Indigenous Peoples' Day (June 21) and Canada Day (July 1) are important dates to acknowledge when it comes to Canada’s history and the people who were here before us. I am going to share with you some books across a few different categories as an introduction to reading Indigenous stories.
Now, this is just an introduction to Indigenous stories, and I encourage you to do your own research to find more. There is a rich and beautiful history that has long been erased by colonialism. Learning about the lives of Indigenous Peoples in Canada is the least we can do towards reconciliation and proper recognition.
Non-Fiction written by Indigenous Peoples in Canada
Truth Telling: Seven Conversations About Indigenous Life In Canada by Michelle Good
We’re starting easy here with this brief (and I mean BRIEF) Indigenous history in Canada. Michelle Good is of Cree ancestry and a member of the Red Pheasant Cree Nation in Saskatchewan. She is a writer of short stories, poems, and essays.
Truth Telling is the perfect place to start when it comes to learning about the past and understanding a better way of moving forward. The chapters are broken down into easy-to-digest essays about racism, treaties, culture, and history. If you have no idea where to start, start here.
Rez Rules: My Indictment of Canada’s and America’s Systemic Racism Against Indigenous Peoples by Chief Clarence Louie
Chief Clarence Louie tells his life story intertwined with a common-sense approach to what our future should look like. He was elected Chief of the Osoyoos Indian Band in the Okanagan Valley of British Columbia. He has served as Chief for four decades.
Rez Rules focuses on economic and business independence for First Nations people. Through humor and life experience, Chief Clarence Louie introduces readers to life on the Rez and the history of his involvement in reclamation and reconciliation.
Unreconciled: Family, Truth, and Indigenous Resistance by Jesse Wente
The last nonfiction book I’m sharing is by Jesse Wente. He is an Ojibwe activist, public speaker, and broadcaster. Located in Toronto, he appears weekly on CBC Radio One’s Metro Morning.
Unreconciled uncovers the myths and lies that addict relationships between white and Indigenous peoples. His goal is to build a new and respectful relationship between the nation of Canada and Indigenous peoples. A mixture of memoir, Hollywood analysis, and political activism, Wente suggests an alternative to reconciliation.
Adult Fiction written by Indigenous Peoples in Canada
VenCo by Cherie Dimaline
VenCo is an adult magical realism and paranormal fantasy about witches. Cherie Dimaline is a member of the Georgian Bay Metis Council of the Metis Nation of Ontario. After finding a mysterious silver spoon stuck in the wall of her Toronto apartment, Lucky and her grandmother are taken on an adventure hundreds of miles from home. She soon learns the spoon is one of seven ancient artifacts, and the coming together of all seven will ignite a new era of magic and feminine power.
Bad Cree by Jessica Johns
In this mystery horror fiction, we meet Mackenzie, a young woman whose nightmares are coming to life. After she wakes up holding a severed raven’s head in her hands, it’s time to seek help.
Jessica Johns is a member of the Sucker Creek First Nation in northern Alberta. Using her Cree heritage, we embark on an adventure of personal growth through grief, loss, and the rebuilding of familial ties.
Tainna: The Unseen Ones by Norma Dunning
In this short story collection of contemporary fiction by Norma Dunning, readers will experience the alienation, displacement, and loneliness felt by the Inuk peoples of Canada.
Being Inuk herself, she has drawn on cultural memories and personal experiences to bring to us six short stories with a variety of characters living far from their homes. This is a quick and emotional read and is definitely worth the time.
YA Fiction written by Indigenous Peoples in Canada
The Marrow Thieves by Cherie Dimaline
This is the second book by Cherie Dimaline that I will be sharing. The Marrow Thieves is a young adult dystopian, science fiction set in the Canadian wilderness. Fifteen-year-old Frenchie is on the run with his family. After global warming has destroyed the social order, dreams are in high demand.
Now that Indigenous Peoples are the only ones left who can dream, they are being hunted and having their bone marrow harvested so that white people can dream again. This book is fast-paced and heartbreaking, filled with found family and ancestral wisdom.
Walking in Two Worlds by Wab Kinew
Wab Kinew is the current Premier of Manitoba. He is an Ojibway of the Onigaming First Nation in Northwestern Ontario and Canada’s first provincial premier of First Nations descent. Walking in Two Worlds introduces us to Bugz and Feng.
Bugs is a shy girl who lives on the Rez and spends all her time in a virtual reality game where she is confident and has friends. Feng is sent from China to live with family on the same Rez; he also spends all his time playing the same game as Bugz. The two become friends inside and outside the game, but after some family challenges and community trauma, they may have to fight for the friendship they had or lose it completely.
A Girl Called Echo Vol 1 by Katherena Vermette
Katherena Vermette is of Metis descent from Winnipeg. In this historical fiction graphic novel, we meet Echo, who is thirteen and just moved to a new home and a new school. While struggling to find her place and make new friends, she accidentally travels back in time to the center of a bison hunt on the plains of Saskatchewan.
Echo continues to jump back and forward through time, and as she does so, she learns of her Metis heritage and the history of her people. From fur trading to hunting to the titular Pemmican Wars, readers can get a creative dose of Indigenous history.
Illustrated by Scott B. Henderson and Donovan Yaciuk
Children’s Picture Books
Shi-shi-etko by Nicola I. Campbell
Nicola I. Campbell is a Nlaka’pamux, Syilx, and Metis poet and author from British Columbia. Shi-shi-etko follows the last days of a little girl before she is to attend residential school. Through hauntingly beautiful illustrations, we learn from mother, father, and grandmother valuable teachings that are to help remind She-shi-etko of where she comes from.
Illustrated by Kim LaFave
What’s in a Bead? By Kelsey Borgford
What’s in a Bead? follows Tessa as she learns from her grandmother the artistry and history that go into traditional beading. With bright and colorful illustrations, a sweet story about the celebration of Cree craftsmanship is told. Kelsey Borgford is Nbisling Nishnaabe from the Marten clan and Couch family in the territory of Nipissing First Nation, Ontario.
Illustrated by Tessa Pizzale
The Song That Called Them Home by David Alexander Robertson
This beautifully illustrated book by David Alexander Robertson, a member of the Norway House Cree Nation in Manitoba, follows siblings Lauren and James as they travel with their Moshom (grandfather). While out on a lake canoeing, the siblings fall overboard and are taken through a magical portal full of mythical creatures. In order for them to find their way back to the surface, they must listen to the call of their ancestors.
Illustrated by Maya McKibbin
I hope something on this list has piqued your interest. Again, this is a very introductory list of Indigenous stories, and there are hundreds more for you to discover.
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