Indigenous Peoples in Canada

Behind the Bricks is the story of the Mohawk Institute, Canada’s first and longest-running residential school and a model for the entire residential school system.

From the outside, the Mohawk Institute looks like a large and welcoming school building. When one looks behind the bricks of the school, however, a much different story becomes apparent. Conceived and overseen by Six Nations community member Richard W. Hill Sr., Behind the Bricks is an important work that provides deep insight into the Mohawk Institute, Canada's first, and longest-running, residential school, operating from 1828 to 1970 in Brantford, Ontario. Many see the Mohawk Institute as a model for the residential school system.

Behind the Bricks brings together Indigenous and non-Indigenous experts. The book begins with an overview that traces the history and context of the school, and the remainder of Behind the Bricks touches on a broad array of topics from the experiences of students, to archaeology and architecture, to the role of religion, and beyond, drawing on a wide variety of sources including government documents, church records, and oral history.

Behind the Bricks examines the policies and motivations that shaped the experiences of all three parties involved with the school, the government, the church, and the students and their communities.

A thorough and thoughtful history that provides deep insight into over a century of institutional operation, Behind the Bricks is an essential work that tells us not only about the Mohawk Institute, but the entire residential school system, providing a window into the past with the goal of working towards a future of truth and reconciliation.

With contributions by: William (Bill) Acres, Diana Castillo, Sarah Clarke, Jimmie Edgar, Wendy L. Fletcher, Bonnie Freeman, Tara Froman, Alexandra Giancarlo, Cody Groat, Evan J. Habkirk, Richard W. Hill Sr., Keith Jamieson, Sandra Juutilainen, Magdalena Miłosz, David Monture, Teri Morrow, John Moses, Alison Norman, Thomas Peace, Jennifer Pettit, Paul Racher, and Bud Whiteye.

Reviews
"As we continue to reckon with the legacy of colonial schooling, this timely collection helps to model how to put truth before reconciliation." — Sean Carleton, University of Manitoba

Educator Information
Table of Contents
Preface
Richard W. Hill, Sr.

Introduction
Jennifer Pettit

The Russ Moses Residential School Memoir
John Moses and Russ Moses

Part One: Historical Overview and Context of the Mohawk Institute

1. “To Shake Off the Rude Habits of Savage Life”: The Foundations of the Mohawk Institute to the Early 1900s
Jennifer Pettit

2. “The Difficulties of Making an Indian into a White Man Were Not Thoroughly Appreciated”: The Mohawk Institute, 1904 to Present
Jennifer Pettit

Part Two: Teachers, Curriculum, and Tools of Control

3. The Indian Normal School: The Role of the Mohawk Institute in the Training of Indigenous Teachers in the Late 19th Century
Alison Norman

4. Teaching Control and Service: The Use of Military Training at the Mohawk Institute
Evan Habkirk

5. “New Weapons”: Race, Indigeneity, and Intelligence Testing a thte Mohawk Institute, 1920-1949
Alexandra Giancarlo

Part Three: The Building, The Grounds, and Commemoration

6. A “Model” School: An Architectural History of the Mohawk Institute
Magdalena Miłosz

7. The Stewardship, Preservation, and Commemoration of the Mohawk Institute
Cody Groat

Part Four: Survival and Resistance

8. Ten Years of Student Resistance at the Mohawk Institute, 1903-1913
Diana Casillo

9. ęhǫwadihsadǫ ne:ˀhniˀ adigyenǫ:gyeˀs ganahaǫgwęˀ ęyagǫnhehgǫhǫ:k/They buried them, but they the seeds floated around what will sustain them.
Teri Lyn Morrow, Bonnie Freeman, and Sandra Juutilainen

Part Five: The New England Company and the Mohawk Institute

10. A Model to Follow?: The Sussex Vale Indian School
Thomas Peace

11. Robert Ashton, The New England Company, and the Mohawk Institute, 1872-1910
Bill Acres

12. The Lands of the Mohawk Institute: Robert Ashton and the Demise of the New England Company’s “Station,” 1891-1922
Bill Acres

Part Six: Student Experiences and Voices

13. Life at the Mohawk Institute During the 1860s
Thomas Peace

14. Collecting the Evidence: Restoration and Archaeology at the Mohawk Institute
Sarah Clarke, Paul Racher, and Tara Froman

