Gitxsan (Gitksan)

A powerful anthology uniting the voices of Indigenous women, Elders, grassroots community activists, artists, academics, and family members affected by the tragedy of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls, and Two-Spirit people from across Turtle Island.

In 2010, Métis artist Jaime Black-Morsette created the REDress Project—an art installation consisting of placing red dresses in public spaces as a call for justice for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls, and Two-Spirit people (MMIWG2S). Symbolizing both absence and presence, the red dresses ignite a reclamation of voice and place for MMIWG2S. Fifteen years later, the symbol of the empty red dress endures as families continue to call for action.

In this anthology, Jaime Black-Morsette shares her own intimate stories and memories of the REDress Project along with the voices of Indigenous women, Elders, grassroots community activists, artists, academics, and family members affected by this tragedy. Together they use the power of their collective voice to not only call for justice for MMIWG2S, but honour Indigenous women as keepers and protectors of land, culture, and community across Turtle Island.

Reviews
“REDress is a must-read for anyone who seeks to truly understand the hearts of those most impacted by MMIWG2S. For allies and interested citizens, this anthology shows how Canada emboldened and fostered a society to inflict genocide against Indigenous women, girls, and Two-Spirited and transgendered relatives.”—Sheila North, Former Grand Chief, Creator of hashtag #MMIW, Mother and Kookom

“REDress is a love offering to MMIWG2S and those who are intimately impacted by this epidemic.”—Cathy Mattes, curator, writer, and Associate Professor in History of Art at the University of Winnipeg

"This is a moving look at how women in indigenous communities are using art and activism to keep the the issue at the forefront, despite the lack of progress in solving or preventing the crimes.... A content warning signals that the book contains language concerning violence against women. I’d offer this to activist artists or anyone interested in justice for indigenous communities, in high school and up." - Youth Services Book Review - Stephanie Tournas, Retired librarian, Cambridge, MA 

Educator Information
Content Warning: This book's content deals with violence against Indigenous women, girls, and Two-Spirit people; genocide; death; intergenerational trauma; suicide; and residential schools. 

Big Ideas: Diverse and Inclusive Representation: Identity; Land-Based or Place-Based Learning; Social-Emotional Learning: Death, Grief, Bereavement; Social-Emotional Learning: Self Expression, Creative Writing, Art; Social Justice: Citizenship and Social Responsibility; Social Justice: Impacts of Colonization and Colonialism; Social Justice: MMIWG2S; Social Justice: Prejudice and Racism.

Edited by: Jaime Black-Morsette

Contributions by: KC Adams, Mackenzie Anderson Linklater, Marjorie Beaucage, Christi Belcourt, Judy Da Silva,  Karine Duhamel, Deantha Edmunds, Cambria Harris, Jaimie Isaac, Casey Koyczan, Crystal Lepscier, Lee-Ann Martin, Diane Maytwayashing, Cathy Merrick, Sherry Farrell Racette, Gladys Radek, Zoey Roy, Jennifer Lee Smith, and Patti Beardy.

Additional Information
168 pages | 7.00" x 10.00" | Paperback

My name is Corinne George. I am Wet’suwet’en with Gitksan lineage from the Gidimt’en (Bear) Clan. This is my truth, and through sharing my truth, I strive for ongoing healing and to continue the journey of reconciliation. As a Wet’suwet’en woman born and raised on what is now known as the “Highway of Tears,” it was not uncommon to receive inferior treatment. There were even times when I was overtly targeted. It has been very common for people to outwardly refuse to acknowledge my existence as a human being. I was always afraid to share my truth because I did not want to be stigmatized. I am the daughter of a residential school survivor and a WWII veteran. As a result of colonization, I have encountered incredible levels of trauma. I need to acknowledge and speak my truth. As I share my pain and experiences, I have gathered self-awareness and every time I speak about my trauma, I heal a little bit more. I do not deserve to be treated like I do not exist. Despite the historical impacts of colonization and trauma, my connections to my ancestral ways and my identity have been critical. This is how I survived and how I strive to thrive.

Educator Information
Recommended for ages 16+.

Additional Information
128 pages | 5.10" x 7.50" | Paperback

An eighty-year overview of wood and argillite carving by Indigenous women artists on the Northwest Coast.

Though women of the Northwest Coast have long carved poles, canoes, panels, and masks, many of these artists have not become as well known outside their communities as their male counterparts. These artists are cherished within their communities for helping to keep traditional carving practices alive, and for maintaining the dances, songs, and ceremonies that are intertwined with visual art production. This book, and an associated exhibition at the Audain Art Museum, gathers a range of sculptural formats by Indigenous women in order to expand the discourse of carving in the region.

Both the exhibition and publication are co-curated by Dana Claxton, artist, filmmaker and head of the University of British Columbia's Department of Art History, Visual Art and Theory; and Dr. Curtis Collins, the AAM's Director & Chief Curator. Commentaries by Skeena Reece, Claxton, and Marika Swan, and interviews with artists Dale Campbell and Mary Anne Barkhouse are presented alongside more than one hundred artworks from public and private collections across North America, including several newly commissioned pieces.

