Inuit

This inspiring introduction to activism and social justice for young teens shows the important role music plays in changing the world, featuring:

- Musicians young teens will know and love: Beyoncé, Billie Eilish, Lizzo, Lady Gaga, Lil Nas X, and more!

- Iconic artists from past generations: readers will learn about the extraordinary impact of artists such as Nina Simone, Buffy Sainte-Marie, Neil Young, John Lennon, Bob Dylan, Tracy Chapman, and more.

- Playlists for each social justice issue: Each chapter includes a playlist with recommended songs about an area of activism, from classic tracks to contemporary hits.

In Rise Up and Sing!, Andrea Warner explores how music has contributed to the fight for social justice. Across eight areas of activism—the climate emergency, Indigenous rights, civil rights, disability rights, 2SLGBTQIA+ rights, gender equality, the peace/anti-war movement, and human rights—Warner introduces some of the artists, past and present, who have made a difference both on stage and off.

Through ground-breaking artists and iconic moments, Rise Up and Sing! shows us that a song is never just a song, and that music really does have the power to change the world.

Educator Information
Recommended for ages 12 to 17.

Includes some Indigenous content.

Curriculum Connections: Activism, Social Justice, Music 

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

Uncover the incredible life story of Germaine Arnattaujuq, a singularly important Inuit artist, in this high interest/low reading level reference book for struggling readers.

Germaine Arnattaujuq is an award-winning Inuit artist. This book tells the story of her life, from growing up at a camp in Nunavut to her education as an artist in Winnipeg and Ottawa and her eventual return to the North. Germaine's incredible drawings, etchings, and illustrations are featured throughout the book, along with archival photographs.

Filled with personal anecdotes and fun facts, this book encourages reluctant readers to discover how Germaine started drawing on gum wrappers as a child and went on to become one of the most well-known artists from the North.

Educator Information
Recommended for ages 12 to 18.

This is a Hi-Lo (high-interest, low readability) book.

Additional Information
60 pages | 6.00" x 9.00" | Colour Photographs | Paperback

One of the few biographies of an Inuk man from the 19th Century—separated from his family, community, and language—finding his place in history.

Augustine Tataneuck was an Inuk man born near the beginning of the 19th century on the northwestern coast of Hudson Bay. Between 1812 and 1834, his family sent him to Churchill, Manitoba, to live and work among strangers, where he could escape the harsh Arctic climate and earn a living in the burgeoning fur trade. He was perhaps the first Inuk man employed by the Hudson’s Bay Company as a labourer, and he also worked as an interpreter on John Franklin’s two overland expeditions in search of the northwest passage.

Tataneuck’s life was shaped by the inescapable, harsh environments he lived within, and he was an important, but not widely recognized, player in the struggle for the possession of northwest North America waged by Britain, Russia, and the United States. He left no diaries or letters.

Using the Hudson’s Bay Company’s journals and historical archives, historian Renee Fossett has pieced together a compelling biography of Augustine and the historical times he lived through: climate disasters, lethal disease episodes, and political upheavals on an international scale.

While The Life and Times of Augustine Tataneuck is a captivating portrait of an Inuk man who lived an extraordinary life, it also is an arresting, unique glimpse into the North as it was in the 19th century and into the lives of trappers, translators, and labourers who are seldom written about and often absent in the historical record.

Reviews
"Renee Fossett's careful research ensures that the life of Augustine Tataneuck, Inuk interpreter and guide, will be remembered, with respect." —Julie Rak, co-editor of Life Among the Qallunaat

Additional Information
504 pages | 6.00" x 9.00" | 4 Maps, 1 Illustration | Paperback

“’There’s an opening above me, but it’s far, and I have to stack up rocks to jump up, and it’s almost impossible to get out.’ That’s when I realized that I was stripped of my identity, and there was nothing of my culture left in me. It was like I wasn’t in my body anymore. It was bare and desolate and empty and cold, lifeless in my body. Where was I? Where had I gone?”

In this visceral graphic memoir, Monica Ittusardjuat brings readers with her from residential school classrooms to government apologies on her journey to rediscovering what it means to be Inuk. Born prematurely in an iglu on Baffin Island, Monica attended three residential schools over eleven years. She details her resulting struggles with addiction, mental health, and domestic violence, which haunted her into adulthood.

Equal parts heartbreaking and hopeful, Monica’s memoir is a testimony to the lasting impacts of residential schools and one woman’s fight to reclaim what she lost.

The Scarf and the Butterfly is a stunning new addition to Qinuisaarniq ("resiliency"), a collection of books created to educate readers about the history and impacts of residential schools.

Educator & Series Information
Recommended for ages 14 to 18.

This book exposes readers to the experience and perspective of an Inuk residential school survivor.

This book is part of the Qinuisaarniq program. Qinuisaarniq (“resiliency”) is a program created to educate Nunavummiut and all Canadians about the history and impacts of residential schools, policies of assimilation, and other colonial acts that have affected the Canadian Arctic.

Each resource has been carefully written and reviewed to include level-appropriate opportunities for students to learn about colonial acts and policies that have affected Inuit. These acts and policies created long-lasting impacts on Inuit individuals and communities, which are still being felt today.