15. Collective Trauma and the Role of Religion in the Mohawk Institute Experience
Wendy Fletcher

16. Concluding Voices – Survivor Stories of Life Behind the Bricks
Richard W. Hill, Sr.

Closing Poems
Jimmie Edgar
Bud Whiteye
David Monture

Acknowledgements

Appendix One: History of Six Nations Education by Jamieson
Keith Jamieson
Appendix Two: Mohawk Institute Students Who Became Teachers

Suggested Reading

Additional Information
402 pages | 6.00" x 9.00" | 89 Illustrations | Paperback 

Chief Stacey Laforme, an esteemed Indigenous leader and storyteller, breathes life into every poem and story, drawing upon his deep cultural roots. Rich with the essence of his soul, the poems in Beneath the Surface capture the moments and emotions that have shaped him, offering a poignant exploration of identity, resilience, and hope. Through humour and pain, Laforme invites readers to not just read, but to truly feel the weight and wisdom carried within each verse.

This collection goes beyond poetry, providing rich backstories and leadership insights that contextualize the verses. As in his earlier collections, Living in the Tall Grass and Love, Life, Loss and a little bit of hope, Laforme once again extends an invitation to readers, encouraging them to see the world through Indigenous eyes. Themes of peace, humanity, grief, and trauma are woven throughout the book, creating a tapestry of reflection, healing, and ultimately, hope.

Beneath the Surface serves as both a deeply personal reflection and a call for greater understanding and connection, illuminating the complexities of life through the lens of Indigenous wisdom and storytelling.

At the end of this book, this journey, Laforme seeks to help you better answer the following questions. Who was I, Who am I, and Who do I want to be? As a person, a people, a country, a world, who do we want to be?

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

This meditation on the poetics of re-worlding follows the threads of Spiderwoman Theater’s Storyweaving practice back to its Guna and Rappahannock sources to illuminate its history, mechanics, and development for coming generations.

The Spiderwoman Theatre, the longest-running Indigenous theatre company in North America has heralded the revolutionary methodology of Storyweaving for generations of Indigenous artists. Storyweaving is a distinct methodology that governs the dramaturgical structure and performed transmission of the company’s plays on the contemporary stage. The practice of Storyweaving predates written history. It has been (and remains) specific to tribal storytellers across the continent.

The reclamation, then, of this aesthetic legacy by contemporary Indigenous storytellers is a crucial act of recovery. Jill Carter, an Anishinaabe-Ashkenazi theatre-worker and scholar, examines the process and development of Storyweaving. She studies how Storyweaving imagines and architects a functional framework that is being adopted and adapted by artists from myriad nations to create works (on the page and stage) that facilitate the healing, transformation, and survivance of their communities. Between the Layers pays respects to the teachers and visionaries that moulded this practice and encourages future generations to continue its legacy, while making a much-needed contribution to the study of Indigenous theatre and performance.

In its painstaking documentation of the Storyweaving artform, Between the Layers refuses the devaluation, erasure, and suppression of Indigenous culture, while contributing to the dissemination and celebration of Indigenous Knowledge Systems.

Educator Information

Table of Contents
List of Illustrations

Acknowledgements

Spiderwoman Theater: A Performance History

Introduction: Between the Layers

Chapter One:
Persistence of Violent Delights:
“It’s All the Same Bullshit Again”

Chapter Two:
“An Indian is an Idea a Man Has of Himself”

Chapter Three:
An Indian is More than Just an “Idea”:
By Their Acts Ye Shall Know Them

Chapter Four:
Towards a Poetics of Re-Worlding:
Becoming (and then Staging) the New Human Being

Chapter Five:
The Published Texts

Chapter Six:
The Three Sisters from There to Here:
Spiderwoman’s Issue and the Project of Re-worlding

Appendices

Works Cited

Additional Information
376 pages | 6.00" x 9.00" | 8 illustrations | Hardcover

Teammates, champions, Survivors

In 1951, after winning the Thunder Bay district championship, the Sioux Lookout Black Hawks hockey team from Pelican Lake Indian Residential School embarked on a whirlwind promotional tour through Ottawa and Toronto. They were accompanied by a professional photographer from the National Film Board who documented the experience. The tour was intended to demonstrate the success of the residential school system and introduce the Black Hawks to "civilizing" activities and the "benefits" of assimilating into Canadian society. For some of the boys, it was the beginning of a lifelong love of hockey; for others, it was an escape from the brutal living conditions and abuse at the residential school. 