Featured artists include:
- Ellen Neel (Kwakwaka'wakw, 1916-1966) - Freda Diesing (Haida, 1925-2002) - Doreen Jensen (Gitxsan, 1933-2009) - Susan Point (Musqueam, b. 1952) - Dale Campbell (Tahltan, b. 1954) - Marianne Nicolson (Kwakwaka'wakw, b. 1969) - Arlene Ness (Gitxsan, b. 1970s) - Melanie Russ (Haida, b. 1977) - Marika Swan (Nuu-chah-nulth, b. 1982) - Morgan Asoyuf (Ts'msyen, b. 1984) - Cori Savard (Haida, b. 1985) - Cherish Alexander (Gitwangak, b. 1987) - Stephanie Anderson (Wetsuwet'en, b. 1991) - Veronica Waechter (Gitxsan, b. 1995)

Additional Information
160 pages | 9.20" x 1.10" | 120 colour photos | Hardcover 

Unbroken is an extraordinary work of memoir and investigative journalism focusing on missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls, written by an award-winning Gitxsan journalist who survived life on the streets against all odds.

As a Gitxsan teenager navigating life on the streets, Angela Sterritt wrote in her journal to help her survive and find her place in the world. Now an acclaimed journalist, she writes for major news outlets to push for justice and to light a path for Indigenous women, girls, and survivors. In her brilliant debut, Sterritt shares her memoir alongside investigative reporting into cases of missing and murdered Indigenous women in Canada, showing how colonialism and racism led to a society where Sterritt struggled to survive as a young person, and where the lives of Indigenous women and girls are ignored and devalued.

Growing up, Sterritt was steeped in the stories of her ancestors: grandparents who carried bentwood boxes of berries, hunted and trapped, and later fought for rights and title to that land. But as a vulnerable young woman, kicked out of the family home and living on the street, Sterritt inhabited places that, today, are infamous for being communities where women have gone missing or been murdered: Vancouver's Downtown Eastside, and, later on, Northern BC's Highway of Tears. Sterritt faced darkness: she experienced violence from partners and strangers and saw friends and community members die or go missing. But she navigated the street, group homes, and SROs to finally find her place in journalism and academic excellence at university, relying entirely on her own strength, resilience, and creativity along with the support of her ancestors and community to find her way.

"She could have been me," Sterritt acknowledges today, and her empathy for victims, survivors, and families drives her present-day investigations into the lives of missing and murdered Indigenous women. In the end, Sterritt steps into a place of power, demanding accountability from the media and the public, exposing racism, and showing that there is much work to do on the path towards understanding the truth. But most importantly, she proves that the strength and brilliance of Indigenous women is unbroken, and that together, they can build lives of joy and abundance.

Reviews
"Sterritt's story is living proof of how courageous Indigenous women are. Listen to her voice and hear the sound of the land, hear the sound of our women weeping but also raging—refusing to be neglected or ignored any longer."—Tanya Talaga, author of Seven Fallen Feathers and All Our Relations

"A fierce, necessary, deeply moving book. Sterritt uses her difficult personal journey to frame the terrible history of missing and murdered Indigenous women in Canada. Haunting and illuminating."— Eden Robinson, author of Son of a Trickster

"Angela Sterritt takes on Canada's deeply flawed justice system, deftly exposing systemic racism and the continuing impacts of colonialism. This book is a compelling read and a well-researched and powerful heart-centered memoir."—Lorimer Shenher, author of That Lonely Section of Hell

"With facts and humanity, Angela Sterritt effortlessly draws us into this emotional and important read. A courageous Indigenous voice who uses her personal journey to educate all of us about critical and urgent issues we must address, including Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls."— Jody Wilson-Raybould

"A new clear, compelling, and urgent voice illuminates a critical topic of our times with the passion and profound caring of a devoted sister. A tour de force."—Darrel McLeod, author of Mamaskatch and Peyakow

"A remarkable life story. . . Angela Sterritt is a formidable storyteller and a passionate advocate."—Cherie Dimaline, author of The Marrow Thieves

"[A] thought-provoking memoir. . . Beginning with a haunting list of names of Indigenous women and girls who were either murdered or missing along the Highway of Tears, the book tells the stories of such ignored and abused victims. . . The final product is eyeopening, making use of tragic firsthand accounts from grieving families and Sterritt's personal memories, all raw and rich with detail. . . [P]owerful."—Foreword Reviews

Additional Information
6.00" x 9.00" | Paperback

The Skeena, second longest river in the province, remains an icon of British Columbia’s northwest. Called Xsien (“water of the clouds”) by the Tsimshian and Gitksan, it has always played a vital role in the lives of Indigenous people of the region. Since the 1800s, it has also become home to gold seekers, traders, salmon fishers and other settlers who were drawn by the area’s beauty and abundant natural resources.

