Indigenous Peoples in Canada

Take a journey into the heart of Haida culture as it is lived and experienced by an extraordinary woman of the Tsath Lanas Eagle Clan. Pansy Collison, a Haida woman born and raised in Old Massett on Haida Gwaii, tells stories of her clan and community, as well as personal narratives about her history and family. Haida Eagle Treasures embodies a strong Haida woman’s voice, offering a rare glimpse inside Haida culture. Each story and memory is a treasure that captures part of the beauty of the Haida worldview and way of life.

Now retired, Pansy taught for 23 years at elementary, secondary, and college levels. From these experiences, she describes some of the challenges and contradictions of living between two worlds. Pansy’s teaching skills, artistic talents, and political affiliations keep her involved in politics and education on Haida Gwaii.

Thirteen original illustrations by Pansy’s brother, Paul White, a gifted artist, teacher, pole carver and designer, provide the guideposts within Haida Eagle Treasures.

Educator Information
Recommended in the Canadian Indigenous Books for Schools 2019-2020 resource list as being useful for grades 8-12 for English Language Arts and Social Studies.

Caution: use of the term "Native" throughout.

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244 pages | 6.00" x 9.00"  | 2nd Edition

A collection of fiction, poetry, essays and creative non-fiction, this anthology features works by over 20 Indigenous Canadian writers. The book focuses on the effects of colonialism in Canada from both historical and contemporary perspectives.

"These stories are rich in geographies Indigenous peoples journey through today; on streets, in cities, and into the future. These stories will make you think, cry, and heal." —Niigaanwewidam James Sinclair, Editor

Reviews
"Impact: Colonialism in Canada presents writings that are often challenging, thought-provoking, and at times, gut-wrenching. The collection is a testament to strength and resiliency and the potential for healing, both within the Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities. But, it is not easy reading; it demands considerable insight, open-mindedness, and an understanding of an historical concept (i.e. colonialism), all of which point to the book’s being read and/or studied by students in the upper grades of high school. It’s certainly a work that would be a fine reference in a high school library collection, and teachers would find it to be an excellent supplemental text for the study of Aboriginal writers, as well as Canadian history, particularly as a reflection of the impact of colonialism upon Canada’s Indigenous peoples. Highly Recommended." - Joanne Peters, CM Magazine

Educator Information
Recommended for ages 17+ 

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198 pages | 5.50" x 8.50"

Twelve-year-old Molly was riding her new bicycle on a deserted road when a man in a truck pulled up next to her, saying he was lost. He asked if she could get in and help him back to the highway, and said he could bring her back to her bike after. Molly declined, out of interest for her own safety. The next things Molly remembers are dirt, branches, trees, pain, and darkness.

Molly is now a spirit.

Mustering up some courage, she pieces together her short life for herself and her family while she reassembles her bicycle—the same one that was found thrown into the trees on the side of the road. Juxtaposed with flashes of news, sounds, and videos, Molly’s chilling tale becomes more and more vivid, challenging humanity not to forget her presence and importance.

Reviews
“Tara Beagan's In Spirit distills the tragic disappearance of hundreds of native women along BC's Highway of Tears into a powerful theatrical experience.” —Jon Kaplan, NOW Magazine 

“In Spirit is a very touching piece, not only for the content, but also because of how we were transported into this little girl’s world… It is a refreshing change to see a play tackle a societal defect without hate and guilt. Through love and empathy, it reminds us of the missing women and the horrors that are still taking place in our county.” —Emma Letki, Mooney on Theatre

Educator Information
This play is listed in the 2018-2019 Canadian Indigenous Books for Schools list as a resource for Grades 11-12 for these subjects: Acting, Drama, English Language Arts.

Caution: discussion of violence and death.

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64 pages | 5.13" x 7.65"

Indianland is a rich and varied poetry collection. The poems are written from a female and Indigenous point of view and incorporate Anishinaabemowin throughout. Time is cyclical, moving from present-day back to first contact and forward again. Themes of sexuality, birth, memory, and longing are explored, images of blood, plants (milkweed, yarrow, cattails), and petroglyphs reoccur, and touchstone issues in Indigenous politics are addressed (Elijah Harper, Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women, forced sterilizations, Oka). 