In Beyond the Rink, Alexandra Giancarlo, Janice Forsyth, and Braden Te Hiwi collaborate with three surviving team members-Kelly Bull, Chris Cromarty, and David Wesley-to share the complex legacy behind the 1951 tour photos. This book reveals the complicated role of sports in residential school histories, commemorating the team's stellar hockey record and athletic prowess while exposing important truths about "Canada's Game" and how it shaped ideas about the nation. By considering their past, these Survivors imagine a better way forward not just for themselves, their families, and their communities, but for Canada as a whole.

Reviews
"These three survivors-Kelly, David, and Chris-inspire us not only for what they have done for their communities in the aftermath of the residential school system but also for how crucial hockey and sports are in bringing Indigenous communities together, like we see in the Little NHL Tournament. Our history and the lessons we've learned are vital, and Beyond the Rink does an excellent job of highlighting this." — Ted Nolan, former NHL Player & Coach, Olympic Coach, and author of Life in Two Worlds: A Coach's Journey from the Reserve to the NHL and Back

"On its face, Beyond the Rink is a compelling story of a residential school hockey team from northern Ontario touring Ottawa and Toronto in the 1950s. But it is much more than that: with a National Film Board photographer accompanying them every step of the way, the players are props in a public relations exercise meant to obscure the true conditions in residential schools.

This is an unflinching and nuanced look behind the PR veil, a story of loss, triumph, perseverance, tragedy, and memory. It is also a detailed account of the machinery of residential schools and the trauma they inflicted. And it is a revealing look at the power of photographs, which can be used to both illuminate and mislead.

At its heart, Beyond the Rink is the story of twelve Indigenous hockey players, who, like their white counterparts, loved the game for the thrill of competition, but also as an escape from the relentless control and exploitation they faced on a daily basis, even if they were being exploited while doing it. This is the story of twelve boys, told through the lens of three of them, trapped in a world they barely understood, a world that was not the least bit interested in understanding them, and in many ways still isn't." — Gord Miller

"The authors have spent decades working with the Survivors whose stories they share and centre in this book. Beyond the Rink, Behind the Image does not simply tell the story of a hockey team; it demonstrates how sport within the context of residential schools was a tool of colonization." — Karen Froman

"It is difficult to overstate the significance of this book. The scholarship is sound as well as original in context and content, and Survivor testimony is respected and communicated in a theoretically sophisticated way." — Travis Hay

Additional Information
184 pages | 6.00" x 8.50" | 36 b&w illustrations, bibliography | Paperback 

Firsthand narratives from Northern and Indigenous cancer survivors and caregivers offer compassionate advice and insightful analysis about healthcare in rural northern communities.

A cancer diagnosis can be life changing for anyone, bringing new physical and emotional realities, changed relationships, and often frustration when dealing with healthcare systems. But living north of sixty means dealing with a higher level of healthcare inequity. Agnes Pascal compiles firsthand narratives from Northern and Indigenous cancer survivors and caregivers that illuminate the unique challenges of healthcare accessibility in the North.

In this rare volume, more than thirty voices offer compassionate advice and insightful analysis born from experience. With courage and dignity, they discuss fear, grief, and death; the logistics of medical travel for treatment; Indigenous and Western medicine; structural determinants of health, including industrial pollution and environmental racism; and the impacts of residential schools and “Indian hospitals” on northern communities. In these pages people share that hope comes from building healing communities.

This book is for people with cancer and their caregivers; health policy makers and advocates; scholars and practitioners of healthcare, Indigenous governance, or environmental racism; and anyone interested grassroots, community-based peer support.

Reviews
“This book is a chorus of bravery, one every health practitioner should read so they can understand that as devastating as a cancer diagnosis is to the patient, it also affects the patient’s family, extended family and community. Thankfully, there is hope once diagnosed and the stories from these survivors is a testimony to the power of compassion, technology, teamwork, follow up and after care. I am in awe of the humility, courage, insight and gratitude in every story here. Mahsi cho.”- Richard Van Camp, author of Gather: Richard Van Camp on the Joy of Storytelling

“Prioritizing the voices of northern and Indigenous cancer patients, especially those from small communities, is critical for ensuring positive change within the Northwest Territories healthcare system. The inner strength of patients and the insights they share, are a gift to us all. ”- Stephanie Irlbacher-Fox, scientific director at Hotıì ts’eeda

Additional Information
192 pages | 6.00" x 9.00" | 30 Contributor Photos | Paperback

A Métis girl is adopted by a Mennonite family in this breathtaking memoir about family lost and found—for those who loved From the Ashes and Educated.

