Indigenous Peoples in Canada

Iskotew Iskwew/Fire Woman is a poetry collection written during a period of trauma while the author was working as a Counsel to the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls in 2017. This book is about memories and experiences growing up on the Pelican Narrows Reserve in northern Saskatchewan in the 1980s: summers spent on the land and the pain of residential school. With this collection, the author wants to teach and inform Canadians of her experiences growing up as an Indigenous woman in Saskatchewan. She believes it is important to share her stories for others to read.

Additional Information
104 pages | 5.50" x 8.50"

An intriguing look at the accomplishments and contradictions of Joseph William McKay, best known as the founder of Nanaimo, BC, and one of the most successful Métis men to rise through the ranks of the Hudson’s Bay Company in the late nineteenth century.

When examining the history of British Columbia, one would be hard-pressed to find an Indigenous person who so successfully navigated the echelons of colonial power as did Joseph William McKay (1829–1900). McKay was Métis, born in Quebec, and began his career in Oregon during the dispute over the international boundary in 1845–46. After moving north, he met his mentor James Douglas and, at age twenty-three, was given the job of building the city of Nanaimo from the ground up and establishing its coal mines.

McKay made several exploratory trips with Douglas during the Gold Rush, and he surveyed the route for the Overland Telegraph, which ran throughout BC. He rose through the ranks of the Hudson’s Bay Company, eventually earning the appointment of Chief Factor, the company’s highest rank. This was at a time when few Indigenous employees of HBC were permitted to rise beyond the rank of postmaster.

After leaving the company in 1878, McKay began a second career in the Department of Indian Affairs. He was a federal Indian Agent and later the Assistant Commissioner of Indian Affairs for British Columbia. A product of his time who had found personal success working within the colonial system, McKay is a complicated figure when viewed through a twenty-first-century lens. He advocated on behalf of Indigenous Peoples when he tried to prevent the trespass of CPR crews and European settlers on their ancestral land. Between 1886 and 1888, he personally inoculated more than a thousand Indigenous people with the smallpox vaccine. Yet, he also participated in a system that did untold harm to First Nations, Métis, and Inuit people. This fascinating new biography sheds light on an accomplished and complex man.

Additional Information
224 pages | 6.00" x 9.00" | B&W Photo Sections | Paperback 

A collection of narratives as told in the nêhiyawêwin (Cree) language by Elder Mary Louise Rockthunder, spanning her rich life and extensive knowledge of her traditions and culture.

Mary Louise (née Bangs) Rockthunder, wêpanâkit, was an Elder of Cree, Saulteaux, and Nakoda descent. Born in 1913, raised and married at nēhiyawipwātināhk / Piapot First Nation, Mary Louise, a much-loved storyteller, speaks of her memories, stories, and knowledge, revealing her personal humility and her deep love and respect for her family and her nêhiyawêwin language and culture. 
 
The recordings that are transcribed, edited, and translated for this book are presented in three forms: Cree syllabics, standard roman orthography (SRO) for Cree, and English. A full Cree-English glossary concludes the book, providing an additional resource for those learning the nêhiyawêwin language.

Educator & Series Information
This book is part of the Our Own Words series. Our Own Words is a new Indigenous language series that seeks to present longer, more extensive Indigenous texts for both intermediate and advanced learners of the language.

Additional Information
264 pages | 6.00" x 9.00" | Translated by Jean L. Okimasis and Arok Wolvengrey | Paperback

Pawaminikititicikiw, Wilfred Buck, is an Ininew / Cree, Knowledge and Dream Keeper of the Opaskwayak Cree Nation of Northern Manitoba. He is the author of Tipiskawi Kisik: Night Sky Star stories, and I Have Lived Four Lives, a memoir. Kitcikisik (Great Sky) features Indigenous Star Knowledge and is the second edition of Tipiskawi Kisik.