Additional Information
68 pages | 7.00" x 10.00" | Hardcover

Unikkaaqtuat is the Inuktitut word meaning "to tell stories."

This definitive collection of Inuit legends is thoughtfully introduced and carefully annotated to provide the historical and cultural context in which to understand this rich oral tradition. Fascinating and educational, this little-known part of Canada's heritage will captivate readers of all ages. As a work of historical and cultural preservation, this textbook will be invaluable to those studying Inuit.

Additional Information
320 pages | 8.00" x 10.00" | 100 b&w line drawings | Hardcover | 2nd Edition

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 

Ndè Sii Wet'aà: Northern Indigenous Voices on Land, Life, & Art is a collection of essays, interviews, short stories and poetry written by emerging and established northern Indigenous writers and artists. Centred on land, cultural practice and northern life, this ground-breaking collection shares wealth of Dene (Gwichʼin, Sahtú, Dehcho, Tłı̨chǫ, Saysi, Kaska, Dënesuiné, W?ìl?ìdeh ) Inuit, Alutiiq, Inuvialuit, Métis, Nêhiyawak (Cree), Northern Tutchone, and Tanana Athabascan creative brilliance. Ndè Sii Wet'aà holds up the voices of women and Two Spirit and Queer writers to create a chorus of voices reflecting a deep love of Indigenous cultures, languages, homelands and the north. The book includes a series of pieces and interviews from established northern artists and musicians including Leela Gilday, Randy Baillargeon (lead singer for the W?ìl?ìdeh Drummers), Inuit sisters, song-writers and throat singers Tiffany Ayalik and Inuksuk Mackay of Piqsiq, Two Spirit Vuntut Gwitchin visual artist Jeneen Frei Njootli, Nunavik singer-songwriters Elisapie and Beatrice Deere and visual artist Camille Georgeson-Usher. Ndè Sii Wet'aà also includes writing from well-known northern writers Siku Allooloo, T'áncháy Redvers (Fireweed), Antione Mountain (From Bear Rock Mountain), Glen Coulthard (Red Skin, White Masks), Catherine Lafferty (Northern Wildflower, Land-Water-Sky) and Lianne Marie Leda Charlie, in amongst the best emerging writers in the north.

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

Arctic ice is a daily consideration for people living above the Arctic circle. Ice is key to successful hunts, ease of travel, and the health of wildlife. This book features sweeping landscape photography of Arctic sea ice in all its forms, accompanied by anecdotes from community members across the North. From traditional stories of what lurks under the ice to harrowing tales of hunters on the ice and traditional knowledge about ice safety and conditions, this book presents the beauty, complexity, and unique challenges of living daily in an ever-evolving icy landscape.

Educator Information
Foreword by Sheila Watt-Cloutier

Additional Information
72 pages | 11.00" x 8.00" | Colour photographs | Hardcover 

First Nations, Métis and Inuit artists, activists, educators and writers, youth and elders come together to envision Indigenous futures in Canada and around the world.

Discussing everything from language renewal to sci-fi, this collection is a powerful and important expression of imagination rooted in social critique, cultural experience, traditional knowledge, activism and the multifaceted experiences of Indigenous people on Turtle Island.

In Me Tomorrow: 
Darrel J. McLeod, Cree author from Treaty-8 territory in Northern Alberta, blends the four elements of the Indigenous cosmovision with the four directions of the medicine wheel to create a prayer for the power, strength and resilience of Indigenous peoples.

Autumn Peltier, Anishinaabe water-rights activist, tells the origin story of her present and future career in advocacy—and how the nine months she spent in her mother’s womb formed her first water teaching. When the water breaks, like snow melting in the spring, new life comes.

Lee Maracle, acclaimed Stó:lō Nation author and educator, reflects on cultural revival—imagining a future a century from now in which Indigenous people are more united than ever before.

Other essayists include Cyndy and Makwa Baskin, Norma Dunning, Shalan Joudry, Shelley Knott-Fife, Tracie Léost, Stephanie Peltier, Romeo Saganash, Drew Hayden Taylor and Raymond Yakeleya.

For readers who want to imagine the future, and to cultivate a better one, Me Tomorrow is a journey through the visions generously offered by a diverse group of Indigenous thinkers.

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

Faced with a constant stream of news reports of standoffs and confrontations, Canada’s “reconciliation project” has obviously gone off the rails. In this series of concise and thoughtful essays, lawyer and historian Bruce McIvor explains why reconciliation with Indigenous peoples is failing and what needs to be done to fix it.

Widely known as a passionate advocate for Indigenous rights, McIvor reports from the front lines of legal and political disputes that have gripped the nation. From Wet’suwet’en opposition to a pipeline in northern British Columbia, to Mi’kmaw exercising their fishing rights in Nova Scotia, McIvor has been actively involved in advising First Nation clients, fielding industry and non-Indigenous opposition to true reconciliation, and explaining to government officials why their policies are failing.

