Indigenous Peoples in Canada

​Updated and expanded 2nd edition of the national best seller!

First Nations 101 provides a broad overview of the day-to-day lives of Indigenous people, traditional Indigenous communities, colonial interventions used in an attempt to assimilate Indigenous people into mainstream society, the impacts those interventions had on Indigenous families and communities, and how Indigenous people are working towards holistic health and wellness today.

This 2nd edition has over 75 chapters, including new ones on rematriation, water for life, governance ‘options’, Indigenous feminisms, decolonization, (mis)appropriation, Indigenous Knowledge, and how to become a great ally.

Educator Information
Author Lynda Gray’s accessible writing style makes First Nations 101 the perfect primer for all to read. She notes that although governments may encourage and fund reconciliation activities, true reconciliation can only happen through the ongoing commitment and consistent actions of individuals, groups, organizations, governments, and businesses.

$1 from each book sold will be donated to the Ts’msyen Revolution Fund which Lynda Gray and her children, Dr. Robin Gray and artist Phil Gray, started in 2022. The Fund will help support Ts’msyen language and culture revitalization in laxyuubm Ts’msyen (Ts’msyen territory).

Lynda Gray is member of the Ts’msyen Nation from Lax Kw’alaams on the Northwest Coast of B.C. The book’s cover art was created by her son Phil Gray and features a 'neełx (killerwhale) to represent the author and her children’s clan (Gisbutwada).

The 2nd edition has over 75 chapters, with 16 new ones including rematriation, what is reconciliation, traditional economies, water for life, Indigenous feminisms, (mis)appropriation, economic development, Indigenous Knowledge, how to become a great ally, and more.

Additional Information
336 Pages | Updated and expanded 2nd edition

Through a series of fifty-one large “story robes,” Jut-ke-Nay Hazel Wilson shares a grand narrative of Haida origins, resistance, and perseverance in the face of colonialism, and of life as it has been lived on Haida Gwaii since time immemorial.

Glory and Exile: Haida History Robes of Jut-ke-Nay Hazel Wilson marks the first time this monumental cycle of ceremonial robes by the Haida artist Jut-Ke-Nay (The One People Speak Of) - also known as Hazel Anna Wilson - is viewable in its entirety. On 51 large blankets, Wilson uses painted and appliqued imagery to combine traditional stories, autobiography, and commentary on events such as smallpox epidemics and environmental destruction into a grand narrative that celebrates the resistance and survival of the Haida people, while challenging the colonial histories of the Northwest Coast.

Of the countless robes Wilson created over fifty-plus years, she is perhaps best known for The Story of K'iid K'iyaas, a series about the revered tree made famous by John Vaillant's 2005 book The Golden Spruce. But her largest and most important work is the untitled series of blankets featured here. Wilson always saw these works as public art, to be widely seen and, importantly, understood.

In addition to essays by Robert Kardosh and Robin Laurence, the volume features texts about each robe by Wilson herself; her words amplify the power of her striking imagery by offering historical and personal context for the people, characters, and places that live within her colossal work. Glory and Exile, which also features personal recollections by Wilson's daughter Kun Jaad Dana Simeon, her brother Allan Wilson, and Haida curator and artist Nika Collison, is a fitting tribute to the breathtaking achievements of an artist whose vision will help Haida knowledge persist for many generations to come.

Reviews
“Hazel was a matriarch, artist, and Storyteller. Thomas King once wrote, “The truth about stories is, that’s all we are.” To experience Hazel’s work is to learn a story within a story: the past as taught by her Elders; the life she herself experienced within these narratives; and a glimpse of our storied future, which we will build by upholding our own responsibilities to Haida Gwaii, the Supernatural, and each other.” —Jisgang Nika Collison, in Glory and Exile

Additional Information
232 pages | 8.02" x 10.23" | Hardcover 

A true story of life in a residential school and of moving on. Written by Award-Winning Cree author Larry Loyie with Constance Brissenden.

Goodbye Buffalo Bay is set during the author's teenage years. In his last year in residential school, Lawrence learns the power of courage to stand up for his beliefs. When he returns home he feels like a stranger to his family. The traditional First Nations life he once knew has changed. With Grandfather's guidance he finds his way. A book of self-discovery and the importance of friendship.

Educator & Series Information
This book is part of The Lawrence Series.

Recommended for grades 4 to 9.

Additional Information
142 Pages | Paperback

A family tries to learn from the mistakes of past generations in this whirlwind memoir from a wholly original new voice.

The Caetanos move into a doomed house in the highway village of Happyland before an inevitable divorce pulls Cody’s parents in separate directions. His mom, Mindimooye, having discovered her Anishinaabe birth family and Sixties Scoop origin story, embarks on a series of fraught relationships and fresh starts. His dad, O Touro, a Portuguese immigrant and drifter, falls back into “big do, little think” behaviour, despite his best intentions.

