Indigenous authors in the spotlight (2017)
Suggested readings at Concordia University Library
This is Indian Land: The 1850 Robinson Treaties
Edited by Concordia Professor Karl S. Hele
A collection of essays exploring various aspects of the 1850 Robinson Treaties.
The Accident of Being Lost: Songs and Stories
Leanne Betasamosake Simpson
A new collection of stories and songs from award-winning Nishnaabeg storyteller and writer Leanne Betasamosake Simpson.
Rebel Yells: Dress and Political Re-dress in Contemporary Indigenous art
Lori Beavis & Rhonda L. Meier, curators/commissaires
Exhibition catalogue. Traces the influence of Shelley Niro's The Rebel (1987) through successive generations of artists.
Atanarjuat : The Fast Runner
Paul Apak Angilirq
Dual language screenplay for the famous film Inspired by a traditional Inuit legend.
The Break
Katherena Vermette
In shifting narratives, characters variously connected with the young victim of a crime tell their personal stories leading up to one fateful night.
Research is ceremony : indigenous research methods
Shawn Wilson
Describes a research paradigm shared by Indigenous scholars in Canada and Australia, and demonstrates how this paradigm can be put into practice.
The Right to Be Cold
Sheila Watt-Cloutier
One Woman's Story of Protecting Her Culture, the Arctic and the Whole Planet.
Politics, economy and popular culture in the Americas
Concordia Professor Elizabeth Fast, contributor
Professor Fast's chapter: Popular Culture and Urban Indigenous Youth
The Participatory Condition in the Digital Age
Concordia Professor Jason Lewis, contributor
Professor Lewis' chapter: Preparations for a Haunting: Note Towards an Indigenous Future Imaginary
Pachamama: Cuisine des Premières Nations
Manuel Kak'wa Kurtness
A collection of recipes from twelve Aboriginal communities in Quebec and eastern Ontario.
Indigenous Nationhood : Empowering Grassroots Citizens
Pamela Palmater
A collection of the best blogs from Indigenous Nationhood produced lawyer, activist and academic Pamela Palmater.
Nta'tugwaqanminen: Our Story
Gespe'gewa'gi Mi'gmawei Mawiomi
Discusses Gespe'gewa'gi Mi'gmaq relationship with the land, place names, land treaties, vision of history, and land occupation.
The Unnatural and Accidental Women
Marie Humber Clements
A surrealist dramatization of a thirty-year murder case in an impoverised district of Vancouver.
SakKijâjuk : art and craft from Nunatsiavut
Concordia Professor Heather Igloliorte
Features art works, profiles of 45 artists, and a major essay on the art of Nunatsiavut by Heather Igloliorte.
Truth and Reconciliation Reports
Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada
A subject guide to the many reports from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in print and online.
Free to be Mohawk
Concordia Professor Louellyn White
Traces the history of the Akwesasne Freedom School and its impact on students, staff and parents.
We Were Not the Savages
Daniel N. Paul
Discusses early Mi'kmaq civilizations, contact with European settlers, conflicts and treaties.
A Two-Spirit Journey: The Autobiography of a Lesbian Ojibwa-Cree Elder
Ma-Nee Chacaby with Mary Louisa Plummer
An extraordinary account of the life as an Ojibwa-Cree lesbian
Traplines
Eden Robinson
Four stories discussing the world of adolescence, fast food, sex, fear, and longing for love.
Out of the Depths : The Experiences of Mi'kmaw Children at the Indian Residential School at Shubenacadie
Isabelle Knockwood with Gillian Thomas
First hand accounts of survivors.
Kiss of the Fur Queen
Tomson Highway
Two boys thrust into the hostile world of a Catholic residential school are watched over by the Fur Queen.
Carlisle Indian Industrial School : indigenous histories, memories, and reclamations
Concordia Professor Louellyn White, contributor
Professor White's chapter: White Power and the Performance of Assimilation.