Educator Information
Recommended by the publisher for grades 7+

Additional Information
86 Pages

The Neyhiyawak (Plains Cree) word "Kitotam" translates into English as, "He Speaks to It." This is a collection of free-verse poetry by Indigenous poet and artist John McDonald. Written in two parts, these poems chronicle John's life and experiences as an urban Indigenous youth during the 1980s. The second half of the book is a look into the inspirations and events, that shaped John's career as an internationally known spoken word artist, beat poet, monologist and performance artist.

Additional Information
88 pages | 5.50" x 8.50"

I have to believe my account will outpace its ending.

The danger and necessity of living with each other is at the core of Liz Howard’s daring and intimate second collection. Letters in a Bruised Cosmos asks who do we become after the worst has happened? Invoking the knowledge histories of Western and Indigenous astrophysical science, Howard takes us on a breakneck river course of radiant and perilous survival in which we are invited to “reforge [ourselves] inside tomorrow’s humidex”. Everyday observation, family history, and personal tragedy are sublimated here in a propulsive verse that is relentlessly its own. Part autobiography, part philosophical puzzlement, part love song, Letters in a Bruised Cosmos is a book that once read will not soon be forgotten.

Reviews
“Liz Howard’s Letters in a Bruised Cosmos stands as yet another masterpiece of orality and temporality in the blossoming oeuvre that is her poetic arena. We traverse through webbed histories, a multiplicity of singing bodies: human, non-human, father, lover, lake, land, galactic. Howard’s ability to unearth creation and trickster from beneath the rubble of canonic and catatonic poetics is a miracle in the making. It is no surprise to be met with yet again grace and fury in Letters in a Bruised Cosmos—as Howard has demonstrated time and time again, she is a divining starwalker of a poet.” —Joshua Whitehead, author of Jonny Appleseed
 
“In Letters in a Bruised Cosmos, Liz Howard makes sentences with the elegance and mystery of a sculptor. Howard’s aesthetic mode is a beautiful synthesis of feminist, anti-colonial, and post-structural traditions of critique and re-imagination that is singularly hers. I read each poem with the faith that I would land somewhere I couldn’t have known existed until I opened this book. That’s the mark of poetic genius. I loved this book with my whole body.” —Billy-Ray Belcourt, author of A History of My Brief Body

Additional Information
80 pages | 5.75" x 8.50"

Literatures, Communities, and Learning: Conversations with Indigenous Writers gathers nine conversations with Indigenous writers about the relationship between Indigenous literatures and learning, and how their writing relates to communities.

Relevant, reflexive, and critical, these conversations explore the pressing topic of Indigenous writings and its importance to the well-being of Indigenous Peoples and to Canadian education. It offers readers a chance to listen to authors’ perspectives in their own words.

This book presents conversations shared with nine Indigenous writers in what is now Canada: Tenille Campbell, Warren Cariou, Marilyn Dumont, Daniel Heath Justice, Lee Maracle, Sharron Proulx-Turner, David Alexander Robertson, Richard Van Camp, and Katherena Vermette. Influenced by generations of colonization, surrounded by discourses of Indigenization, reconciliation, appropriation, and representation, and swept up in the rapid growth of Indigenous publishing and Indigenous literary studies, these writers have thought a great deal about their work.

Each conversation is a nuanced examination of one writer’s concerns, critiques, and craft. In their own ways, these writers are navigating the beautiful challenge of storying their communities within politically charged terrain. This book considers the pedagogical dimensions of stories, serving as an Indigenous literary and education project.

Educator Information
Educators teaching Indigenous literatures will be interested in this book as a resource / topical.

Introduction addresses controversies such as appropriation and debates around authors such as Joseph Boyden gives Indigenous writers an opportunity to address direct questions around why writing matters to them and their communities.