Left alone at the house in Happyland, Cody and his siblings must fend for themselves, even as the pipes burst and the lights go out. His protective big sister, Kris, finds inventive ways to put food on the table, and his stoic big brother, Julian, facilitates his regular escapes into the world of video games. As life yanks them from one temporary solution to the next, they steal moments of joy and resist buckling under “baddie” temptations aplenty.

Capturing the chaos and wonder of a precarious childhood, Cody Caetano delivers a fever dream coming-of-age garnished with a slang all his own. Half-Bads in White Regalia is an unforgettable debut that unspools a tangled family history with warmth, humour, and deep generosity.

Awards

• 2023 Indigenous Voices Awards Winner: Published Prose in English

Reviews
“Memoirs are a difficult alchemy of testimony and confession, scene-making and character-building. They have to soften the hard things and show the way through at every turn—or at least they should—and that’s what Cody Caetano does in Half-Bads in White Regalia. No one gets off easy, but everyone is drawn with unflinching love and respect. Nothing seems wholly remarkable, yet everything is turned to see its beauty. Poetry permeates this prose, poetry and this wholly unique voice and style that somehow made me laugh and cry often, and in the oddest places. Read it. You won’t regret it. Telling you.”—Katherena Vermette, author of The Strangers
 
“A brilliant and devastating debut. This book hurtles towards difficult understandings about love and violence and family. At times I didn’t know whether I should laugh or cry, but Caetano fills each moment with such character and humanity that it’s impossible not to fall in love.” —Jordan Abel, author of NISHGA

Additional Information
280 pages | 5.62" x 8.25" | Paperback

A beautifully illustrated collection of inspiring life stories of fifty extraordinary historical women from BC and the Yukon.

This fascinating, informative, and charming book introduces young readers to a diverse group of women who changed the face of history in unexpected ways and defied the expectations and gender norms of their times. Through charming illustrations and concise biographies, Her Courage Rises features social activists and politicians, artists and writers, scientists and healers, pioneers and prospectors, athletes and entrepreneurs, teachers and cultural tradition keepers.

These women represented all ages, walks of life, and backgrounds. Some, like Cougar Annie and shipwreck heroine Minnie Paterson, became legendary in popular culture, long after their deaths. Others, like politician Rosemary Brown, artist Emily Carr, and Olympic sprinter Barbara Howard, achieved fame during their lives. Still others, including photographer and cultural teacher Elizabeth Quocksister, artist and cultural consultant Florence Edenshaw, land claims activist and translator Jane Constance Cook (Ga’axsta’las), and language champion Barbara Touchie, made great strides in preserving and promoting Indigenous rights and cultures. And many, like environmentalist Ruth Masters, water diviner Evelyn Penrose, and Doukhobor pioneer Anna Markova, are less well-known but still made important contributions to their communities and our wider collective history.

Her Courage Rises is full of inspirational female role models and insights into the trailblazing women who made history in BC and the Yukon.

Reviews
"[An] extra-textual approach blended with rigorous traditional research allowed Healey and Fraser to create a fresh and unique historical document – one that not only gives fascinating detail, but manages to capture an ineffable humanity and relatability in even the most exceptional people profiled."
Quill & Quire

“This easily approachable book is a celebration of the achievements of fifty women who had the determination and strength of character to fashion new directions, sometimes despite great odds. Their stories represent hope and courage and serve as a reminder that women have always played a defining role in shaping their societies.”—Cathy Converse, author of Following the Curve of Time and Against the Current: The Remarkable Life of Agnes Deans Cameron

"Haley Healey has written another very important book highlighting the achievements of many women in history. This short book, beautifully illustrated by Kimiko Fraser, will be one to treasure in your favourite historical non-fiction collection."—Valerie Green, historian and author of If More Walls Could Talk: Vancouver Island’s Houses from the Past

“An engaging book that encourages the interest of young readers by providing a factual way in to explore diverse lives. By reframing unorthodox lives and breaking down stereotypes, the author highlights the resilience and determination of her subjects, made more tangible through the illustrations.”—Linda J. Eversole, author of Victoria Unbuttoned: A Red-Light History of BC's Capital City and Stella: Unrepentant Madam

Educator Information
Recommended for ages 12+ 

Additional Information
128 pages | 7.00" x 9.00" | Hardcover 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

In this harrowing survival story, Brian Koonoo takes off on a hunting trip in Canada’s Arctic. After his snowmobile breaks down, his GPS loses signal, and his camping fuel runs low, he is left alone to survive for seven days. Inuunira is an Inuktitut term that means "how I'm alive," and this account shows exactly how Brian managed to stay alive. He experiences close encounters with planes, blizzards, and hunger, all while much of his gear is lost. Walking 60 kilometres in search of safety, he uses the knowledge his father and Elders taught him—modern and traditional means of navigation, finding water, making shelters, and keeping his spirits up—to continue on. With photos, illustrations, and diagrams throughout, readers are sure to be inspired by this story of strong will and hope.

