June 21 is National Indigenous Peoples Day. Here are 14 amazing resources if you want to learn about Indigenous topics from Indigenous authors. You can purchase your copy from these online providers or visit your local, independent bookstore.
21 Things You May Not Know About the Indian Act: Helping Canadians Make Reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples a Reality
Bob Joseph
Based on a viral article, 21 Things You May Not Know About the Indian Act is the essential guide to understanding the legal document and its repercussion on generations of Indigenous Peoples, written by a leading cultural sensitivity trainer.
Louis Riel: A Comic Strip Biography, 10th Anniversary Edition
Chester Brown
Louis Riel tells the story of the charismatic nineteenth century Metis leader, whose struggle to win rights for his people led to violent rebellion. Chester Brown’s carefully researched, exquisitely illustrated, and much-lauded biography goes deep into the myths and the facts about this man whose place in Canadian history is troubled
Collections and Objections: Aboriginal Material Culture in Southern Ontario, 1791-1914
Michelle A. Hamilton
North America’s museums are treasured for their collections of Aboriginal ethnographic and archaeological objects. Yet stories of how these artefacts were acquired often reveal unethical acts and troubling chains of possession, as well as unexpected instances of collaboration.
Providing a comprehensive overview of anthropological collecting in Ontario between 1791 and 1914, Collections and Objections details the complicated relationships between Euro-Canadian and Native cultures, the numerous ways in which Aboriginal objects were acquired, and the motives behind their collection.
The Great Peace of Montreal: French-Native Diplomacy in the Seventeenth Century
Gilles Harvard
In The Great Peace of Montreal, Gilles Havard brings to life the European and Native players who brought about this major feat of international diplomacy. He highlights the differing interests and strategies of the numerous First Nations involved while giving a dramatic account of the colourful conference.
The Clay We are Made Of, Haudenosaunee Land Tenure on the Grand River
Susan M. Hill
Susan M. Hill presents a revolutionary retelling of the history of the Grand River Haudenosaunee from their Creation Story through European contact to contemporary land claims negotiations. She incorporates Indigenous theory, Fourth world post-colonialism, and Amerindian autohistory, along with Haudenosaunee languages, oral records, and wampum strings to provide the most comprehensive account of the Haudenosaunee’s relationship to their land.
Dispersed by Not Destroyed: A History of the Seventeenth-Century Wendat People
Kathryn Magee Labell
Dispersed but Not Destroyed depicts the creation of a powerful Wendat diaspora in the wake of their dispersal and throughout the latter half of the century. Turning the story of the Wendat conquest on its head, this book demonstrates the resiliency of the Wendat people and writes a new chapter in North American history.
My Conversations with Canadians
Lee Maracle
A collection of essays by Lee Maracle, reflecting on her experience as a Canadian, First Nations leader, mother and grandmother which touch upon subjects such as citizenship, segregation, labour, law, prejudice and reconciliation.
The Inconvenient Indian: A Curious Account of Native People in North America
Thomas King
Thomas King explores the relationship between Natives and non-Natives since the fifteenth century and examines the way that popular culture has shaped our notion of Indigenous identity, while also reflecting on his own complicated relationship with activism.
Moon of the Crusted Snow: A Novel
Waubgeshig Rice
Blending action and allegory, Moon of the Crusted Snow upends our expectations. Out of catastrophe comes resilience. And as one society collapses, another is reborn. (From ECW Press). Waubgeshig Rice is an Anishinaabe author, journalist and radio host originally from Wasauksing First Nation. He is also the author of Legacy and Midnight Sweatlodge. He used to be the host of CBC Radio’s Up North.
“This slow-burning thriller is also a powerful story of survival and will leave readers breathless.” — Publishers Weekly
The Ojibwa of Southern Ontario
Peter S. Schmalz
The Ojibwa have lived in Ontario longer than any other ethnic group. Until now, however, their history has never been fully recorded. Peter Schmalz offers a sweeping account of the Ojibwa in which he corrects many long-standing historical errors and fills in numerous gaps in their story. His narrative is based as much on Ojibwa oral tradition as on the usual historical sources.
The Mississauga Portraits: Ojibwe Voices from 19th Century Canada
Donald B. Smith
Donald B. Smith’s Mississauga Portraits recreates the lives of eight Ojibwe who lived during this period – all of whom are historically important and interesting figures, and seven of whom have never before received full biographical treatment.
Sacred Feathers: The Reverend Peter Jones (Kahkewaquonaby) and the Mississauga Indians
Donald B. Smith
Sacred Feathers: The Reverend Peter Jones (Kahkewaquonaby) and the Mississauga Indians, second edition, is the first comprehensive biography of Peter Jones, the son of a Welsh surveyor and a Mississauga woman. Throughout his life, Peter Jones worked for the betterment of his mother’s people, travelling to England several times to petition for his people’s land claims. Donald Smith draws on Jones’s letter, diaries, sermons and his history of the Ojibwa, as well as the diaries of his English wife to write this engaging narrative. Sacred Feathers not only tells the story of a remarkable man but the history of Indian-white relations in early Canada.
Split Tooth
Tanya Tagaq
Veering back and forth between the grittiest features of a small arctic town, the electrifying proximity of the world of animals and ravishing world of myth, Tanya Tagaq explores a world where the distinctions between good and evil, animal and human, victim and transgressor, real and imagined lose their meaning, but the guiding power of love remains.
Seven Fallen Feathers: Racism, Death and Hard Truth in a Northern City
Tanya Tagaq
Using a sweeping narrative focusing on the lives of the 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.