Table of Contents
Acknowledgements
Introduction: Writing-in-Relation
“Being able to tell stories from the North” / A Conversation with Richard Van Camp
“It starts from a place of knowledge and truth” / A Conversation with David Alexander Robertson
“I realized that I could write what I see” / A Conversation with Katherena Vermette
“It comes back to relationship” / A Conversation with Warren Cariou
“That’s the purpose of story” / A Conversation with Lee Maracle
“I hope my writing can help others” / A Conversation with Sharron Proulx-Turner
“Indigenous literatures matter” / A Conversation with Daniel Heath Justice
“A beautiful bomb” / A Conversation with Tenille Campbell
“To write myself back into visibility” / A Conversation with Marilyn Dumont
Conclusion: Listening to Writers
Notes
Bibliography

Additional Information
200 pages | 6.00" x 9.00"

Little Red Warrior is the last remaining member of the Little Red Warrior First Nation. One day, he discovers a development company has begun construction on his ancestral lands. In a fit of rage, Little Red attacks one of the engineers and is arrested for assault and trespassing on his own lands. In jail he meets his court-appointed lawyer, Larry, who agrees to help Little Red get his lands back. Larry convinces his wife, Desdemona, to allow Little Red to move into their basement while they sort out Red’s case. Desdemona and Red strike up an uneasy relationship. When Red notices that one of Desdemona’s eyes is slightly lazy she becomes increasingly neurotic, convinced that Little Red is up to something. Despite herself Desdemona, who is not accustomed to being thrown off her game, is increasingly drawn to Red’s apparently hypnotic Indigenous charisma. As sparks begin to fly between them Larry prepares to fight for Little Red’s Land Rights. An unexpected intervention by a greater power occurs in the court case, and nothing will ever be the same.

Educator Information
Cast of one Indigenous man; two settler men; one settler woman; and one male, female, or non-binary person in drag.

Additional Information
96 pages | 5.50" x 8.50"

PLAN YOUR YEAR WITH THE LIVING FULL CIRCLE PLANNER. In this planner, author Jenene Wooldridge shares her insights and personal experience on how she incorporates teachings of the medicine wheel around balance and living with purpose to live her life and achieve success. She shares the importance of contemplation, preparation, goals and how they connect to Living Full Circle.

Discover what works for you, develop healthy habits and create goals with intention to live your best. With twelve themed months and 52 weeks of guided reflection, this planner provides a foundation for your ideal life. Track your progress and learn from its useful tips and inspiration as you grow.

• Created by you, for you!
• Delivers clarity for daily living
• Guided reflection to increase self-awareness and productivity
• Goal setting, habit tracking and intentional living

Educator Information
52 Week Undated Planner

Additional Information
160 pages | 8.00" x 10.00"

In the last decade, the relationship between settler Canadians and Indigenous Peoples has been highlighted by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, the Idle No More movement, the Wet'suwet'en struggle against pipeline development and other Indigenous-led struggles for Indigenous sovereignty and decolonization. Increasing numbers of Canadians are beginning to recognize how settler colonialism continues to shape relationships on these lands. With this recognition comes the question many settler Canadians are now asking, what can I do?

Living in Indigenous Sovereignty lifts up the wisdom of Indigenous scholars, activists and knowledge keepers who speak pointedly to what they are asking of non-Indigenous people. It also shares the experiences of thirteen white settler Canadians who are deeply engaged in solidarity work with Indigenous Peoples. Together, these stories offer inspiration and guidance for settler Canadians who wish to live honourably in relationship with Indigenous Peoples, laws and lands. If Canadians truly want to achieve this goal, Carlson and Rowe argue, they will pursue a reorientation of their lives toward "living in Indigenous sovereignty"-- living in an awareness that these are Indigenous lands, containing relationships, laws, protocols, stories, obligations and opportunities that have been understood and practised by Indigenous peoples since time immemorial.

Collectively, these stories will help settler Canadians understand what transformations we must undertake if we are to fundamentally shift our current relations and find a new way forward, together.

