduction to our vast history and a launching point for discovering more about the different places, people, and stories offered here.

Additional Information
416 pages | 6.50" x 9.50" | Paperback

Academia remains an unwelcoming space for Indigenous scholars. What space it does cede to Indigenous knowledge is dictated and narrowly defined. W̱SÁNEĆ scholar Jack Horne, author of TOL, NEW̱ SEN TŦE SOȽ: I Know the Road articulates his own negotiation with academia:

“In response to the question of how I, a W̱SÁNEĆ artist and scholar, use embodied W̱SÁNEĆ knowledge in my artistic and academic work, this book advocates for a move away from standard social sciences theories, methodologies and paradigms while forcefully insisting on a W̱SÁNEĆ paradigm.”

To accomplish this constructive goal, Horne argues, “requires a negotiation of embodied W̱SÁNEĆ knowledge, performance studies theory, and western eurocentric social sciences paradigms.”

Written through beautiful storytelling practices with this goal in mind, TOL, NEW̱ SEN TŦE SOȽ: I Know the Road is thus part personal and cultural history, and part contemporary critique. Horne uses a variety of research, letters, and even fragments from his plays, to create a compelling challenge to outmoded academic structures, proposing an alternative that embraces and tools historically suppressed W̱SÁNEĆ ways of knowing. Not only does Horne’s writing confront white supremacy and anti-Indigenous racism in academia, it offers material alternatives to status quo, white-centric pedagogy. With its focus on W̱SÁNEĆ history and knowledge practices, this book offers a praxis of Indigenous knowledge and performance study theory that delivers a unique and deeply valuable pedagogic project.

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

Design and building concepts that pay respect to the land and empower Indigenous communities across the Northern Hemisphere

An Indigenous-led publication, Towards Home explores how Inuit, Sámi and other communities across the Arctic are creating self-determined spaces. This research project, led by Indigenous and settler coeditors, is titled after the phrases angirramut in Inuktitut, or ruovttu guvlui in Sámi, which can be translated as “towards home.” To move towards home is to reflect on where northern Indigenous people find home, on what their connections to their land means and on what these relationships could look like into the future. Framed by these three concepts—Home, Land and Future—the book contains essays, artworks, photographs and personal narratives that express Indigenous notions of home, land, kinship, design and memory. The project emphasizes caring for and living on the land as a way of being, and celebrates practices of space-making and place-making that empower Indigenous communities.

Educator Information
With contributions from Robyn Adams, Ella den Elzen, Liisa-Rávná Finbog, Napatsi Folger, Carola Grahn, Jenni Hakovirta, Elin Kristine Haugdal, Geronimo Inutiq, Ellen Marie Jensen, Tanya Lukin Linklater, Nicole Luke, Reanna Merasty, Johanna Minde, Joar Nango, Taqralik Partridge, Jocelyn Piirainen, Naomi Ratte, Tiffany Shaw, Sunniva Skålnes, Jen Rose Smith, and Olivia Lya Thomassie

Additional Information
352 pages | 6.75" x 9.50" | 150 Illustrations | Paperback 

Breaks the deafening silence of Indigenous women’s voices in academic leadership positions.

Since the 2015 release of the report on the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, new Indigenous policies have been enacted in universities and a variety of interconnecting Indigenous senior administrative roles have been created. Many of these newly created roles have been filled by Indigenous women. But what does it mean for Indigenous women to be recruited to Indigenize Western institutions that have not undergone introspective, structural change?

Informed by her own experiences and the stories of other Indigenous women working in senior administrative roles in Canadian universities, Candace Brunette-Debassige explores the triple-binding position Indigenous women often find themselves trapped in when trying to implement reconciliation in institutions that remain colonial, Eurocentric, and male-dominated. The author considers too the gendered, emotional labour Indigenous women are tasked with when universities rush to Indigenize without the necessary preparatory work of decolonization.

Drawing on an Indigenous feminist decolonial theoretical lens and positioning Indigenous story as theory, Brunette-Debassige illustrates how Indigenous women can and do preserve and enact their agency through resistance, and help lead deeper transformative changes in Canadian universities. Ultimately, her work provides a model for how reconciliation and Indigenization can be done at an institutional level.

Reviews
“This book helped me make sense of the ‘trickiness’ of my own experiences as an Indigenous woman in Canadian universities.” —Kim Anderson, University of Guelph

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

There is one question Canadians have asked Jody Wilson-Raybould more than any other: What can I do to help advance reconciliation? It is clear that people from all over the country want to take concrete and tan­gible action that will make real change. We just need to know how to get started. This book provides that next step. For Wilson-Raybould, what individuals and organizations need to do to advance true reconciliation is self-evident, accessible, and achievable. True Reconciliation is broken down into three core practices—Learn, Understand, and Act—that can be applied by individuals, communities, organiza­tions, and governments.

The practices are based not only on the historical and con­temporary experience of Indigenous peoples in their relentless efforts to effect transformative change and decolonization, but also on the deep understanding and expertise about what has been effective in the past, what we are doing right, and wrong, today, and what our collective future requires. Fundamental to a shared way of thinking is an understand­ing of the Indigenous experience throughout the story of Canada. In a manner that reflects how work is done in the Big House, True Reconciliation features an “oral” history of these lands, told through Indigenous and non-Indigenous voices from our past and present.

The ultimate and attainable goal of True Reconciliation is to break down the silos we’ve created that prevent meaning­ful change, to be empowered to increasingly act as “inbe­tweeners,” and to take full advantage of this moment in our history to positively transform the country into a place we can all be proud of.

Additional Information
352 pages | 5.17" x 7.99" | Paperback