Indigenous Peoples in Canada

This critique of the art world will have you crying with laughter

In Wendy’s Revenge, Scott’s titular heroine returns with a fresh set of awkward misadventures and messy nights out. When the book opens, aspiring artist Wendy has decided to move to the west coast to clear her head.

She plans on getting some quality time with her collaborator and friend Winona, only to find Winona packing up to leave, having decided to move back in with her mom on the rez. All alone, Wendy endeavours to foster community in Vancouver’s bleak art scene. When her hope and optimism are all used up, she packs her bags for an artist residency in Japan. Wendy then gallery hops and parties around the globe until she stumbles upon the opportunity to unite with former foe Paloma. Together they enact revenge on VVURST, the German publication that once tore her performance art to shreds.

Young artists struggle with mental health issues, they get wasted and hook up with men with gross piercings, and they’re afflicted with an insatiable longing for a stable identity—stability they themselves undermine. Scott’s deceptively simple, inky character drawings evoke millennial culture with such Jungian accuracy that you can’t help but stare and giggle in equal measure. Praised by The New Yorker, Guardian, Globe and Mail, and with an appearance in the Best American Comics anthology, it’s clear why Walter Scott’s Wendy comics have taken critics by storm.

Reviews
“I am blown away by Walter Scott’s Wendy series.” —Zadie Smith

“Wendy, her pals and her milieu comprise a fictional world as fully and funnily inhabited as any in recent Canadian storytelling.”—Globe & Mail

“Funny, poignant, and scary. Scott makes you laugh and then rips your heart out.”—Literary Hub

Educator Information
The publisher recommends for ages 16+, but this graphic novel contains very mature content. 

Caution: Mature content

In this second comic, Winona, an Indigenous character, is introduced.

Additional Information
260 pages | 6.50" x 9.00" | Black-and-white illustrations with partial color section | Paperback 

Richard Wagamese, one of Canada’s most celebrated Indigenous authors and storytellers, was a writer of breathtaking honesty and inspiration. Always striving to be a better, stronger person, Wagamese shared his journey through writing, encouraging others to do the same.

Following the success of Embers, which has sold almost seventy thousand copies since its release in 2016, this new collection of Wagamese’s non-fiction works, with an introduction by editor Drew Hayden Taylor, brings together more of the prolific author’s short writings, many for the first time in print, and celebrates his ability to inspire. Drawing from Wagamese’s essays and columns, along with preserved social media and blog posts, this beautifully designed volume is a tribute to Wagamese’s literary legacy.

Reviews
"Treasure these words. Honour his thoughts. But don’t read it too fast. Soak it in. Enjoy every morsel. Linger on each page because every paragraph has nuggets of understanding. Lines of wisdom. Stories to appreciate." — Drew Hayden Taylor

Additional Information
176 pages | 5.50" x 8.00" | Hardcover

A narrative of resistance and resilience spanning seven decades in the life of a tireless advocate for Indigenous language preservation.

Life histories are a form of contemporary social history and convey important messages about identity, cosmology, social behaviour and one’s place in the world. This first-person oral history—the first of its kind ever published by the Royal BC Museum—documents a period of profound social change through the lens of Sti’tum’atul’wut—also known as Mrs. Ruby Peter—a Cowichan elder who made it her life’s work to share and safeguard the ancient language of her people: Hul’q’umi’num’.

Over seven decades, Sti’tum’atul’wut mentored hundreds of students and teachers and helped thousands of people to develop a basic knowledge of the Hul’q’umi’num’ language. She contributed to dictionaries and grammars, and helped assemble a valuable corpus of stories, sound and video files—with more than 10,000 pages of texts from Hul’q’umi’num’ speakers—that has been described as “a treasure of linguistic and cultural knowledge.” Without her passion, commitment and expertise, this rich legacy of material would not exist for future generations.

In 1997 Vancouver Island University anthropologist Helene Demers recorded Sti’tum’atul’wut’s life stories over nine sessions. The result is rich with family and cultural history—a compelling narrative of resistance and resilience that promises to help shape progressive social policy for generations to follow.

Additional Information
240 pages | 6.00" x 9.00"

Where the Power Is: Indigenous Perspectives on Northwest Coast Art is a landmark volume that brings together over eighty contemporary Indigenous knowledge holders with extraordinary works of historical Northwest Coast art, ranging from ancient stone tools to woven baskets to carved masks and poles to silver jewellery. First Nations Elders, artists, scholars, and other community members visited the Museum of Anthropology at the University of British Columbia to connect with these objects, learn from the hands of their ancestors, and share their thoughts and insights on how these belongings transcend the category of “art” or “artifact” to embody vital ways of knowing and being in the world. Texts by the authors sketch the provenance of the objects, and, in dialogue with the commentators, engage in critical and necessary conversations around the role of museums that hold such collections.