By the time Brittany Penner is seven years old, she has loved and lost twenty-one foster siblings who have come into her family and left—all of them Indigenous like her. "When will it be my turn?" she asks her mother time and time again. "When will I be taken away?" You won't be, she is told. You're adopted. You're here to stay. You're the lucky one.

On the day of her birth in 1989, near the end of the Sixties Scoop, Brittany was relinquished into the care of the government and adopted by a white Mennonite family in a small prairie town. Her name and where she came from are hidden from her; all she is told is that she is Métis. Her childhood is shaped by church, family, service and silence. Her family is continuously shifting as siblings arrive and depart, one by one. She knows that to stay, she has to force herself into the mold created for her. She must be obedient. Quiet. Good. No matter what.

Whenever she looks in the mirror, she searches her features, wondering if they've been passed down to her by her biological mother. She thinks, if she can find her mother, she'll find all the answers she's looking for. As Brittany moves into adulthood, she will uncover answers—but they will be more tangled than she could have imagined.

Children Like Us asks difficult questions about family, identity, belonging and cultural continuity. What happens when you find what you're looking for, but it can't offer you everything you need? How do you reckon with the truth of your own story when you've always been told you're lucky and should be grateful? What does it mean to belong when you feel torn between cultures? And how does a person learn to hold the pain and the grief, as well as the triumphs, the joys and the beauty, allowing none to eclipse the others?

Reviews
"Children Like Us is a luminous memoir about identity, loss and belonging. Adopted at birth by a white Mennonite family, Brittany Penner grows up straddling two worlds—one she knows and one that remains just out of reach. As she pieces together her origins, she reckons with the complexities of family, love and cultural displacement. Both intimate and unflinching, Children Like Us is a powerful exploration of what it means to know where you come from—and what it costs when that knowledge is withheld." —Adrienne Brodeur, nationally bestselling author of Wild Game

"An absolutely mesmerizing debut. It was a privilege to bear witness to Brittany Penner's story about intergenerational trauma, identity, and belonging. The kinds of complicated grief we so often experience in life are born out of the complexity of human relationships and our fierce ability to both hurt and heal one another. Penner explores this truth deftly, with wisdom, compassion and grace. I hope everyone reads this book." —Claire Bidwell Smith, author of The Rules of Inheritance

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

Culinary Claims explores the complex relationships between wild plants and introduced animals, Indigenous foodways, and Canadian regulations. Blending food studies with environmental history, the book examines how cuisines reflect social and political issues related to cultural representation, restaurants, and food sovereignty.

L. Sasha Gora chronicles the rise of Indigenous restaurants and their influence on Canadian food culture, engaging with questions about how shifts in appetite reflect broader shifts in imaginations of local environments and identities. Drawing on a diverse range of sources – from recipes and menus to artworks and television shows – the book discusses both historical and contemporary representations of Indigenous foodways and how they are changing amid the relocalization of food systems.

Culinary Claims tells a new story of settler colonialism and Indigenous resistance, emphasizing the critical role that restaurants play in Canada’s cultural landscape. It investigates how food shapes our understanding of place and the politics that underpin this relationship. Ultimately, the book asks, What insights can historians gain from restaurants – and their legacies – as reflections of Indigenous and settler negotiations over cultural claims to land?

Educator Information
Subjects: Business; History / Canadian History; History / Business & Economic History; Food Studies / Food in History; Indigenous Studies / Indigenous History

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations
Preface

Introduction: You Are Welcome
1. Agricultural Flagpoles
2. From Trains to Tundra
3. Restaurants and Representation
4. An Edible Exhibition
5. One Address, Three Restaurants
6. A Meal for a Chief
7. Culinary Resurgence
8. Seal Tartare
9. Where the Beaver and Buffalo Roam
10. Salmon and the F-Word
Conclusion: The North

Acknowledgements
Notes
Bibliography
Index

Additional Information
392 pages | 6.00" x 9.00" | 34 illustrations | Paperback

A singular collection of responses to the still life paintings of acclaimed artist David Garneau

Dark Chapters brings together 17 poets, fiction writers, curators, and critics to engage with the works of David Garneau, the Governor General’s Award-winning Métis artist. Featuring paintings from Garneau’s still life series “Dark Chapters” alongside poetry, fiction, critical analysis, and autotheory, the book includes contributions from Fred Wah, Paul Seesequasis, Jesse Wente, Lillian Allen, Billy-Ray Belcourt, Larissa Lai, Susan Musgrave, and more.

