Browse Books for Adults

An invaluable new companion to the bestselling Sacred Path Cards, this workbook provides even more of the Native teachings to discover personal truths and one's path in life.

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304 pages | 7.37" x 9.25"

The reader will experience first-hand the personality, characteristics, and sometimes remote environment of these healers, visionaries, storytellers, and spiritualists through Dianne Meili's faithful re-telling of the interviews she conducted with each during the two years she spent traveling throughout Alberta.

Suggested Grades: 10-12
ABPBC

This extraordinary tool for self-discovery draws on the strength and beauty of Native American spiritual tradition. Developed by Native American medicine teacher Jamie Sams, this unique system distills the essential wisdom of the sacred teachings of many tribal traditions and shows users the way to transform their lives.

The 44 beautifully illustrated cards, each endowed with a particular meaning and message, may be drawn individually for a daily lesson or laid out in a series of spreads that open up different paths to inner knowledge. Used with the accompanying text, which explains the various forms and methods of interpretation and divination, the cards are a powerful tool for enhanced self-awareness and positive change.

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336 pages | 140.00" x 208.00" | Cards & Companion Book Included

Dry Lips Oughta Move to Kapuskasing tells another story of the mythical Wasaychigan Hill Indian Reserve, also the setting for Tomson Highway's award winning play The Rez Sisters. Wherein The Rez Sisters the focus was on seven "Wasy" women and the game of bingo, Dry Lips Oughta Move to Kapuskasing features seven "Wasy" men and the game of hockey. It is a fast-paced story of tragedy, comedy, and hope.

One of the first books published to deal with the phenomenon of residential schools in Canada, Resistance and Renewal is a disturbing collection of Native perspectives on the Kamloops Indian Residential School(KIRS) in the British Columbia interior. Interviews with thirteen Natives, all former residents of KIRS, form the nucleus of the book, a frank depiction of school life, and a telling account of the system's oppressive environment which sought to stifle Native culture.

Winner of the Roderick Haig-Brown Regional Prize (BC Book Prize) in 1989.

Now in its 8th printing.

Authenticity Note: This book has received the Authentic Indigenous Text label because of the interviews and contributions of Indigenous peoples in this work, whom the author thanks and acknowledges in the introduction of the book. It is up to readers to determine if this an authentic work for their purposes.

The captivating story of Mary John (who passed away in 2004), a pioneering Carrier Native whose life on the Stoney Creek reserve in central BC is a capsule history of First Nations life from a unique woman's perspective.

A mother of twelve, Mary endured much tragedy and heartbreak the pangs of racism, poverty, and the deaths of six children but lived her life with extraordinary grace and courage. Years after her death, she continues to be a positive role model for Aboriginals across Canada. In 1997 she received the Order of Canada. This edition of Stoney Creek Woman, one of Arsenal's all-time bestsellers, includes a new preface by author Bridget Moran, and new photographs.

Shortlisted for the Roderick Haig-Brown Regional Prize

Now in its 14th printing.

The button blanket is eye-catching, prestigious and treasured -- one of the most spectacular embellishments to the Indian culture of the Northwest Coast and a unique form of graphic and narrative art. The traditional crest-style robe is the sister of the totem pole and, like the pole, proclaims hereditary rights, obligations and powers. Unlike the pole, about which countless books and papers have been written, the button blanket has had no chroniclers. This is not only the first major publication to focus on button blankets but also the first oral history about them and their place in the culture of the Northwest Coast. Those interviewed include speakers from six of the seven major Northwest Coast Indian groups. Elders, designers, blanket makers, and historians, each has a voice, but all do not conform to any one theory about the ceremonial robe. Rather, the book is a search for the truth about the historical and contemporary role and traditions of the blanket, as those relate to the past and present Indian way of life on the Pacific Northwest Coast.

Bestselling Native American title exploring Native North American spiritual teachings.

The Sacred Tree was created by the Four Worlds Development Project, a native American inter-tribal group, as a handbook of Native Spirituality for indigenous peoples all over the Americas and the world. This handbook is being used by the Four Worlds Development Project to eliminate widespread drug and alcohol abuse in tribal communities. It is now being shared for the first time with all members of the human family desiring personal growth.

“For all the people of the earth,” The Sacred Tree begins, “the Creator has planted a Sacred Tree under which they may gather, and there find healing, power, wisdom, and security. The roots of this tree spread deep into the body of Mother Earth. Its branches reach upward like hands praying to Father Sky. The fruits of this tree are the good things the Creator has given to the people: teachings that show the path to love, compassion, generosity, patience, wisdom, justice, courage, respect, humility and many other wonderful gifts.”

Educator Information
This book is available in French: L’arbre sacré

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87 pages | 8.69" x 7.87"

Breathtaking photographs make this volume an unforgettable visual experience. Individual works of superlative Northwest Coast Indian art appear on large pages, their colors vivid against black backgrounds. Most startling and awe inspiring are the many masks, made of wood and other materials, that represent animal spirits and shamans; for instance, the gorgeous thunderbird transformation mask with its dark, curved beak and red feathers, which is shown closed and then open to reveal the metamorphosed turquoise human face within. Other photos display detailed carvings on boxes, utensils, and even houses. The detailed text is well wrought, both academically solid and accessible. But it is the photographs that make one gasp with admiration.