The voices within are passionate, enlightening, challenging, and humorous. The commentators speak to their personal and family histories that these objects evoke, the connections between tangible and intangible culture, and how this “art” remains part of Northwest Coast Indigenous peoples’ ongoing relationships to their territories and political governance. Accompanied by over 300 contemporary and historical photographs, this is a vivid and powerful document of Indigenous experiences of reconnection, reclamation, and return.

Featuring contributions by:

ʼLiyaaʼmlaxha—Leonard Alexcee, Goldʼm Nitsʼk—Wii Gandoox—Mona Alexcee, Widiimas—Peter Alexcee, Kʼodalagalis—Byron Alfred, Skwiixta—Karen Anderson, Chaudaquock—Vera Asp, Don Bain, Stan Bevan, Jo Billows, Dempsey Bob, Raymond Boisjoly, Naxshageit—Alison Bremner, Wákas—Irene Brown, Tʼaakeit Gʼaayaa—Corey Bulpitt, Vanessa Campbell, Jisgang—Nika Collison, Nalaga—Donna Cranmer, Gloria Cranmer Webster, Joe David, Guud san glans—Robert Davidson, ʼWalas Gwaʼyam—Beau Dick, Idtaawgan—Mervin Dunn, Sharon Fortney, Yéil Ya-Tseen—Nicholas Galanin, qiyəplenəxw—Howard E. Grant, sʔəyəłəq—Larry Grant, taχwtəna:t—Wendy Grant-John, Müsiiʼn—Phil Gray, Tʼuuʼtk—Robin R.R. Gray, Wii Gwinaał—Henry Green, secəlenəxw—Morgan Guerin, Haaʼyuups, KC (Kelsey) Hall, J̌i:ƛʼmɛtəm—Harold Harry, qoqʼwɛssukwt—Katelynn Harry, 7idansuu—James M. Hart, YaʼYa Heit, Kwakwabalasamayi Hamasaka—Alan Hunt, Corrine Hunt, Tłaliłilaʼogwa—Sarah Hunt, Tsēmā Igharas, Pearl Innis, Haʼhl Yee—Doreen Jensen, Kwankwanxwaligi—Robert Joseph, kwəskwestən—James Kew, Gigaemi Kukwits, Peter Morin, Nugwam ʼMaxwiyalidzi—Kʼodi Nelson, ʼTayagilaʼogwa—Marianne Nicolson, Gwiʼmolas—Ryan Nicolson, Jaad Kuujus—Kwaxhiʼlaga—Meghann OʼBrien, Ximiq—Dionne Paul, A-nii-sa-put—Tim Paul, Xwelíqwiya—Rena Point Bolton, Oqwiʼlowgʼwa—Kim Recalma-Clutesi, Skeena Reece, Nʼusi—Ian Reid, Greg A. Robinson, Siʼt Kwuns—Isabel Rorick, Maximus (Max) Savey, Anaht pi ya tuuk—Sheila Savey, Linda Smith, Xsim Ganaaʼw—Laurel Smith Wilson, θəliχwəlwət—Debra Sparrow, səlisəyeʔ—Leona Sparrow, Wedłidi Speck, Marika Echachis Swan, Simʼoogit Gawaakhl of Wilps Luuyaʼas—Norman Tait, Snxakila—Clyde Tallio, Nakkita Trimble, Xˇùsəmdas Waakas—Ted Walkus, Nuuwagawa—Evelyn Walkus Windsor, Hiłamas—William Wasden, Jr., Tsamiianbaan—William White, Tania Willard, Skiljaday—Merle Williams, Gid7ahl-Gudsllaay Lalaxaaygans—Terri-Lynn Williams-Davidson, Tʼɬaɬbaʼlisameʼ—Tʼɬalis—Mikael (Mike) Willie, Lyle Wilson, Nathan Wilson, and Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas.