A nod to the Reports of Truth and Reconciliation Commission, in which Justice Murray Sinclair describes the residential school system as “one of the darkest, most troubling chapters in our nation’s history,” Garneau’s still life paintings combine common objects (books, bones, teacups, mirrors) and less familiar ones (a Métis sash, a stone hammer, a braid of sweetgrass) to reflect the complexity of contemporary Indigenous experiences. Provocative titles like “Métis in the Academy” and “Smudge Before Reading” invite consideration of the mixed influences and loyalties faced by Indigenous students and scholars. Other paintings explore colonialism, vertical and lateral violence, Christian influence on traditional knowledge, and museum treatment of Indigenous belongings.

Rooted in Garneau’s life-long engagement at the intersections of visual art and writing, Dark Chapters presents a multifaceted reflection on the work of an inimitable, unparalleled artist.

Includes contributions from Arin Fay, Billy-Ray Belcourt, Cecily Nicholson, David Howes, Dick Averns, Fred Wah, Jeff Derksen, Jesse Wente, John G. Hampton, Larissa Lai, Lillian Allen, Paul Seesequasis, Peter Morin, Rita Bouvier, Susan Musgrave, Tarene Thomas, and Trevor Herriot.

Reviews
“A smart collection of art and essays, Dark Chapters activates deep conversations about art, resistance, and sovereignty. Visiting with paintings by Métis artist David Garneau, seventeen poets, curators, and thinkers offer complex provocations that trouble and activate new forms of communities and relationships.” —Dr. Carmen Robertson, Canada Research Chair in North American Indigenous Visual and Material Culture
 
“Provocative, probing, and precarious, Dark Chapters pairs the poetic, literary, political, and critical responses of seventeen authors with the deceptively uncluttered yet gravid and combustible still lifes of David Garneau. This collection of pictures and words undertakes a necessary examination of the uncanny oppositions and disquieting literal and symbolic inversions that signify and animate the Indigenous history of Canada.” —Bonnie Devine
 
“Dark Chapters is a lesson in relationality and innovation. Built through conversations between Garneau’s work and artists/writers, the intergenerational contributors to this book come together in relation to Garneau and his still lives to explore the important contribution the artist has made to Canadian, Indigenous, and International art.” —Erin Sutherland

Educator Information
Table of Contents

Foreword
Nic Wilson

Still Life
John G. Hampton

Stone and Rock: I Have Failed You
Peter Morin

Wander Carried
Cecily Nicholson

On Kinship
Paul Seesequasis

Learning from Indigenous Academic Solidarity
Jeff Derksen

Knock Knock
Lillian Allen

Unsettling the Colonial Gaze
Trevor Herriot

Smudge Before Reading and The Land Does Not Forget
Tarene Thomas

Confession (after David Garneau) by Rita Bouvier

Fuse and Formal and Informal Education
Jesse Wente

The Problem with Pleasure
Billy-Ray Belcourt

Métis Realism: On the Materiality of Smoke and Relationality of Rocks
David Howes

Allies (after Hsieh and Montano)
Larissa Lai

Ally Tear Reliquary
Arin Fay

Understanding Attempted Enlightening: Between Language as Power…and Light as Life
Dick Averns

Spine
Fred Wah

The Resting Heartbeat of a Wounded Bird
Susan Musgrave

Gallery
About the Artist
About the Curator
About the Editor
About the Contributors
List of Artworks
Index

Additional Information
160 pages | 6.50" x 9.50" | 58 colour illustrations | Paperback 

This book invites readers to step into a space of reflection on your personal relationship with truth, reconciliation, and Orange Shirt Day.

Written in response to the increase of residential school denialism, Phyllis Webstad and Kristy McLeod have collaborated to create a book that encourages readers to face their own biases. This book challenges readers through a series of sensitive conversations that explore decolonization, Indigenization, healing, and every person’s individual responsibility to truth and reconciliation. Centered around the Orange Shirt Day movement, and a National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, these conversations encourage readers to unpack and reckon with denialism, biases, privilege, and the journey forward, on both a personal and national level.