Educator Information
Recommended in the Canadian Indigenous Books for Schools 2019-2020 resource list as being useful for grades 11 and 12 for these subjects: English Language Arts, Media Studies, and Social Studies.

This work includes sexual content, references to rape, and mature content.

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80 pages | 5.50" x 8.50"

Students who study business in university are not likely to hear about or discuss examples of Indigenous business successes from across the country. Rarely would one see references to Aboriginal communities, let alone examples of them growing multi-million dollar businesses and partnering to lead innovative economic development projects that positively impact the national economy. Resources are scarce and inadequate, an oversight that is to our detriment.

Somewhere between a textbook and a book of collected essays, this collection of articles is an effort to build on and share the research of Aboriginal practitioners and scholars working in their respective fields. Where possible we share not only concepts, but also the voices of Aboriginal leaders, officials, Elders and other members of Aboriginal communities.

Indigenous Business in Canada addresses contemporary concerns and issues in the doing of Indigenous business in Canada, reveals some of the challenges and diverse approaches to business in Aboriginal contexts from coast to coast to coast, and demonstrates the direct impact that history and policy, past and present, have on business and business education.

Reviews
“Indigenous Business in Canada: Principles and Practices should serve as a conscious raiser for business education students and professionals working in housing, business, banking and other economic-development industries and support their ability to adapt to the growing importance of Aboriginal communities and business to the global economy.” -- Nelson & Waugh, Canadian Journal of Education, 2016

Educator Information
This textbook would be useful for courses in Business & Economics, Economic Development, Government & Business, and Indigenous Studies.

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312 pages | 7.50" x 9.00

Edited by Keith G. Brown, Mary Beth Doucette, and Janice Esther Tulk.

Through the voices of Inuit elders, this book is a critical and cultural-historical engagement with the traditional concepts of tirigusuusiit, piqujait, and maligait.

These three concepts refer to what had to be followed, done, or not done in Inuit culture. Although these terms are now often used as equivalents to modern Western notions of law, this work examines how Inuit and Western concepts of law derive from completely different cultural perspectives. Through the guiding concepts of maligait, piqujait, and tirigusuusiit, this book transcends discussions of law, examining how these Inuit concepts are embedded in social and cosmic relationships.

This unique book examines these challenging concepts through the knowledge and stories of Inuit elders and evokes a unique experience whereby Western knowledge—embodied in the participating scholars—works to describe and understand Inuit knowledge and models of traditional law. This is a new and updated edition of Interviewing Inuit Elders Vol. 2: Perspectives on Traditional Law.

Contributing Elders: Mariano Aupilaarjuk, Marie Tulimaaq, Akisu Joamie, Émile Imaruittuq, and Lucassie Nutaraaluk.

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380 pages | 6.00" x 9.00" | 2nd Edition

Little Athapapuskow is collection of poems named after a lake Guy Freedman grew up on near Flin Flon, Manitoba. They represent his efforts to challenge Catholicism and its complicity with the Confederation project, which dismantled the New Nation developing in the Canadian Northwest. The poems are organized into three parts—past, present, and future—and they address the inter-generational impacts of the Church on his family in relation to the doctrine of the Holy Trinity. This book is his love song to his home and to his country.

Educator Information
Recommended resource for Grades 10-12 English Language Arts and Social Studies.

Contains poems about the history of the Métis people, family, love, celebration of culture, colonialism, religion, violence.

Caution: Some poems contain strong language and mature subject matter, such as discussions of violence, alcoholism, and sexuality.

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86 pages | 7.25" x 5.75 " 

Louis Riel, prophet of the new world and founder of the Canadian province of Manitoba, has challenged Canadian politics, history and religion since the early years of Confederation. In Canada's most important and controversial state trial, Riel was found guilty of "high treason," sentenced to hang and executed on November 16, 1885. With 2017 being Canada's sesquicentennial of the initial Confederation of four British colonies, and with the question of reconciliation on the minds of many, the celebrations must recognize that the brutal execution of Louis Riel remains Canada's "great divide." Was the 1885 execution of Riel the hanging of a traitor? Or the legal murder of a patriot and statesman? Tried in a territorial court, Riel called out for justice, for an "inquiry into his career." To date, no such inquiry has been called. The spiritual and political father of the Métis nation and Western Canada remains branded a traitor to Canada.