Additional Information
384 pages | 10.31" x 11.96" | Hardcover

Wild Waters is Larry Loyie’s, Cree, exploration of the little-known side of the fur trade, the side of Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) and Canadien (French Canadian) paddlers who powered the canoes. After seeing his four times great-grandfather’s name, Tomma, in Chief Trader Archibald McDonald’s 1828 journal, Larry, with partner and co-author Constance Brissenden, began researching and writing about a challenging canoe voyage from Montreal to Hudson Bay, and then on to the Pacific. Larry was determined to combine his creative vision of Tomma’s life with the entries in McDonald’s journal to honour the unacknowledged voices of history. Some of the people in Wild Waters existed; others are based on the authors’ view of the fur trade and its people. Wherever possible, real dialogue was used. Weights and measures are consistent with usage of the era.

Reviews
“Wild Waters, Inside a Voyageur's World is an authentic, atmospheric tale of the voyageur and Hudson’s Bay Company days. Not only do you admire the strength and courage of the paddlers in navigating the wild waters, but also how they negotiated the intense personalities and rivalries of the Europeans they laboured for. An excellent historical account of the voyageur’s life!” -- Darlene Adams, Curator, High Prairie & District Museum, High Prairie, AB.

Educator Information
The publisher recommends this novel for grades 6 to 12 and for Adult Education.

Additional Information
152 Pages | Paperback

Indigenous peoples in Canada are striving for greater economic prosperity and political self-determination. Investigating specific legal, economic, and political practices, and including research from interviews with Indigenous political and business leaders, this collection seeks to provide insights grounded in lived experience. Covering such critical topics as economic justice and self-determination, and the barriers faced in pursuing each, Wise Practices sets out to understand the issues not in terms of sweeping empirical findings but rather the particular experiences of individuals and communities. The choice to focus on specific practices of law and governance is a conscious rejection of idealized theorizing about law and governance and represents an important step in the existing scholarship.

The volume offers readers a broad scope of perspectives, incorporating contemporary thought on Indigenous law and legal orders, the impact of state law on Indigenous peoples, theories and practices of economic development, and grounded practices of governances. While the authors address a range of topics, each does so in a way that sheds light on how Indigenous practices of law and governance support the social and economic development of Indigenous peoples.

Educator Information
Table of Contents
Part 1: Facilitating and Framing Wise Practices
1. Indigenous Economic Justice and Self-Determination: Wise Practices In Indigenous Law, Governance, And Leadership 
2. A Wise Practices Approach to Indigenous Law, Governance And Leadership: Resistance Against The Imposition Of Law 
3. Wise Practices: Toward A Paradigm of Indigenous Applied Community Economic Development Research And Facilitation 

Part 2: The State of the Law
4. Economic Justice in Practice 
5. Of Spectrums and Foundations: An Investigation into The Limitations Of Aboriginal Rights. 
6. The State Of Canadian Law on Representation and Standing In Aboriginal Rights And Title Litigation 
7. Miyo Pimâtisiwin And The Politics Of Ignorance: Advancing Indigenous ‘Good Living’ Through Dismantling Our Mediated Relations 

Part 3: Alternative in Practice
8. Accepting Responsibility For Your Nationhood Is Worthwhile For Any Nation On Earth, Not Just Indigenous People. 
9. Wise Practices in Indigenous Economic Development & Environmental Protection 
10. Looking Inward, Looking Outward: Finding Solutions in Indigenous and International Law 
11. Victory through Honour: Bridging Canadian Intellectual Property Laws and Kwakwaka’wakw Cultural Property Laws

Recommended for courses in economics, Indigenous studies, Indigenous politics, law and society, and political science.

Additional Information
384 pages | 6.00" x 9.00"

Left out of the national apology and reconciliation process begun in 2008, survivors of residential schools in Labrador and Newfoundland received a formal apology from the Canadian government in 2017. This recognition finally brought them into the circle of residential school survivors across Canada, and acknowledged their experiences as similarly painful and traumatic.

For years, the story of residential schools has been told by the authorities who ran them. A Long Journey helps redress this imbalance by listening closely to the accounts of former students, as well as drawing extensively on government, community, and school archives. The book examines the history of boarding schools in Labrador and St. Anthony, and, in doing so, contextualizes the ongoing determination of Indigenous communities to regain control over their children’s education.

Educator Information
This resource is recommended in the Canadian Indigenous Books for Schools 2020/2021 resource list as being useful for grades 10 to 12 for English Language Arts, Law, and Social Studies.

Caution: contains descriptions of mental, physical, and sexual abuse.

Additional Information
528 pages | 6.00" x 9.00"

An examination of historical performances in an iconic Vancouver park demonstrating how it remains an Indigenous place despite colonial efforts.

