Laughing with the Trickster

BY THOMPSON HIGHWAY

Celebrated author and playwright Tomson Highway brings his signature irreverence to an exploration of five themes central to the human condition: language, creation, sex and gender, humour, and death. A comparative analysis of Christian, classical, and Cree mythologies reveals their contributions to Western thought, life, and culture—and how North American Indigenous mythologies provide unique, timeless solutions to our modern problems.​

Seven Fallen Feathers: Racism, Death, and Hard Truths in a Northern City

BY TANYA TALAGA

Using a sweeping narrative focusing on the lives and deaths of 13 students, award-winning investigative journalist Tanya Talaga delves into the history of this small northern city that has come to manifest Canada’s long struggle with human rights violations against Indigenous communities

The Break

BY KATHERENA VERMETTE

When Stella, a young Métis mother, looks out her window one evening and spots someone in trouble on the Break — a barren field on an isolated strip of land outside her house — she calls the police to alert them to a possible crime.
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Books by Richard Wagamese

CELEBRATED AUTHOR

-Keeper'n Me. Anchor Canada. 1994.
-A Quality of Light. Doubleday Canada. 1997.
-For Joshua: An Ojibway Father Teaches His Son. Anchor Canada. 2003.
-Dream Wheels. Anchor Canada. 2007.
-One Native Life. Douglas & McIntyre. 2008.
-Ragged Company. Anchor Canada. 2009.
-One Story, One Song. Douglas & McIntyre. 2011.
-The Next Sure Thing. Raven Books. 2011.
-Runaway Dreams. Ronsdale Press. 2011.
-Indian Horse. Douglas & McIntyre. 2012.
-Him Standing. Orca Book Publishers LTD. 2013.
-Medicine Walk. McClelland & Stewart. 2014.
-Embers: One Ojibway's Meditations. Douglas & McIntyre. 2016.
-Starlight. McClelland & Stewart. 2018.
-One Drum. Douglas & McIntyre. 2019.

21 Things You May Not Know About the Indian Act

BY BOB JOSEPH

Helping Canadians Make Reconciliation with indigenous Peoples a Reality

Since its creation in 1876, the Indian Act has shaped, controlled, and constrained the lives and opportunities of Indigenous Peoples, and is at the root of many enduring stereotypes. Bob Joseph's book comes at a key time in the reconciliation process, when awareness from both Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities is at a crescendo. Joseph explains how Indigenous Peoples can step out from under the Indian Act and return to self-government, self-determination, and self-reliance - and why doing so would result in a better country for every Canadian. He dissects the complex issues around truth and reconciliation, and clearly demonstrates why learning about the Indian Act's cruel, enduring legacy is essential for the country to move toward true reconciliation. ​

Naamiwan's Drum

BY MAREEN MATTHEWS

Naamiwan’s Drum follows the story of a famous Ojibwe medicine man, his gifted grandson, and remarkable water drum. This drum, and forty other artefacts, were given away by a Canadian museum to an American Anishinaabe group that had no family or community connections to the collection. Many years passed before the drum was returned to the family and only about half of the artefacts were ever returned to the museum.

Stoney Creek Woman

BY BRIDGET MORAN

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.

The Reason You Walk: A Memoir

BY WAB KINEW

When his father was given a diagnosis of terminal cancer, Winnipeg broadcaster and musician Wab Kinew decided to spend a year reconnecting with the accomplished but distant aboriginal man who'd raised him. The Reason You Walk spans the year 2012, chronicling painful moments in the past and celebrating renewed hopes and dreams for the future. As Kinew revisits his own childhood in Winnipeg and on a reserve in Northern Ontario, he learns more about his father's traumatic childhood at residential school.

Nobody Cries at Bingo

BY DAWN DUMONT

Author and narrator Dawn Dumont paints a picture which goes beyond many cultural stereotypes. She talks about drinking and bingo and the toughness needed to deal with bullying by the other natives and also by her white peers.

The Winter We Danced

BY THE KINO-NDA-NIIMI COLLECTIVE

The Winter We Danced is a vivid collection of writing, poetry, lyrics, art and images from the many diverse voices that make up the past, present, and future of the Idle No More movement. Calling for pathways into healthy, just, equitable and sustainable communities while drawing on a wide-ranging body of narratives, journalism, editorials and creative pieces, this collection consolidates some of the most powerful, creative and insightful moments from the winter we danced and gestures towards next steps in an on-going movement for justice and Indigenous self-determination.

This is a Small Northern Town

BY ROSANNA DEERCHILD

This is a Small Northern Town is the long-awaited, first full-length collection of poems by Rosanna Deerchild. These are poems about: what it means to be from the north; a town divided along color lines; and a family dealing with its history of secrets. At its core, this collection is about the life of a Cree girl and the places she finds comfort and escape.

In Search of April Raintree

BY BEATHRICE MOSIONIER

Two young sisters are taken from their home and family. Powerless to change their fortunes, they are separated, and each put into different foster homes. Yet over the years, the bond between them grows. As they each make their way in a society that is, at times, indifferent, hostile, and violent, one embraces her Métis identity, while the other tries to leave it behind. In the end, out of tragedy, comes an unexpected legacy of triumph and reclamation.

Betty

BY DAVID A. ROBERTSON

Helen Betty Osborne, known as Betty to her closest friends and family, dreamed of becoming a teacher. She left home to attend residential school and later moved to The Pas, Manitoba, to attend high school. On November 13, 1971, Betty was abducted and brutally murdered by four young men. Initially met with silence and indifference, her tragic murder resonates loudly today. Betty represents one of almost 1,200 Indigenous women in Canada who have been murdered or gone missing. This is her story.

Two Old Women

BY VELMA WALLIS

Based on an Athabascan Indian legend passed along for many generations from mothers to daughters of the upper Yukon River Valley in Alaska, this is the suspenseful, shocking, ultimately inspirational tale of two old women abandoned by their tribe during a brutal winter famine.

Moon of the Crusted Snow

BY WAUBGESHIG RICE

With winter looming, a small northern Anishinaabe community goes dark. Cut off, people become passive and confused. Panic builds as the food supply dwindles. While the band council and a pocket of community members struggle to maintain order, an unexpected visitor arrives, escaping the crumbling society to the south. Soon after, others follow.

The Marrow Thieves

BY CHERIE DIMALINE

Just when you think you have nothing left to lose, they come for your dreams.

Humanity has nearly destroyed its world through global warming, but now an even greater evil lurks. The Indigenous people of North America are being hunted and harvested for their bone marrow, which carries the key to recovering something the rest of the population has lost: the ability to dream. In this dark world, Frenchie and his companions struggle to survive as they make their way up north to the old lands. For now, survival means staying hidden - but what they don't know is that one of them holds the secret to defeating the marrow thieves.