In this imaginative re-enactment of his trial, Riel is finally given the opportunity to respond to his conviction for treason, offering his side of the story at Batoche and Red River.

Reviews
“In this era of reconciliation, Louis Riel: Let Justice Be Done is a tour de force. Exposing the combined pillars of racism and colonialism, Doyle assists in the decolonization of Canadian history during her sesquicentennial commemorations and celebrations.” — Venerable Dr. John A. (Ian) MacKenzie

“David Doyle’s advocacy, both in his writings and presentations, appropriates nothing from the Métis or their culture, rather it supplements it both for them and for all Canadians.” — George & Terry Goulet, authors of The Trial of Louis Riel

Additional Information
200 pages | 9.00" x 6.00" | 16 b&w photos

This book is creative nonfiction, a genre of writing that presents factually accurate narratives using literary style and technique (creativity).

The first edition of Making Space for Indigenous Feminism proposed that Indigenous feminism was a valid and indeed essential theoretical and activist position, and introduced a roster of important Indigenous feminist contributors. This new edition builds on the success and research of the first and provides updated and new chapters that cover a wide range of some of the most important issues facing Indigenous peoples today: violence against women, recovery of Indigenous self-determination, racism, misogyny and decolonization. Specifically, new chapters deal with Indigenous resurgence, feminism amongst the Sami and in Aboriginal Australia, neoliberal restructuring in Oaxaca, Canada’s settler racism and sexism, and missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls in Canada. 

Written by Indigenous feminists and allies, this book provides a powerful and original intellectual and political contribution demonstrating that feminism has much to offer Indigenous women, and all Indigenous peoples, in their struggles against oppression.

Reviews
“Making Space for Indigenous Feminism is an essential resource that places gender justice at the core of our analyses of colonization and decolonization. What we learn is urgent: without addressing the systemic and symbolic character of the gendered violence that Indigenous women, girls, two-spirit, trans, and queer folks disproportionately face, decolonization will remain a man-made, colonial sham.” — Glen Coulthard, First Nations and Indigenous Studies, UBC

“This path-breaking collection brings together leading and emerging voices in the field, presenting critical innovative research that reminds us of the need for a consistent application of feminist analytic tools to understand colonialism and patriarchy as mutually constitutive and reinforcing forces. This collection is essential as an emancipatory tool for decolonization and Indigenous resurgence.” — Heidi Kiiwetinepinesiik Stark, University of Victoria

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256 pages | 6.00" x 9.00"

"[M]arvelous and compelling..." - John Milloy, author of The Plains Cree and A National Crime

As the first inland surveyor for the Hudson's Bay Company, Philip Turnor stands tall among the explorers and mapmakers of Canada. Accompanied by Cree guides and his Cree wife, Turnor travelled 15,000 miles by canoe and foot between 1778 and 1792 to produce ten maps, culminating in his magnum opus, a map that was the foundation of all northern geographic knowledge at that time. Barbara Mitchell's biography brings to life the man who taught David Thompson and Peter Fidler how to survey. In her search for Turnor's story, Mitchell discovers her own Cree-Orkney ancestry and that of thousands of others who are descendents of Turnor and his Cree wife.

Reviews
"Mitchell's work adds substantially to a deeper knowledge of Turnor, his life, his work, and to the extent possible, his character. It provides the first close study of his background, writings, career trajectory, and contributions to the mapping of North America." - Jennifer Brown, author of Strangers in Blood: Fur Trade Company Families in Indian Country

"Where books on Canada, indigenous life, exploration, or genealogy are favorites, this historical account is a must." - Henrietta Verma, Library Journal

"Mitchell shows the human side of map-making through reconstructions of Turnor's daily life ... The result is a wonderfully detailed and convincing portrait of early Canadian life in the era of Indigenous-European trade." - Lyle Dick, Canada's History

"Since the research material informing this biography was framed through the sensibilities of an eighteenth-century Englishman, there is very little reference to Turnor’s Cree wife. Mitchell, having only recently discovered her own Cree roots, is also unable to supply that Indigenous perspective in her journals. Her narrative ends with the appreciation that her lifelong self-identification as a British Canadian performs over her newer realization that she is also Cree. In her epilogue and her acknowledgements, she reaches out to her Cree heritage, stating simply, “I am listening.” - Beverley Haun, Canadian Literature: A Quarterly of Criticism and Review

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352 pages | 6.25" x 9.25"

“We are all visitors to this land, our land has so much to offer, our land is overflowing with the medicines our bodies need, but we are only passing through. With respect, our purpose is to watch, to learn, to grow, to love, to teach. Then we will return home.” – Caroline Sanoffsky

Muskgege is a written record of traditional knowledge, passed down through the generations. It features descriptions and illustrations of 36 wild plants that can be used to make medicines. It is a beautiful and compelling reminder of the important role nature plays in First Nations culture.