Performance embodies knowledge transfer, cultural expression, and intercultural influence. It is a method through which Indigenous people express their relations to land and continuously establish their persistent political authority. But performance is also key to the misrepresentation of Indigenous peoples in settler colonial societies.

Against the Current and Into the Light challenges dominant historical narratives of the land now known as Stanley Park, exploring performances in this space from the late nineteenth century to the present. Selena Couture engages with knowledge held in an endangered Indigenous language's place names, methods of orientation in space and time, and conceptions of leadership and respectful visiting. She then critically engages with narratives of Vancouver history created by the city's first archivist, J.S. Matthews, through his interest in Lord Stanley's visit to the park in 1889. Matthews organized several public commemorative performances on this land from the 1940s to 1960, resulting in the iconic yet misleading statue of Lord Stanley situated at the park's entrance. Couture places Matthews's efforts at commemoration alongside continuous political interventions by Indigenous people and organizations such as the Native Brotherhood of British Columbia, while also responding to contemporary performances by Indigenous women in Vancouver that present alternative views of history.

Using the metaphor of eddies of influence - motions that shape and are shaped by obstacles in their temporal and spatial environments - Against the Current and Into the Light reveals how histories of places have been created, and how they might be understood differently in light of Indigenous resurgence and decolonization.

Reviews
"Against the Current and Into the Light is an innovative, deeply researched, and thoroughly engrossing account of the acts of knowledge transfer embedded in both Indigenous and white settler cultural performances related to Stanley Park. Couture engages with several Indigenous scholars' own interventions into the politics of intercultural knowledge production and approaches the material she is writing about with humility, responsibility, and care." Peter Dickinson, Simon Fraser University

Additional Information
272 pages | 6.00" x 9.00" | 26 b&w photos, 1 map

In Approaching Fire, Michelle Porter embarks on a quest to find her great-grandfather, the Métis fiddler and performer Léon Robert Goulet. Through musicology, jigs and reels, poetry, photographs, and the ecology of fire, Porter invests biography with the power of reflective ingenuity, creating a portrait which expands beyond documentation into a private realm where truth meets metaphor.

Weaving through multiple genres and traditions, Approaching Fire fashions a textual documentary of rescue and insight, and a glowing contemplation of the ways in which loss can generate unbridled renewal.

Awards

• The Miramichi Reader's 2020 Most Promising Author Award 

Reviews
“I wanted to write in a magical and poetic voice, but more than that I wanted to read magical books - true and straight up poetic stories that fulfill the past. Michelle is such a writer. This book is the art Louis spoke of that begins a much needed conversation: Métis nation or Manitoba?” - Lee Maracle

“I've never read a book quite like this before… Approaching Fire is a documentary you can hold in your hands, in which, rather than being a passive witness to scenes unfolding, you become immersed in a river of poetry. Author Michelle Porter uses a mixture of genres to create an account of her journey to uncover the history of her Métis roots, stretching from Newfoundland to British Columbia, Alberta to Saskatchewan, and finally digging deeply into Manitoba. Michelle travels through the stories she was raised on, using them as a base from which to understand the accounts of others, learning all she can about her Great Great Grandfather, Léon Robert (Bob) Goulet, renowned fiddler and performer. Her Pépé. In his story, her story, a wider history of the Métis people is told. A history of racial discrimination, stolen land rights, and the question of what truly unites and defines Métis identity. This book blazes with poetic beauty, and a voice Canada needs to hear.”— More Books Than Days

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

As the prime suspect in a workplace accident, Floyd has to get out of town fast. Pursued by the RCMP, he heads through the Rockies for Burnaby, BC, along the route of the Trans Mountain Pipeline. By the time he reaches the Pacific, Floyd has experienced changes: his gait widening, muscles bulging, sense of smell heightening…

Awards

• 2018 Carol Bolt Award winner
• 2018 Dora Mavor Moore Award for Outstanding New Play winner
• 2018 Toronto Theatre Critics Award for Best New Canadian Play winner

Reviews
“Bears is inventive and daring theatre.”— Liz Nicholls, Edmonton Journal

“It’s packed with the same adrenaline rush you’d get from a sprint. And like any run, Bears will leave you breathless.” — Amanda Ghazale Aziz, NOW Magazine

“It’s a blend of chase story, identity search, ode to Indigenous spirituality, dark comedy, interdisciplinary spectacle, and eco-activist plea.”— The Georgia Straight

Educator Information
Bears has been performed in Edmonton, Maskwacîs, Saddle Lake First Nation, Toronto, Calgary, Vancouver, Canmore, Kamloops, Wells, and Victoria.