Additional Information
37 pages | 6.75" x 9.50" | Hardcover 

Jerleen Sullivan Anderson from Norway House Cree Nation shares the story of her brother Jordan River Anderson and their Mom Virgina Anderson in her book Jordan and Mom.

Jerleen writes this book so that we can remember Jordan and the way he was treated as a First Nations child, with his serious health condition, by the governments of Manitoba and Canada. It is a book for us to learn and understand how Jordan’s Principle came about and that Jordan had a Mom and family who loved him dearly.

Educator Information
The publisher recommends this picture book for grades seven, eight, and nine.

Keywords / Themes: Jordan's Principle; Health; Family.

Additional Information
24 Pages | Paperback

Kent Monkman's art has been described as "stupendous" (New York Times), "sure to alarm and educate" (The Observer), and beating "Western history painting at its own game" (The Globe and Mail). Subversive, bold, and groundbreaking, the work of this Cree artist has transformed contemporary Canadian visual culture. Monkman's art is included in major Canadian and international public institutions and he is the only artist in this country to be commissioned by The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Kent Monkman: Life & Work is the first comprehensive book about the celebrated Monkman (b.1965). It is the only publication to trace the arc of his career, from his early abstract paintings to his rise to fame creating works that re-visit and reinterpret historic paintings to offer a powerful commentary on Indigenous resistance, remembrance, and the re-thinking of history.

Author Shirley Madill chronicles the origins of Miss Chief Eagle Testickle—Monkman's time-travelling, shape-shifting, gender-fluid alter ego, who features prominently in his work—and details his youth in Manitoba growing up as a member of the Fisher River First Nation, where he first became aware of profound social injustice. Madill explores Monkman's provocative interventions into Western European and American art history, and shows how he created a body of work that raises awareness of the critical issues facing Indigenous peoples by fiercely addressing North America's legacy of colonialism, while also critiquing Western art history. Kent Monkman: Life & Work is the definitive publication for anyone passionate about Indigenous issues, art in North America, and contemporary culture.

Additional Information
144 pages | 8.00" x 11.00" | Hardcover 

Indigenous Voices Award winner Cole Pauls returns with a robust collection of stories that celebrate the cultural practices and experiences of Dene and Arctic peoples. Gathering Pauls's comics from magazines, comic festivals and zine making workshops, these comics are his most personal work yet. You'll learn stories about the author's family, racism and identity, Yukon history, winter activities, Southern Tutchone language lessons and cultural practices. Have you ever wanted to learn how to Knuckle Hop? or to acknowledge and respect the Indigenous land you’re on? Or how to be an ally to Indigenous people? Well, gather around and hear this Kwändǖr! (Story!).

Additional Information
140 pages | 6.50" x 10.00" Paperback

Lorsque Cole Harper est contraint de retourner à la Première Nation Wounded Sky, il trouve sa communauté en plein chaos : une série de meurtres choquants, une maladie mystérieuse qui ravage les résidents et des questions qui refont surface sur le rôle de Cole dans une vieille tragédie. Avec l'aide d'un esprit malveillant, d'un fantôme défiguré et de ses deux plus vieux amis, Cole tente de comprendre sa raison d'être et de résoudre les mystères qu'il a laissés derrière lui il y a dix ans. Trouvera-t-il les réponses à temps pour sauver sa communauté ? Sous la plume de David A. Robertson, Cole Harper est à la fois un anti-héros, un super-héros, un personnage déchiré et attachant à l’humour aiguisé. Étrangers fait référence aux grands pans de l’histoire des Premières nations tout en composant une histoire haletante pour les adolescents. Une manière douce d’aborder plusieurs problématiques dénoncées par les communautés autochtones.

Educator & Series Information
Recommended for ages 13+

This book is the first book in David Robertson's The Reckoner trilogy (La trilogie Reckoner).

This book is available in English: Strangers 

Additional Information
252 Pages | Paperback

Cole Harper peine à s'habituer à la vie dans la Première Nation de Wounded Sky. Il a beau avoir arrêté un tueur en série, les ennuis sont loin d'être terminés. Une créature se tapit dans l'ombre de la forêt de Blackwood, la clinique est confinée par une mystérieuse organisation et des secrets enfouis depuis longtemps menacent de refaire surface. Cole connaîtra-t-il la vérité sur la mort de son père ? Pourquoi Choch ne lui répond-il pas franchement ? Où se cache Jayne ? Oh, puis le secondaire, c'est poche !

Educator & Series Information
Recommended for ages 13+

This book is the second book in David Robertson's The Reckoner trilogy (La trilogie Reckoner).