Educator Information
Grades 6 and under.

Author Michel Hellman meets with his editor Luc Bossé and casually promises to write a sequel to his best-selling book Mile End. But the Montréal neighborhood, with its trendy cafés and gluten-free bakeries, doesn't seem half as inspiring as it used to be. Part memoir and part documentary, Nunavik follows Hellman on a trek through Northern Quebec as he travels to Kuujjuaq, Puvirnituk, Kangiqsujuaq and Kangirsurk, meeting members of the First Nations, activists, hunters and drug dealers along the way. An honest and often funny account of this trip, Nunavik truly feels personal, with the author acknowledging (and challenging) his own prejudices. While the North has had a profound influence on our collective identity as Canadians, it remains an idea - myth rather than reality. Empirical rather than theoretical, Nunavik reflects on the way our relationship to the North has shaped our own cultural landscape.

Reviews
"An insightful, self-reflexive memoir of the author's journey to small Inuit communities in Nunavik, the northern part of the province of Quebec. Hellman shares his thoughts and perceptions of the North while never losing sight of his own racial privilege." - Jarrah, Goodreads.com

Educator Information
Graphic Novel | Non-Fiction

Additional Information
156 pages | 6.25" x 8.25" | Black and white images

Power through Testimony documents how survivors are remembering and reframing our understanding of residential schools in the wake of the 2007 Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), a forum for survivors, families, and communities to share their memories and stories with the Canadian public. The commission closed and reported in 2015, and this timely volume reveals what happened on the ground.

Drawing on field research during the commission and in local communities, the contributors reveal how survivors are unsettling colonial narratives about residential schools and how the churches and former school staff are receiving or resisting the “new” residential school story. Part 1 details how residential schools have been understood and represented by various groups and individuals over time and how survivors’ testimonies at the commission are changing those representations. Part 2 examines whether the stories of abuse and trauma now circulating are overpowering less sensational stories, preventing other voices and memories from surfacing in local communities. Part 3 explores how the churches and former school staff have received this new testimony and what their response means for future relations with Aboriginal peoples across the country.

Power through Testimony shows that by bringing to light new stories about residential schools and by encouraging the denunciation of other historical wrongs, the TRC was more than a symbolic act. Ultimately, however, the contributors question the power of the TRC to unsettle dominant colonial narratives about residential schools and transform the relationship between Indigenous people and Canadian society.

As one of the first books published on Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission, Power through Testimony will be of interest to students and scholars of Aboriginal studies, anthropology, and colonial studies and all Canadians interested in transitional justice and human rights.

Educator Information
Contributors: Janice Cindy Gaudet, Cheryl Gaver, Robyn Green, Jula Hughes, Lawrence Martin/Wapistan, Charles R. Menzies, Arie Molena, Ronald Niezen, Simone Poliandri, and Eric Taylor Woods

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252 pages | 6.00" x 9.00"

In 1970, twenty-two-year-old Thom Henley left Michigan and drifted around the northwest coast, getting by on odd jobs and advice from even odder characters. He rode the rails, built a squatter shack on a beach, came to be known as "Huckleberry" and embarked on adventures along the West Coast and abroad that, just like his Mark Twain namesake, situated him in all the right and wrong places at all the right and wrong times. Eventually, a hippie named Stormy directed him to Haida Gwaii where, upon arrival, a Haida Elder affirmed to the perplexed Huckleberry that she had been expecting him. From that point onward, Henley's life unfolded as if destiny were at work--perhaps with a little help from Raven, the legendary trickster.