Within each chapter, Phyllis Webstad draws on her decade of experience (sharing her Orange Shirt Story on a global level and advocating for the rights of Indigenous Peoples) to offer insights on these topics and stories from her personal journey, which co-author and Métis scholar, Kristy McLeod, helps readers to further navigate. Each section includes real denialist comments taken from social media and Kristy's analysis and response to them. Through empathy-driven truth-telling, this book offers an opportunity to witness, reflect, heal, and be intentional about the seeds we hope to plant for the future, together.

Additional Information
350 pages | 5.70" x 8.25" | Hardcover

Reconciliation, as set out by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, is a process of understanding the Canadian state's genocide against Indigenous Peoples and creating a new relationship between Indigenous Peoples and settlers based on mutual respect and dignity. Given the racism and paternalism embedded in the Canadian state and related institutions, building such a relationship is a monumental task, but in addition, there is a major structural roadblock in the way: federalism, the political system that organizes Canadian governance.

Divided Power argues that Canada’s system of federalism, rooted in settler colonialism, has dispossessed Indigenous Peoples for settler benefit. Far from being a neutral, balanced way to distribute responsibilities and powers, the division between the state and provinces and territories obstructs Indigenous Peoples’ agency and governance. Under such coercive political exclusion, how can truth and reconciliation be fully achieved? Emily Grafton meticulously traces the ways that federalism limits the potential for reconciliation and proposes alternative power-sharing models.

Guiding readers through the terrain of debate, Grafton deftly and accessibly merges a political analysis of federalism with a clear assessment of settler colonialism to argue that reconciliation will be incomplete for as long as the current division of powers persists. Divided Power points to a promising approach to holding the Canadian state responsible for integrating the principles of truth and reconciliation into its very foundation.

Reviews
“Emily Grafton explores Canadian federalism – not the usual division of powers between the federal and provincial governments, but between the colonized and the colonizer. Federalism, Grafton argues, was informed by Indigenous political frameworks but has been torqued by colonial assumptions about Indigenous inferiority so as to require colonial dominance and Indigenous subordination. This book is a useful antidote to the complacent endorsement of the settler state status quo, so prevalent in scholarship and in politics.” - Joyce Green, Ktunaxa Nation, Professor Emerita, University of Regina; Elder-Auntie, CPSA Reconciliation Committee

“Grafton exposes the evolution and coloniality of Canadian federalism in its unjust and mundane efforts to diminish Indigenous sovereignties. Divided Power is a tour de force of alternatives, and you’ll never think of federalism the same way after reading it!” - Ajay Parasram, author of Pluriversal Sovereignty and the State

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

In this extraordinary and inspiring debut memoir, Jesse Thistle, once a high school dropout and now a rising Indigenous scholar, chronicles his life on the streets and how he overcame trauma and addiction to discover the truth about who he is.

If I can just make it to the next minute... then I might have a chance to live; I might have a chance to be something more than just a struggling crackhead.

From the Ashes is a remarkable memoir about hope and resilience, and a revelatory look into the life of a Métis-Cree man who refused to give up.

Abandoned by his parents as a toddler, Jesse Thistle briefly found himself in the foster-care system with his two brothers, cut off from all they had known. Eventually the children landed in the home of their paternal grandparents, but their tough-love attitudes meant conflicts became commonplace. And the ghost of Jesse’s drug-addicted father haunted the halls of the house and the memories of every family member. Struggling, Jesse succumbed to a self-destructive cycle of drug and alcohol addiction and petty crime, spending more than a decade on and off the streets, often homeless. One day, he finally realized he would die unless he turned his life around.

In this heartwarming and heartbreaking memoir, Jesse Thistle writes honestly and fearlessly about his painful experiences with abuse, uncovering the truth about his parents, and how he found his way back into the circle of his Indigenous culture and family through education.

An eloquent exploration of what it means to live in a world surrounded by prejudice and racism and to be cast adrift, From the Ashes is, in the end, about how love and support can help one find happiness despite the odds.

Awards

• 2020 Indigenous Voices Awards Winner for Published Prose in English
  
• Winner, Kobo Emerging Writer Prize Nonfiction
• Winner, High Plains Book Awards
• An Indigo Book of the Year 

Reviews
“From the Ashes hits you like a punch in the gut. It’s an unflinching, heartrending and beautifully written story of survival against seemingly impossible odds. But it’s also a book that should make you furious. Thistle paints a vivid portrait of a country seemingly incapable of doing right by Indigenous youth or by those struggling with homelessness, addiction and intergenerational trauma. That he survived to tell this story is truly a miracle. Still, one question haunts me after finishing this powerful and devastating book: How do we ensure that the next generation isn’t forced to navigate a broken system that takes their lives for granted and fails them at every turn? My greatest hope, then, is that From the Ashes will be the wakeup call Canada needs.” — IAN MOSBY, historian and author of Food Will Win the War

Educator Information
Caution: Deals with mature subject matter.