Additional Information
64 pages | 5.00" x 7.50"

A collection of words and imagery from diverse voices grounded in the land that explore community in relation to time. Filmmaker/writer, Darlene Naponse, curates a gathering of expression about time that has passed, time that is now and time that comes.

Before the Usual Time features contributions by:
Chuquai Billy
Sherwin Bitsui
Emily Clarke
Craig Commanda
Jessie Fiddler
Lori Flinders
Daniel Groulx
Sy Hoahwah
Ajuawak Kapashesit
Leanna Marshall
Darlene Naponse
Joan Naviuyuk Kane
Dennis Saddleman
Ardelle Sagutcheway
Craig Santos Perez
Cathy Smith

Additional Information
180 pages | 5.50" x 8.50"

Poems about a young two-spirit Indigenous man moving through shadow and trauma toward strength and awareness. Bones, Tyler Pennock's wise and arresting debut, is about the ways we process the traumas of our past, and about how often these experiences eliminate moments of softness and gentleness. Here, the poem's journey inward, guided by the world of dreams, seeking memories of a loving sister lost beneath layers of tragedy and abuse. With bravery, the poems stand up to the demons lurking in the many shadows of their lines, seeking glimpses of a good that is always just out of reach. At moments heartrending and gut-punching, at others still and sweet, Bones is a collection of deep and painstaking work that examines the human spirit in all of us. This is a hero's journey and a stark look at the many conditions of the soul. This is a book for survivors, for fighters, for dreamers, and for believers.

Reviews
"Here is a spare and urgent voice that speaks of 'wounds and beauty,' that gestures to a story of trauma and abuse while offering us a potent journey of self-reckoning and reclamation. Bones entwines brutality with the deepest tenderness and in its clear-eyed way asks us, as poetry must, to re-see the world." --Catherine Bush, author of Accusation and The Rules of Engagement

"Tyler Pennock's poetry unfurls like breath: measured, light, caught, whispering, and vital. It charts memory with a steady hand and unerring allegiance to locating the 'beauty/in terrible things.' Bones addresses the effects of intergenerational, state-sponsored trauma with enviable grace, inscribing and affirming life on the other side of overwhelming pain, abuse, and grief. It carries on, resilient, defiant, gazing at the stars, one breath at a time." --Laurie D. Graham, author of Settler Education

"Tyler Pennock's Bones is a soft meandering through the memories of the narrator's hearthome: a place in which trauma, kinship, abuse, and nostalgia cradle one another in a circle. Here, poetics are deployed to inspect the most minute of objects with such wild abandon that the narrator transplants us into a world rife with sharpness so as to make the image complete, focussed, lifelike, photographic even as he continually 'wish[es he] were like water'. Here we find memory and dream animated in equal measure: two spirits sitting in a basement, a headless mother, a white bear, wihtiko, and a sister slowly vanishing. Lyrical, witty, heart-wrenching, and empowering, Pennock's debut book of poetry is a contemplative epic asking us to ponder the ethics of remembrance in all of its lacings of razing and revitalization." --Joshua Whitehead, author of Full-Metal Indigiqueer and Jonny Appleseed

Additional Information
104 pages | 6.00" x 8.75"

Charged with fresh material and new perspectives, this updated edition of the groundbreaking biography From Brotherhood to Nationhood brings George Manuel and his fighting tradition into the present.

George Manuel (19201989) was the strategist and visionary behind the modern Indigenous movement in Canada. A three-time Nobel Peace Prize nominee, he laid the groundwork for what would become the Assembly of First Nations and was the founding president of the World Council of Indigenous Peoples. Authors Peter McFarlane and Doreen Manuel follow him on a riveting journey from his childhood on a Shuswap reserve through three decades of fierce and dedicated activism.

In these pages, an all-new foreword by celebrated Mi'kmaq lawyer and activist Pam Palmater is joined by an afterword from Manuel’s granddaughter, land defender Kanahus Manuel. This edition features new photos and previously untold stories of the pivotal roles that the women of the Manuel family played and continue to play in the battle for Indigenous rights.