David Groulx’s latest collection offers his readers a handful of poems as cutting and brilliant as glass shards, offering glimpses of the anger, pain and lost beauties of his ancestors. These poems cut deep with their clear-eyed honesty, their stripped away pain and suffering. A subtle weaving of black humour and fleeting touches of beauty, as well at the careful craftsmanship of the writing make these poems iconic. This is a collection that should not be missed.

Reviews
"This collection of poetry is a passionate snapshot of poignant aspects of life on the rez depicted in simple scenes that are propelled forward with a sparse economy of language. It is little wonder that Groulx has won awards for his poetry and it has appeared globally in over one hundred periodicals." - Canadian Literature

Northwest Coast peoples were maritime engineers who mastered the art of building dugout canoes from gigantic red cedars, using only tools made from bone, stone, and wood. Ubiquitous, these elegant craft were used for everyday and ceremonial purposes, for fishing, hunting and trading, for feasting and potlatching, and in warfare—they were the keys that unlocked the treasure chest of the North Pacific.

Bill Reid and the Haida Canoe tells the story of the Northwest Canoe from its zenith in pre-contact times, through its decline in the late nineteenth century, to its revival in Lootaas (Wave Eater) which Bill Reid built for Expo '86, to its culmination with the Tribal Canoe Journeys of the twenty-first century and The Spirit of Haida Gwaii sculptures. Bill Reid expressed awe for the traditional Haida canoe and what it represents visually, symbolically, and culturally. In his words, "Western art starts with the figure—West Coast Indian art starts with the canoe."

The successive journeys of Lootaas were significant stages in Bill Reid's work, which culminated with the iconic sculpture The Spirit of Haida Gwaii, a monumental bronze canoe filled to overflowing with creatures of Haida mythology (currently featured on the Canadian twenty-dollar bill). As a final creative act Bill Reid requested that, at the end of his life, his ashes be transported in Lootaas paddled by a crew of his Haida friends and relatives to Tanu, his grandmother's village in Gwaii Haanas.

The story is told through writings and artworks by Bill Reid, vivid photographs by Phillip Hersee, Ulli Steltzer, Robert Semeniuk and others, texts by James Raffan, Martine J. Reid, and Mike Robinson and first-hand accounts by First Nations paddlers.

Bill Reid and the Haida Canoe is a companion book to the Bill Reid and the Haida Canoe exhibition mounted by the Bill Reid Gallery of Northwest Coast Art and touring to the Canadian Canoe Museum in Peterborough, Ontario.

Authenticity Note: Because of this work's contributions of writings and artworks from Bill Reid and other First Nations peoples on Indigenous topics, it has received the Authentic Indigenous Text and Authentic Indigenous Artwork labels.

This is the 3rd Edition of our Cree coloring book with some new coloring sheets for adults and children. Read the wisdom pieces shared by Cree elder John Sinclair which introduce the teachings he received from his forefathers. Colour the beautiful artwork by Cree artists Delree Dumont.

Every book purchased will provide royalties to the artist and elder as well as a donation to Kani Kanichihk, a Cree organization for their cultural revitalization and community work.

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118 Pages | 8.5" x 11" | 3rd Edition 

This is more than just a colouring book.

You will enjoy learning a bit about Blackfoot traditional wisdom shared by Blackfoot elder Camille Pablo Russell while you add vibrant colour to the beautiful pieces of Blackfoot First Nation art by Kalum Teke Dan and Ryan Jason Allen Willert.

Blank lines under stories and traditional wisdom provide a space for journaling.

Royalties are paid to the artists and elder of this work.  Part of the proceeds also go to "Children are our Sacred Bundle" conferences that work on improving the situation for Indigenous children from the grassroots level.

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104 Pages | 8.5" x 11"

This is more than just a colouring book.

Enjoy learning a bit about Northern Dene ancestral knowledge shared by the late Dene elder George Blondin while you colour in gorgeous Chipewyan Dene artwork by Michael Fatt and beautiful Gwich'in Dene art by Christiana Latham.

Authors and artists are paid royalties for this work.  Part of the proceeds also goes to furthering economic development for Indigenous artists. 

Additional Information
104 Pages | 8.5" x 11" 

Canada's First Nations peoples based their cuisine on the rich, regionally diverse bounty of the land, sea, lakes and rivers. The recipes in this book feature ingredients at the foundation of Aboriginal culture, such as salmon, venison, bison, fiddleheads, wild rice and berries, and include brief descriptions of their historic relationship with that food.

First Nations cuisine draws on millennia of evolution and deserves a lifetime of study. The recipes here represent a selection of favourites from various cultures across the country. They are inspired by traditional Native cooking, but combine historic and currently available ingredients to reflect a contemporary, modern taste.