Additional Information
368 pages | 6.00" x 9.00"

Growing up on the Nipissing First Nation reserve in Northern Ontario, Christian Allaire wanted to work in the fashion industry, a future that seemed like a remote, and unlikely, dream

He was first introduced to style and design through his culture’s traditional Ojibwe powwow regalia—ribbon skirts, beaded belts, elaborate headdresses. But as a teenager, he became transfixed by the high-fashion designs and runway shows that he saw on Fashion Television and in the pages of Vogue.

His unwavering interest in fashion led him to complete a journalism degree so he could pursue his goal of becoming a full-time fashion writer. After landing his first big magazine job in New York City, Allaire found himself working at the epicentre of the international fashion industry. His dream had come true. Yet he soon realized the fashion world—and his place in it—wasn’t always quite as glamorous as he imagined it would be.

From grinding as an unpaid intern, to becoming a glitzy (but overworked) fashion editor, Allaire writes with feeling about the struggle to find his place—and community—in the highly exclusive world of fashion. And he recounts, with great candour, the difficulty of balancing his ambitions with the often-inaccurate perceptions—including his own—of his culture’s place in the realm of fashion.

Full of joy, honesty, adversity, and great clothes, From the Rez to the Runway is a gripping memoir about how to achieve your dreams—and elevate others—while always remaining true to yourself.

Reviews
“Christian is a gift. He embodies the precious intersection between arts and advocacy, and is a truly grounded and inspired human being. In having such a curated, unique and sharp eye for both classic and cutting edge design, coupled with an unshakable commitment to elevating Indigenous designers, he has carved a necessary space which elevates Indian Country and the world of fashion as a whole. A true game changer whose impact will be seen and felt for generations.” — Lily Gladstone, Oscar-nominated actor

Funny, honest and utterly charming, From the Rez to the Runway lends the cliche fashion editor origin story a refreshing new perspective. With a true sense of passion and wide-eyed wonder, Christian Allaire pursues his personal quest for creativity, purpose and self-discovery and finds that staying true to one’s self brings the greatest rewards. Brimming with moving family memories from the reservation and hilarious fashion misadventures alike, the book is a must-read for all the so-called outsiders and misfits who’ve ever dared to follow their dreams. — Chioma Nnadi, Head of Editorial Content, British Vogue

From beadwork to Burberry, Christian Allaire is a force in fashion. He paints a portrait of a complicated industry rarely seen behind the scenes — let alone traversed by Indigenous writers. In this compelling and inspiring memoir, Allaire details how he carries community with him through every glass ceiling he shatters. His work, and this memoir, are a triumph. After all, ‘Don’t mess with a rez kid.’  — Devery Jacobs, Filmmaker and Actor, Reservation Dogs

There is a new generation of Fashion Transformers and Christian Allaire is leading the movement. Allaire has been chosen by spirit to shine a light on Indigenous Fashion and Art, and he has done so at the highest levels, from New York to Paris, and all around the world. He is a door opener for the truth, power, and beauty of true fashion and its creators. — Kelly Cutrone, founder of People’s Revolution and New York Times bestselling author

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

From veteran hockey reporter Patrick Johnston and Gino’s longtime friend Peter Leech comes the authorized biography of Gino Odjick.

In the 1980s and ’90s, National Hockey League games were very different from the nimble, skill-focused displays we see today. One of the greatest differences—and one of the sport’s more popular facets at the time—was the widespread presence of “enforcers”: hulking, battle-scarred players whose main task was to police the sport by chasing down and brawling with opponents who had broken unwritten codes determining which aspects of violence counted as dishonorable or unjustified.

When hard-hitting Vancouver Canucks player Gino Odjick emerged in the early 1990s, he quickly became one of the game’s most feared enforcers and revered teammates, a sign of a new era for the team, racking up 296 penalty minutes in the 45 games he played in his rookie season. Hailing from Kitigan Zibi, an Algonquin community near Maniwaki, Quebec, Gino was one of the few Indigenous players in the NHL at the time. But it was Gino’s ferocious play contrasted by his genuinely affable and openhearted personality off the ice that won him a special place in the hearts of Canucks supporters.