Reviews
“Brotherhood to Nationhood is more than just a biography of the life of George Manuel; it demonstrates the roots of an Indigenous internationalism and political theory that is grounded in the ethics, knowledge, and practices of the Secwepemc people.” – Leanne Betasamosake Simpson, author of As We Have Always Done

Educator Information
Table of Contents
Foreword - Dr. Pamela Palmater
Preface - Peter McFarlane
Preface - Doreen Manuel

Part I. The Neck of the Chicken
1. Paradise, Paradise Lost, 1960
2. The Hard-Luck Shuswap Kid, 1920–1932
3. White Plague, Red Victims, 1932–1954
4. Local Agitator to Provincial Leader, 1955–1960
5. A Future for Your Children, 1960–1963

Part II. Building the National Movement
6. Community Development and the Arthur Laing Gang, 1965–1967
7. Down the Garden Path: Chretien Andras Consultations, 1968–1969
8. From White Paper to Red Paper, 1969–1970
9. The National Chief
10. The National Indian Philosophy, 1971–1972

Part III. Indian Shogun
11. International Travels
12. Land Title and the James Bay Battle, 1972–1973
13. Red Power
14. Political Eruptions in British Columbia, 1975
15. A Voice for the Fourth World, 1975–1976
16. Back to British Columbia,1976–1977
17. The Peoples’ Movement, 1977–1979
18. Constitutional Express, 1980

Part IV. Final Days
19. European Express, 1981–1982
20. Passing the Torch, 1982–1989

Epilogue
Afterword - Kanahus Manuel

Additional Information
402 pages | 6.00" x 9.00" | Revised, 2nd Edition

Beautiful and delicious gluten-free, grain-free, and dairy-free recipes, fully endorsed by Whole30.

As millions of people know, one of the toughest things about completing the Whole30 is figuring out what to eat the other 335 days of the year. Kirsten Buck, creator of Buck Naked Kitchen, struggled with her weight and chronic eczema for years before she transformed her life through food. She adopted a mostly paleo way of eating--gluten-free, grain-free, dairy-free, healthy fats, no refined sugars--and experienced dramatic weight loss. Soon after she went on to win the first-ever "Next Whole30 Star" competition and is now a certified holistic nutritionist, sharing delicious and beautiful recipes on her blog and Instagram with thousands of fans. From her Pesto Chicken Salad Sandwich for lunch, to Moroccan Lamb Stew for dinner, to the stunning Summer Berry Galette to satisfy your sweet tooth, there is something for every taste. In addition, there are recipe basics for making your own mayo, yogurt, salad dressings, tahini, and more, which prove that healthy eating doesn't have to break the bank.

Reviews
“[Buck Naked Kitchen] combines Kirsten’s education as a certified holistic nutritionist with her background and experience focusing on whole foods and creating healthy, approachable and delicious meals. Not only is every recipe gluten, grain AND dairy-free, did I also mention the Manitoba favourite: chicken tenders and HONEY DILL?! You gotta try it!”—Travel Manitoba

What I see in this book is a woman showing up as her truest, most authentic self, using food to speak to us, to connect with us, and to show us and herself love. Kirsten has brought her journey into the light, and the joy, vibrancy, and newfound confidence with which she both cooks and moves through this world glows through these pages.”—from the Foreword by Melissa Urban, Whole30 Co-Founder and CEO

“There are so many classic recipe staples in Kirsten's cookbook that it deserves a permanent place on every kitchen counter! I felt like she invited me into her home and showed me how to cook nourishing food from scratch. The photography is beautiful and Kirsten's approach to food is so effortless and natural.”—Joy McCarthy, bestselling author of Joyous Health and The Joyous Cookbook

Additional Information
272 pages | 8.25" x 9.31" | Full-colour photos throughout | Hardcover

bug is a solo performance and artistic ceremony that highlights the ongoing effects of colonialism and intergenerational trauma experienced by Indigenous women, as well as a testimony to the women's resilience and strength. The Girl traces her life from surviving the foster care system to her struggles with addictions. She fights, hoping to break the cycle in order to give her daughter a different life than the one she had. The Mother sits in Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, recounting memories of the daughter that was taken from her, and the struggles of living on the streets in Northern Ontario. They are both followed by Manidoons, a physical manifestation of the trauma and addictions that crawl across generations.

bug reveals the hard truths that many Indigenous women face as they carve out a space to survive in contemporary Canada, while holding on to so much hope.

Reviews
"bug pulls back the curtain on the falsehood of reconciliation using storytelling and movement, bringing everything we've seen in the news and the history books into the heart and gut." - Mooney on Theatre

Educator Information
Recommended for grades 10 to 12.

Additional Information
80 pages | 5.50" x 8.50"