Reg Erhardt Library Digest

Who We Are: Four Questions for a Life and a Nation

Judge, senator, and activist. Father, grandfather, and friend. This is Murray Sinclair’s story—and the story of a nation—in his own words, an oral history that forgoes the trappings of the traditionally written memoir to center Indigenous ways of knowledge and storytelling. For decades, Senator Sinclair has fearlessly educated Canadians about the painful truths of our history. He was the first Indigenous judge in Manitoba, and only the second Indigenous judge in Canadian history. He was the Chair of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and one of the foremost voices on Reconciliation. 

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The Art of Making: Rediscovering the Blackfoot Legacy

A vibrant fusion of modern artistry, music, and narrative, deeply rooted in the ancestral Blackfoot traditional methods of making. Tailfeathers' quest began in 2019, driven by a deep desire to reacquaint himself with his cultural and historical identity as a Blackfoot individual navigating a post-colonial world. The evolution of the Blackfoot Confederacy is traced, examining its trade routes, resources, and interactions pre- and post-1800s. Intricate details of Blackfoot connections with nature, neighbouring First Nations Peoples, and their rich legacy in tool-making, textiles, and artistic expression are provided. 

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Around the Kitchen Table: Metis Auntie's Scholarship

Stoneface: Memoir of a Defiant Dene

Stephen Kakfwi was born in a bush camp on the edge of the Arctic Circle in 1950. In a family torn apart by tuberculosis, alcohol and the traumas endured by generations in residential school, he emerged as a respected Dene elder and eventually the Premier of the Northwest Territories. Kakfwi’s life has been a series of diverse endeavours, blending traditional Dene practices with the daily demands of political office—hunting moose one day and negotiating with European diamond merchants the next. Throughout his career, Kakfwi understood that he held the power to make change—sometimes he succeeded, sometimes he did not. But he also embraced the power of story-telling and has helped change the story of the North.

Indigenous Ecocinema: Decolonizing Media Environments

Its case-study focus on Canada, particularly the work emanating from the imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival in Toronto-a nationally and internationally recognized hub in Indigenous cinema networks-provides insights into pan-Indigenous and Nation-specific contexts of Indigenous ecocinema.This absorbing text is the first book-length exploration foregrounding the environmental dimensions of cinema made by Indigenous peoples, including a particularly fascinating discussion on how Indigenous cinema's ecological entanglements are a crucial and complementary aspect of its agenda of decolonialism. 

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When the Pine Needles Fall: Indigenous Acts of Resistance

There have been many things written about Canada’s violent siege of Kanehsatà:ke and Kahnawà:ke in the summer of 1990, but When the Pine Needles Fall: Indigenous Acts of Resistance is the first book from the perspective of Katsi’tsakwas Ellen Gabriel, who was the Kanien’kehá:ka (Mohawk) spokesperson during the siege. When the Pine Needles Fall, written in a conversational style by Gabriel with historian Sean Carleton, offers an intimate look at Gabriel’s life leading up to the 1990 siege, her experiences as spokesperson for her community, and her work since then as an Indigenous land defender, human rights activist, and feminist leader. 

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Indigenous Identity Formation in Postsecondary Institutions: I Found Myself in the Most Unlikely Place

Stitching our Stories Together: Journeys into Indigenous Social Work

Stitching Our Stories Together showcases emerging scholars who, by centering their own nations, communities, and individual realities, demonstrate how Indigenous knowledges can challenge settler ideas and myths around pan-Indigeneity. Stitching Our Stories Together points toward a future where Indigenous ways of knowing and being take their rightful place in spaces of higher learning and social work practice-a necessary intervention in a discipline that has historically been complicit in colonialist harm.

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As Grandmother Said: The Narratives of Bessie Meguinis

With fewer than 20 speakers, Tsuut’ina is a critically endangered language. Isúh Áníi / As Grandmother Said brings together nine traditional narratives and historical accounts in the Tsuut’ina language, originally narrated by Elders Dátł’ìshí Ts’ìká Bessie Meguinis (1883–1987) and Ninàghá Tsìtł’á Willie Little Bear (1912–1989). At once an act of language preservation and a learning resource, each story is retold in Tsuut’ina by Dit’óní Didlíshí Dr. Bruce Starlight and is presented with English translations and a Tsuut’ina-to-English glossary.

Siksikaitsitapi: Stories of the Blackfoot People

Siksikaitsitapi: Stories of the Blackfoot People brings together seven authors who share stories rooted in both oral traditions and personal experiences. Many of the stories are presented in both Blackfoot and English, accompanied by full-colour illustrations and photographs that bring Blackfoot traditional and contemporary cultures to life. The Blackfoot Confederacy consists of the Siksika, Kainai, Piikani, and Amskapi Piikuni Nations of Southern Alberta and Montana. 

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Making Space for Indigenous Feminism

This book reflects and celebrates Indigenous feminism's intergenerational longevity through the changing landscape of anti-colonial struggle and theory. Diverse contributors examine Indigenous feminism's ongoing relevance to contemporary contexts and debates, including queer and Two-Spirit approaches to decolonization, gendered and sexualized violence, storytelling and narrative, land-based presence, Black and Indigenous relationalities and more. 

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Me Tomorrow: Indigenous Views on the Future

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. 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.

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