Yet legends often obscure the human stories behind them. Patrick Johnston and Peter Leech look beyond Gino’s legendary persona, drawing on insights from family members, friends, and teammates to recount Gino’s early years in a loving household that was always ready to welcome foster children. Gino’s father, Joe, had suffered the lonely traumas of the residential school system, and the experience had instilled a commitment in the family to those who were less fortunate.

The book also details Gino’s eventual struggles with alcohol abuse, and how he responded by taking on the role of empathetic mentor to young Indigenous people, travelling from community to community to hear their stories and offer hope. He never wavered in this role, even as he confronted serious illnesses, including chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) and the rare blood disorder that he survived for years longer than expected, but that eventually led to his death at age fifty-two.

Gino is a moving tribute to a beloved hockey legend.

Reviews
"Gino was the greatest teammate; he had such a huge heart and knew his role better than anyone in the league. Gino loved being a Vancouver Canuck and gave back to the community in so many ways. He will be greatly missed by his family, friends, and fans. This book will give people insight into his remarkable life."—Geoff Courtnall

“Gino provides a compelling account of the life of a beloved Vancouver Canuck. From his humble beginnings in Quebec to NHL stardom and beyond, Odjick was dedicated to the well-being of teammates and the Indigenous community. This is an excellent tribute to an exceptional man.”—Randi Druzin, author of Between the Pipes and Behind the Mask

Additional Information
288 pages | 6.00" x 9.00" | b&w insert | Hardcover 

A new, fully restored edition of the essential Canadian classic.

An unflinchingly honest memoir of her experience as a Métis woman in Canada, Maria Campbell's Halfbreed depicts the realities that she endured and, above all, overcame. Maria was born in Northern Saskatchewan, her father the grandson of a Scottish businessman and Métis woman--a niece of Gabriel Dumont whose family fought alongside Riel and Dumont in the 1885 Rebellion; her mother the daughter of a Cree woman and French-American man. This extraordinary account, originally published in 1973, bravely explores the poverty, oppression, alcoholism, addiction, and tragedy Maria endured throughout her childhood and into her early adult life, underscored by living in the margins of a country pervaded by hatred, discrimination, and mistrust. Laced with spare moments of love and joy, this is a memoir of family ties and finding an identity in a heritage that is neither wholly Indigenous or Anglo; of strength and resilience; of indominatable spirit.

This edition of Halfbreed includes a new introduction written by Indigenous (Métis) scholar Dr. Kim Anderson detailing the extraordinary work that Maria has been doing since its original publication 46 years ago, and an afterword by the author looking at what has changed, and also what has not, for Indigenous people in Canada today. Restored are the recently discovered missing pages from the original text of this groundbreaking and significant work.

Educator & Series Information
This book is part of the Kanata Classics series, which celebrates timeless books that reflect the rich and diverse range of voices in Canadian literature. 

Additional Information
224 pages | 5.50" x 8.23" | Paperback 

Part historical biography, part compilation of the written works of Mary Rose Delorme Smith (1861–1960), a prolific and accomplished Métis woman.

Born into a prominent fur-trading family and remembered as a community builder and rancher, Marie Rose Delorme Smith (1861–1960) is seldom recognized as a writer and chronicler of Métis and Prairie history. Fluent in French, English, and likely Michif, Delorme Smith recorded a wealth of written records and stories throughout her long life, in the form of letters, published articles, unpublished manuscripts, and personal documents.

Donated to public archives following her death, these written works garnered some interest among scholars and biographers over the years, as prominent Indigenous women gradually found a place in the histories they had been left out of for generations. Delorme Smith became the subject of biographies and scholarly research, and she was finally recognized as a “National Historic Person” by the Canadian government in 2022. However, the recognition bestowed upon her rarely highlighted her own words, which reveal so much about her life, Métis history, and Prairie life in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

For the first time, historian and biographer Doris Jeanne MacKinnon presents an extensive array of Delorme Smith’s writings, preserved verbatim, and puts them in historical and social context. This fascinating collection of documents from a bygone era reveals the strength, intellect, and leadership of a fascinating Métis martriarch.

Additional Information
276 pages | 5.50" x 8.50" | b&w photographs | Paperback