Reviews
“A powerful decolonial reflection and call to action for settler peoples to learn how to work in solidarity with Indigenous peoples in ways that are decolonizing not recolonizing. Guided by teachings from Indigenous elders, scholars, and activists about the importance of creating relationships with kindness, humility, mutual respect and reciprocity, non-Indigenous readers can find inspiration in the life stories of settlers who speak frankly about their ongoing struggles to do this work in a good way.” — Paulette Regan, author of Unsettling the Settler Within: Indian Residential Schools, Truth Telling, and Reconciliation in Canada and Senior Researcher/Lead Writer of “Reconciliation,” Volume 6 of the TRC Final Report

“This is the most comprehensive book on anti-colonial practice focused on non-indigenous peoples. It draws on leading scholars and advocates from across the country and incorporates a breadth of concepts that create a solid and encompassing foundation for creating change. By incorporating these ideas, perspectives, experiences and practices, non-Indigenous and Indigenous people will be well prepared for our work and parallel journey ahead.” — Michael Anthony Hart, Vice Provost (Indigenous Engagement), Professor, Faculty of Social Work, University of Calgary, author of Seeking Mino-Pimatisiwin and Wicihitowin

Educator Information
Tables of Contents
Foreword By Aimée Craft, Leona Star and Dawnis Kennedy
Acknowledgments
Introductions
Settler Colonialism and Resistance
Introducing the Narratives
Monique Woroniak
Murray Angus
Steve Heinrichs
Franklin Jones
Orienting Toward Indigenous Sovereignty
Joy Eidse
Adam Barker
Susanne McCrea
Kathi Avery Kinew
Rick Wallace
What Indigenous Peoples Have Asked of Us
John Doe
Silvia Straka
Dave Bleakney
Victoria Freeman
Honourings
Conclusions
Afterword
References
Index

Additional Information
264 pages | 6.00" x 9.00"

Five hundred years. A vast geography. And an unfinished project to remake the world to match the desires of settler colonizers. How have settlers used violence and narrative to transform Turtle Island into what is currently called North America? What does that say about our social systems, and what happens next?

Deploying analytical tools from diverse disciplines, and drawing on sources ranging from archives to pop culture and personal experience, Making and Breaking Settler Space addresses pressing questions left by the complex and obscured process of colonization. Adam Barker articulates a dynamic analytical model to explain how settler spaces have developed and continue to evolve. He traces the trajectory of settler colonialism, drawing out details of its operation from the imperial colonization of Turtle Island in the 1500s to contemporary contexts that include problematic activist practices by would-be settler allies.

Making and Breaking Settler Space proposes an innovative, unified spatial theory of settler colonization in Canada and the United States. In the process, it uncovers systemic weaknesses that can inform the decolonization efforts of resurgent Indigenous nations and settler activists alike, and argues for relationships founded on solidarity and shared acknowledgment that the settler project is a failed one.

This thought-provoking work will be of great use not only to scholars and students of settler colonialism but also to activists and political commentators concerned with Indigenous people’s future beyond the settler colonial society.

Reviews
“Making and Breaking Settler Space offers a comprehensive analysis of the colonial spatialities inherent to the settler state. It is an innovative interpretation of the affective dimensions of settler colonialism, from its obsessive drive for ownership, control, and transcendence to the possibilities that come from failing to meet these expectations.”— Soren Larsen, University of Missouri

Educator Information
Table of Contents

Introduction

1 Cores and Peripheries: From Imperial Contact to Settler Colonial Claims

2 Spatialities of Settlement: Remaking Landscapes and Identities

3 Remaking People and Places: States, Suburbs, and Forms of Settlement

4 Revolutionary Aspirations? Social Movements and Settler Colonial Complicity

5 The Efficacy of Failure: Advancing Struggles in Support of Indigenous Resurgence

6 Affinity and Alliance: Breaking the Boundaries of Settler Colonial Space

Notes; References; Index

Additional Information
312 pages | 6.00" x 9.00" | 2 photographs, 7 diagrams, 1 map | Hardcover 

In Naomi Fontaine’s Governor General’s Literary Award finalist, a young teacher’s return to her remote Innu community transforms the lives of her students, reminding us of the importance of hope in the face of despair.

