National Indigenous History Month

June is National Indigenous History Month so take some time to honour the history, heritage and diversity of Indigenous peoples in Canada.

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The break

The break

Vermette, Katherena, 1977- author
2016

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. People who are connected, both directly and indirectly, with the victim tell their personal stories leading up to that fateful night.

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First Nations crystal healing : working with the teachers of the mineral kingdom

First Nations crystal healing : working with the teachers of the mineral kingdom

Blue Eagle, Luke, author
2021

With the permission of his elders and teachers, Blue Eagle shares the therapeutic and spiritual use of crystals as taught in the traditions of First Nations tribes. He offers guidance and teachings designed to spiritually and energetically prepare you for crystal healing work. The author explores the properties and healing uses of 40 important crystals and stones and details safe and effective healing techniques, including how to make crystal essences, how to program a crystal, and how to purify the energy centres or perform a healing treatment with Clear Quartz Crystal.

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From the ashes : my story of being indigenous, homeless, and finding my way

From the ashes : my story of being indigenous, homeless, and finding my way

Thistle, Jesse, author.
2021

Abandoned to the foster care system as a toddler, Jesse Thistle succumbed to a self-destructive cycle of addiction and crime, resulting in more than a decade living on and off the streets. Knowing he would die unless he turned his life around, he managed through sheer perseverance and newfound love to find his way back into the loving embrace of his Indigenous culture and family.

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A history of my brief body

A history of my brief body

Belcourt, Billy-Ray, author
2020

Billy-Ray Belcourt's debut memoir opens with a tender letter to his kokum and memories of his early life in the hamlet of Joussard, Alberta, and on the Driftpile First Nation. From there, it expands to encompass the big and broken world around him, in all its complexity and contradictions. With startling honesty, and in a voice distinctly and assuredly his own, Belcourt situates his life experiences within a constellation of seminal queer texts, among which this book is sure to earn its place.

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If I go missing

If I go missing

Jonnie, Brianna, author
2019


In my own moccasins : a memoir of resilience

In my own moccasins : a memoir of resilience

Knott, Helen, 1987- author
2020

Helen Knott, a highly accomplished Indigenous woman, seems to have it all. But in her memoir, she offers a different perspective. In My Own Moccasins is an unflinching account of addiction, intergenerational trauma, and the wounds brought on by sexual violence. It is also the story of sisterhood, the power of ceremony, the love of family, and the possibility of redemption. With gripping moments of withdrawal, times of spiritual awareness, and historical insights going back to the signing of Treaty 8 by her great-great grandfather, Chief Bigfoot, her journey exposes the legacy of colonialism, while reclaiming her spirit. Helen Knott is a Dane Zaa, Nehiyaw, and mixed Euro-descent woman living in Fort St. John, British Columbia.

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The inconvenient Indian : a curious account of native people in North America

The inconvenient Indian : a curious account of native people in North America

King, Thomas, 1943-, author
2012

At once a "history" and the complete subversion of a history--this is a critical and personal meditation that Thomas King has conducted over the past 50 years about what it means to be "Indian" in North America. Rich with dark and light, pain and magic, this book distills the insights gleaned from that meditation, weaving the curiously circular tale of the relationship between non-Natives and Natives in the centuries since the two first encountered each other. In the process, King refashions old stories about historical events and figures, takes a sideways look at film and pop culture, relates his own complex experiences with activism, and articulates a deep and revolutionary understanding of the cumulative effects of ever-shifting laws and treaties on Native peoples and lands.

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Jonny Appleseed

Jonny Appleseed

Whitehead, Joshua (Writer), author
2018




Son of a trickster

Son of a trickster

Robinson, Eden, author
2017


Starlight : an unfinished novel

Starlight : an unfinished novel

Wagamese, Richard, author
2018



Talking to the story keepers : tales from the Chilcotin Plateau

Talking to the story keepers : tales from the Chilcotin Plateau

Birchwater, Sage, author
2022

Writer and journalist Sage Birchwater gathers dozens of stories spanning decades in the Cariboo Chilcotin from those who hold onto stories passed through generations. Each story contains insight, wisdom, knowledge or entertainment, connecting the past to the present and shaping the future in their telling. Each story provides a sense of perspective of where we come from, and prepares us for how we might proceed forward.

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Unreconciled : family, truth, and Indigenous resistance

Unreconciled : family, truth, and Indigenous resistance

Wente, Jesse, author
2021

Jesse Wente remembers the exact moment he realized that he was a certain kind of Indian--a stereotypical cartoon Indian. As the child of an American father and an Anishinaabe mother, Wente grew up in Toronto with frequent visits to the reserve where his maternal relations lived. By exploring his family's history, including his grandmother's experience in residential school, and citing his own frequent incidents of racial profiling by police who'd stop him on the streets, Wente unpacks the discrepancies between his personal identity and how non-Indigenous people view him.

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Walking in the woods : a Metis journey

Walking in the woods : a Metis journey

Belcourt, Herb, 1931- author
2006