Voices from the Skeena takes readers on a journey inspired directly by the people who lived there. Combining forty illustrations with text selected from the pioneer interviews CBC radio producer Imbert Orchard recorded in the 1960s, the book follows the arrival of the Europeans and the introduction of the fur trade to the Omineca gold rush and the building of the Grand Trunk Pacific Railroad.

Open the pages to meet Robert Cunningham, an Anglican missionary who would later become the founder of the thriving Port Essington. Here too is a man called Cataline, a packer for whom no settlement was too remote to reach, and the indominable Sarah Glassey, the first woman to pre-empt land in British Columbia. At the heart of these stories is the river, weaving together a narrative of a people and their culture. Pairing the stories with Roy Henry Vicker’s vibrant art creates a unique and captivating portrait of British Columbia that will appeal to art lovers and history readers alike.

Additional Information
112 pages | 11.00" x 8.00" | 40 colour illustrations

This work has received the Authentic Indigenous Text label because of the interviews/contributions with Indigenous people like Vicky Sims and Chief Jeffrey H. Johnson. It is up to readers to determine if this work is authentic for their purposes.

Cloudwalker, describing the creation of the rivers, is the second in a series of Northwest Coast legends by Roy Henry Vickers and Robert Budd. Their previous collaboration, Raven Brings the Light (2013), is a national bestseller.

On British Columbia's northwest coast lies the Sacred Headwaters--the source of three of British Columbia's largest salmon-bearing rivers. These rivers are the source of life for all creatures in the area. But what gave life to the rivers themselves?

Astace, a young Gitxsan hunter, is intent on catching a group of swans with his bare hands. He is carried away by the birds' powerful wings and dropped in the clouds. With only a cedar box of water Astace wanders the clouds, growing weaker, stumbling and spilling the contents. When he finally returns to earth he discovers lakes, creeks, and rivers where there were none before. The Gitxsan rejoice at having him home, and name the new river they live alongside Ksien--"juice from the clouds."

Roy Henry Vickers' vibrant artwork, including 18 new prints, accompany this new retelling of an ancient story--readers of all ages will be captivated.

Educator & Series Information
This book is part of the Northwest Coast Legends series. 

Other books in this series include:
Raven Brings the Light
Cloudwalker
Orca Chief
Peace Dancer 

Recommended for ages 3 to 6.

Additional Information
40 pages | 12.00" x 8.25"

William Beynon was born in 1888 in Victoria to a Welsh father and a Tsimshian mother. He was an accomplished ethnographer and had a long career documenting the traditions of the Tsimshian, Nisga'a, and Gitksan. In 1945 he attended and actively participated in five days of potlatches and totem pole raisings at Gitksan village of Gitsegukla. There he compiled four notebooks containing detailed and often verbatim information about the events he witnessed. For over 50 years these notebooks have seen limited circulation among specialists, who have long recognized them as the most perceptive and complete account of potlatching ever recorded.

In Potlatch at Gitsegukla the almost 200 pages of the notebooks are published for the first time. Sketches and a selection of photographs taken by Beynon are also included (augmented by photographs taken by Wilson Duff in 1952). In addition to meticulously transcribing and annotating the text of the notebooks, Margaret Anderson and Marjorie Halpin provide a comprehensive introduction that puts Beynon's account into a Gitskan cultural perspective, as well as extensive appendices listing names, places, and Gitskan terms in the notebooks. There is also an excellent timeline of key events in Gitskan history by James McDonald and Jennifer Joseph.

William Beynon's notebooks are among the most significant written records of Northwest coast potlatching and are an unsurpassed resource documenting these activities among the Gitskan. This rare, first-hand, ethnographic account of a potlatch reveals the wonderful complexities of the events that took place in Gitsegukla in 1945.

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

In-depth analysis of the 130-year history of the Aboriginal title issue in British Columbia, including the Gitksan and Wet'suwet'en case.

Anthropologists have traditionally studied Europe’s “others” and the marginalized and excluded within Europe’s and North America’s boundaries. This book turns the anthropologist’s spyglass in the opposite direction: on the law, the institution that quintessentially embodies and reproduces Western power.

The Pleasure of the Crown offers a comprehensive look at how Canadian, particularly British Columbian, society “reveals itself” through its courtroom performances in Aboriginal title litigation. Rather than asking what cultural beliefs and practices First Nations draw on to support their appeals for legal recognition of Aboriginal title, Culhane asks what assumptions, beliefs, and cultural values the Crown relies on to assert and defend their claims to hold legitimate sovereignty and jurisdiction over lands and resources in B.C. What empirical evidence does the Crown present to bolster its arguments? What can thus be learned by anthropologists and the public at large about the historical and contemporary culture of the powerful?

Focusing in particular on the Gitksan and Wet’suwet’en case, the book traces the trial of Delgamuukw. v. Regina from its first hearing during 1987 and 1991 to its successful appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada, which issued a landmark ruling on the case on December 11, 1997.

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