After fifteen years of exile, Yammie, a young Innu woman, has come back to her home in Uashat, on Quebec’s North Shore. She has returned to teach at the local school but finds a community stalked by despair. Yammie will do anything to help her students. When she accepts a position directing the end-of-year play, she sees an opportunity for the youth to take charge of themselves.

In writing both spare and polyphonic, Naomi Fontaine honestly portrays a year of Yammie’s teaching and of the lives of her students, dislocated, embattled, and ultimately, possibly, triumphant.

Reviews
“A story of lived experience in which serene language and sensitively drawn images come together in short chapters like a succession of small touches of paint on a canvas.” — Le Devoir

“Here is a novel of courage, of surpassing oneself, and of resilience. This is a profoundly moving, human, beautiful book.” — ICI-Radio Canada

“Naomi Fontaine leads us to discover students who are sometimes endearing and sometimes disturbing, but always does so with poetry.” — Chatelaine.

Additional Information
5.25" x 8.00" | Paperback | Translated by Luise Von Flotow

First Nations, Métis and Inuit artists, activists, educators and writers, youth and elders come together to envision Indigenous futures in Canada and around the world.

Discussing everything from language renewal to sci-fi, this collection is a powerful and important expression of imagination rooted in social critique, cultural experience, traditional knowledge, activism and the multifaceted experiences of Indigenous people on Turtle Island.

In Me Tomorrow: 
Darrel J. McLeod, Cree author from Treaty-8 territory in Northern Alberta, blends the four elements of the Indigenous cosmovision with the four directions of the medicine wheel to create a prayer for the power, strength and resilience of Indigenous peoples.

Autumn Peltier, Anishinaabe water-rights activist, tells the origin story of her present and future career in advocacy—and how the nine months she spent in her mother’s womb formed her first water teaching. When the water breaks, like snow melting in the spring, new life comes.

Lee Maracle, acclaimed Stó:lō Nation author and educator, reflects on cultural revival—imagining a future a century from now in which Indigenous people are more united than ever before.

Other essayists include Cyndy and Makwa Baskin, Norma Dunning, Shalan Joudry, Shelley Knott-Fife, Tracie Léost, Stephanie Peltier, Romeo Saganash, Drew Hayden Taylor and Raymond Yakeleya.

For readers who want to imagine the future, and to cultivate a better one, Me Tomorrow is a journey through the visions generously offered by a diverse group of Indigenous thinkers.

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

Frank Surprenant is a Cree Elder from the Sucker Creek Band on Lesser Slave Lake in Alberta, Canada. He is a Pipe Carrier and Sweat Lodge Keeper. For more than 30 years Frank has been involved in Medicine Wheel Gatherings across Canada and his Teachings have been listened to by countless people. He decided it was time to set these Teachings down in writing and make them more widely accessible.

Medicine Wheel Teachings is an easy-to-follow guide explaining what a Medicine Wheel is and how it is relevant to our lives today. Frank’s vision for this book is that it will be an invaluable tool to understand the connectedness with all things – human, animal, mineral, plant, insect, and more.

The book explains the Medicine Wheel layer by layer. Each layer is illustrated with a diagram. These diagrams build up a complete Medicine Wheel. Each part explains how to find your place on the Medicine Wheel and what you can learn from it – beginning from a starting point of something as simple as your date of birth. The final section gives ideas on making a personal Medicine Wheel.

This book will act as a spark and ignite a further pursuit of Medicine Wheel Teachings and Indigenous Knowledge. Moving forward with healing, understanding and reconciliation.

Additional Information
75 Pages