This book is available in English: Monsters

Additional Information
300 Pages 

An electrifying memoir that braids together the urgent issues of Indigenous rights and environmental policy, from a nationally and internationally recognized activist and survivor.

There have been many Clayton Thomas-Mullers: The child who played with toy planes as an escape from domestic and sexual abuse, enduring the intergenerational trauma of Canada's residential school system; the angry youngster who defended himself with fists and sharp wit against racism and violence, at school and on the streets of Winnipeg and small-town British Columbia; the tough teenager who, at 17, managed a drug house run by members of his family, and slipped in and out of juvie, operating in a world of violence and pain.

But behind them all, there was another Clayton: the one who remained immersed in Cree spirituality, and who embraced the rituals and ways of thinking vital to his heritage; the one who reconnected with the land during summer visits to his great-grandparents' trapline in his home territory of Pukatawagan in northern Manitoba.

And it's this version of Clayton that ultimately triumphed, finding healing by directly facing the trauma that he shares with Indigenous peoples around the world. Now a leading organizer and activist on the frontlines of environmental resistance, Clayton brings his warrior spirit to the fight against the ongoing assault on Indigenous peoples' lands by Big Oil.

Tying together personal stories of survival that bring the realities of the First Nations of this land into sharp focus, and lessons learned from a career as a frontline activist committed to addressing environmental injustice at a global scale, Thomas-Muller offers a narrative and vision of healing and responsibility.

Reviews
“Clayton Thomas-Müller—Cree poet and environmental warrior dedicated to decolonization—has crafted an awesome, lyrical memoir that captures the experiences of urban Indigenous youth facing poverty, drugs, alcohol, domestic violence, and juvenile detention. Most, like Clayton, inherited the intergenerational trauma of residential schools. Clayton found a way to escape trauma and poverty in order to fight for his people. This beautifully written book is required reading for everyone who cares about justice for the survivors of genocide who continue to survive in colonized conditions. It offers a path to liberation that may also be the way to saving the earth and humanity itself.” — Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz, author of An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States

“This book is an adventure story in every way. A life of drug dealers and crackhouses and guns; leaving that behind for a remarkable time of spiritual and personal growth; and there’s the ongoing adventure of working desperately to protect the planet and its sacred places. Clayton Thomas-Müller relates these adventures in ways that will help everyone through unfamiliar terrain—he’s a trustworthy guide and an authentic storyteller. In a moment when Indigenous people around the world are coming to the very fore of the most crucial fights, this volume will broaden your understanding in powerful ways. And you won’t forget its scenes any time soon.”—Bill McKibben, co-founder of 350.org and author of Earth and Oil and Honey

Additional Information
240 pages | 5.19" x 7.97" | Paperback

Expansive and enveloping, Webb-Campbell's collection asks, "Who am I in relation to the moon?" These poems explore the primordial connections between love, grief, and water, structured within the lunar calendar.

The poetics follow rhythms of the body, the tides, the moon, and long, deep familial relationships that are both personal and ancestral. Originating from Webb-Campbell's deep grief of losing her mother, Lunar Tides charts the arc to finding her again in the waves. Written from a mixed Mi'kmaq/settler perspective, this work also explores the legacies of colonialism, kinship and Indigenous resurgence.

Lunar Tides is the ocean floor and a moonlit night: full of possibility and fundamental connections.

Reviews
"Lunar Tides, Shannon Webb-Campbell exposes a heart that's broken but also carried across the gulf between the moon and the sea, a heart that knows how "grief takes up with the body." She shows us that grief is tidal, its ebb and flow pulsing like the moon and dog-earring our memories. This book reminds us that, grieving or not, we "need to be held by something other than a theory." —Douglas Walbourne-Gough, author of Crow Gulch

Additional Information
128 pages | 6.00" x 8.00" | Paperback

Leonard Moose and Mary Moose tell us our Aadizookaanan or Sacred Stories were passed down for thousands of years, filling the long winter nights with Anishinaabeg Oral Histories, Philosophies, and Ceremonies. Maang, or the Loon, is one of these ancient stories that our Anishinaabeg Ancestors have gifted us. 

There are many stories of the Loon. In this Aadizookaan, we will learn about Maang and the story of how Maang came to look the way this magnificent bird does today. The story of Maang is about how, through good deeds, we are rewarded. Maang is recognized by the good deeds with a necklace around Maang's neck and stars on Maang’s back. These markings on Maang are for all to see from generation to generation. “Maang” means “Grandmother, Keeper of the Lake”. We will also learn why Maang has a special place in the night sky as Giiwedinang, (North Star).

Educator Information
The publisher of this work recommends it for all grade levels.

In Anishinabemowin and English. Includes glossary.

Additional Information
48 Pages | Paperback