While kayaking the remote area around South Moresby Island, Henley was struck by the clear-cut logging and desecration of ancient Haida village sites. Henley collaborated with the Haida for the next fourteen years to spearhead the largest environmental campaign in Canadian history and the creation of Gwaii Haanas National Park. Later, he became a co-founder of Rediscovery--a wilderness program for First Nations and non-aboriginal youth that would become a global model for reconciliation.

Henley's story is peppered with a cast of unlikely characters serendipitously drawn together, such as the time he hosted then-Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau and entourage, including five-year-old Justin Trudeau, at his remote driftwood hippie hut (the visit was unanticipated and at the time the helicopter touched down, Henley and a friend were doing laundry). Over and over, Henley found himself at the epicentre of significant events that included a historic train caravan across Canada, an epic Haida canoe voyage, an indigenous rights campaign world tour for the Penan tribespeople of Borneo, as well as two global disasters--the 2004 South Asian tsunami and the 2015 Nepal earthquake.

Beautifully recounted with passion, humour and humility, Raven Walks around the World is a moving and thoughtful account of a life lived in harmony with the land and community.

Educator Information
Recommended resource for grades 10-12 for these subject areas: Contemporary Indigenous Studies, English Studies, Environmental Science, Literary Studies, BC First Peoples

Additional Information
272 pages | 6.00" x 9.00"

Read, Listen, Tell brings together an extraordinary range of Indigenous stories from across Turtle Island (North America). From short fiction to as-told-to narratives, from illustrated stories to personal essays, these stories celebrate the strength of heritage and the liveliness of innovation. Ranging in tone from humorous to defiant to triumphant, the stories explore core concepts in Indigenous literary expression, such as the relations between land, language, and community, the variety of narrative forms, and the continuities between oral and written forms of expression. Rich in insight and bold in execution, the stories proclaim the diversity, vitality, and depth of Indigenous writing.

Building on two decades of scholarly work to centre Indigenous knowledges and perspectives, the book transforms literary method while respecting and honouring Indigenous histories and peoples of these lands. It includes stories by acclaimed writers like Thomas King, Sherman Alexie, Paula Gunn Allen, and Eden Robinson, a new generation of emergent writers, and writers and storytellers who have often been excluded from the canon, such as French- and Spanish-language Indigenous authors, Indigenous authors from Mexico, Chicana/o authors, Indigenous-language authors, works in translation, and "lost" or underappreciated texts.

In a place and time when Indigenous people often have to contend with representations that marginalize or devalue their intellectual and cultural heritage, this collection is a testament to Indigenous resilience and creativity. It shows that the ways in which we read, listen, and tell play key roles in how we establish relationships with one another, and how we might share knowledges across cultures, languages, and social spaces.

Reviews
Edited by experts in Indigenous literature and contextualised beautifully, historical writers like E. Pauline Johnson are placed alongside exciting genres like Indigenous Science Fiction — illustrating the vibrancy and innovation of Indigenous storytelling across time, space and politics. If you want a primer on Indigenous cultural expressions, this is for you. If you want deft, detailed stories in Indigenous written, oral and graphic traditions, these will expand your thinking. Read, Listen, Tell will make you laugh, dream and search for more. — Niigaanwewidam Sinclair

A unique compendium that is the direct result of outstanding and painstaking scholarship, Read, Listen, Tell: Indigenous Stories from Turtle Island is an impressively informative, deftly organized, and exceptionally well presented volume that is unreservedly recommended for both community and academic library Indigenous Cultural Studies collections and supplemental reading lists. — Midwest Book Review

Read, Listen, Tell collects a brilliant and vast array of indigenous short fiction, bolstered by insightful critical essays that prioritize indigenous voices, culture, and methodologies. — Clarissa Goldsmith, Foreword Reviews, July 2017

Educator Information
• Connects Indigenous writing across colonial settler borders (of Canada, USA, and Mexico) at a time when those borders are hardening in light of security measures.
• Truth and Reconciliation Commission report highlights focus on education, prioritizing Indigenous knowledges, pedagogies, and perspectives—this book provides that.
• Provides curriculum material for new Indigenous content mandates in some provinces (Ontario, BC).
• Includes French-, Spanish-, and Indigenous-language.
• Indigenous authors (in translation).

Additional Information
410 pages | 6.00" x 9.00"
Edited by Sophie McCall, Deanna Reder, David Gaertner, and Gabrielle L'Hirondelle Hill