McIvor’s essays are honest and heartfelt. In clear, plain language he explains the historical and social forces that underpin the development of Indigenous law, criticizes the current legal shortcomings and charts a practical, principled way forward.

By weaving in personal stories of growing up Métis on the fringes of the Peguis First Nation in Manitoba and representing First Nations in court and negotiations, McIvor brings to life the human side of the law and politics surrounding Indigenous peoples’ ongoing struggle for fairness and justice. His writing covers many of the most important issues that have become part of a national dialogue, including systemic racism, treaty rights, violence against Indigenous people, Métis identity, the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People (UNDRIP) and the duty to consult.

McIvor’s message is consistent and powerful: if Canadians are brave enough to confront the reality of the country’s colonialist past and present and insist that politicians replace empty promises with concrete, meaningful change, there is a realistic path forward based on respect, recognition and the implementation of Indigenous rights.

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

“Food is life. Food is the key to vitality, goodness, happiness, and a strong body and mind.”

Compiled by five women living in Igloolik, Nunavut, this collection of recipes brings together healthy traditional country foods—like seal, Arctic char, and caribou—with store-bought produce to create delicious meals that can be an alternative to pre-packaged foods. With details on food safety and storage, as well as information on how to build a healthy, nutritious diet, this book will help even novice cooks feel empowered to begin cooking from scratch at home.

With tasty recipes from land and sea—from Arctic char pizza to caribou chilli—this beautifully photographed cookbook provides wholesome, hearty meals that will become family favourites for years to come.

Additional Information
114 pages | 7.00" x 10.00" | colour photographs | Paperback

"Then one day a ‘flyable’ took me away from our world through the sky to a dark and desolate place.”

Jose Kusugak had a typical Arctic childhood, growing up playing games, enjoying food caught by hunters, and watching his mother preparing skins. But he was one of the first generation of Inuit children who were taken from their homes and communities and sent to live in residential schools. In this moving and candid memoir, Jose tells of his experiences at residential school and the lifelong effects it had on him.

Educator & Series Information
Recommended for ages 12 to 15.

Included in the Canadian Indigenous Books for Schools 2020/2021 resource list for grades 6 to 9 for Social Studies, Science, and English Language Arts.

A personal, real story that introduces young readers to the memoir genre.

Inhabit Education Books is proud to introduce Qinuisaarniq (“resiliency”), a program created to educate Nunavummiut about the history and impacts of residential schools, policies of assimilation, and other colonial acts that affected the Canadian Arctic.

Each resource in the program has been carefully written and reviewed to include level-appropriate opportunities for students to learn about colonial acts and policies that affected Inuit. Topics covered include the residential school system, relocations to settlements and the High Arctic, sled dog slaughters, the use of E and W numbers, and others. These acts and policies created long-lasting impacts on Inuit individuals and communities, which are still being felt today.

The resources in this program include personal interviews, testimony, and writing; non-fiction informational resources; and information about traditional Inuit practices.

Additional Information
56 pages | 9.00" x 6.00". | b&w illustrations

When Nellie Winters was 11 years old, she was sent to attend the Nain Boarding School, a residential school 400 kilometres from her home. In this memoir, she recalls life before residential school, her experiences at the school, and what it was like to come home.

Accompanied by the author’s original illustrations, this moving, often funny memoir sheds light on the experiences of Inuit residential school survivors in Labrador.

Educator & Series Information
Recommended for ages 11-14.

This book is recommended in the Canadian Indigenous Books for Schools 2020/2021 resource list for grades 5 to 7 for English Language Arts and Social Studies.

This book is part of the Qinuisaarniq (“resiliency”) program.  This is a program created to educate Nunavummiut about the history and impacts of residential schools, policies of assimilation, and other colonial acts that have affected the Canadian Arctic.

Each resource has been carefully written and reviewed to include level-appropriate opportunities for students to learn about colonial acts and policies that have affected Inuit. These acts and policies created long-lasting impacts on Inuit individuals and communities, which are still being felt today.

The resources in this program include personal interviews, testimony, and writing; non-fiction informational resources; and information about traditional Inuit practices.

Additional Information
26 pages | 9.00" x 7.00" | Transcribed and edited by Erica Oberndorfer

Larry Audlaluk has seen incredible changes in his lifetime. Born in northern Quebec, he relocated with his family to the High Arctic in the early 1950s. They were promised a land of plenty. They discovered an inhospitable polar desert. 

Sharing memories both painful and joyous, Larry takes the reader on a journey to the Arctic as his family struggles to survive and new communities are formed. By turns heart-wrenching and humorous. Larry tells of his journey through relocation, illness, residential schooling, and the encroachment of southern culture.

Excerpt from What I Remember, What I Know
Many stories have been written about how Inuit families were relocated to the High Arctic. The one most written about is economic opportunity. The other is sovereignty. The writers are always careful to use the word "claims" when they're talking about sovereignty, as if to make our claims untrue. The story is long, complicated, and documented by various groups, besides the official records. It has been told from so many angles and moods, from social and political perspectives. I will tell you the story of my family's relocation from personal experience.

Additional Information
300 pages | 6.00" x 9.00"