Aboriginal Oral Traditions : Theory, Practice, Ethics
Renée Hulan and Renate Eigenbrod
Selected essays from a conference on Aboriginal oral traditions, knowledge of the environment, economy, education, and public discourse.
Price Paid: the Fight for First Nations Survival
Bev Sellars
Documents the dark period racist laws during the twentieth century and discusses a re-establishment of Indigenous land and resource rights.
Survivance and Reconciliation: 7 Forward/7 Back
Edited by Concordia Professor Karl S. Hele
Conference proceedings reflecting on Indigenous knowledges and the potential for reconciliation between Indigenous peoples and settlers.
L'identité Métisse Dans L'est du Canada: Enjeux Culturels et Défis Politiques
Emmanuel Michaux
An invitation to rethink categories of identity.
Pauline Johnson : Selected Poetry and Prose
Pauline Johnson
Bringing forth a strong voice in the literary scene, Pauline Johnson wrote about her ancestry and gender in the early 20th century
Firewater: How Alcohol is Killing My People (and Yours)
Harold R. Johnson
Examines the history of alcohol and its devastating impact on Indigenous communities.
Life Among the Qallunaat
Mini Aodla Freeman
An account of the transition from life in the inuit communities of James Bay to life south of the arctic.
Passage
Gwen Benaway
A poetic voyage through divorce, family violence, legacy of colonization, and the affirmation of a new sexuality and gender.
Breasting the Waves: On Writing and Healing
Joanne Arnott
Personal essays and stories about writing, women's rituals, fighting racism, and more.
Daughters Are Forever
Lee Maracle
Novel describing the transformation of a First Nations woman who is alienated from her culture, her family, and herself.
Nationhood Interrupted: Revitalizing Nêhiyaw Legal Systems
Sylvia McAdam (Saysewahum)
Discusses the developing need to record traditional laws in order to preserve and revitalize Indigenous nationhood
Restoring the balance : First Nations women, community, and culture
Gail Guthrie Valaskakis, editor
Sheds light on the work First Nations women have performed and continue to perform.
Healing Traditions
Gail Guthrie Valaskakis, editor
A resource for critically thinking about mental health and social problems in Indigenous communities.
Hidden in Plain Sight
Gail Guthrie Valaskakis, contributor
Professor Valaskakis' chapter: Nunavut Territory: communications and political development in the Canadian north
Indian Country: Essays on Contemporary Native Culture
Gail Guthrie Valaskakis
Offers a unique perspective on Indigenous political struggle and cultural conflict in Canada and the US.
Princesses Indiennes et Cowgirls: Stéréotypes de la Frontière
Gail Guthrie Valaskakis
Examines the issue of the "Indian princess", and considers the myth of the cowgirl in North American culture.
Between Views
Gail Guthrie Valaskakis, contributor
Professor Valaskakis' chapter: Postcards of my past : Indians and academics
Aboriginal Education: Fulfilling the Promise
Gail Guthrie Valaskakis, contributor
Professor Valaskakis' chapter: Telling our own stories : the role, development, and future of Aboriginal communications
We hope you enjoy our second annual selection of print and online books timed with Indigenous Book Club Month and Aboriginal History Month in June, as well as Indigenous Day on June 21. This year we are featuring new acquisitions for the library as well as older favourites. Our selections include literature, art, drama, poetry, non-fiction and more. We once again focus on books by First Nations, Métis and Inuit authors and artists, and of course include some recent works by Indigenous faculty here at Concordia.
We also celebrate the work of the late Gail Guthrie Valaskakis, former Concordia Dean of Arts and Science, Distinguished Professor Emeritus (Communication Studies) and renowned scholar of Aboriginal media in the North, on the 10th anniversary of her death. A Chippewa raised on the Lac du Flambeau reservation in Wisconsin, Gail helped found Concordia’s Aboriginal Resource Center and served as director of the Aboriginal Healing Foundation, among a myriad of achievements. She won an Indspire award in 2002 and received an honorary doctorate from the University of Ottawa in 2005. You will find her books and chapters in the last seven entries on the page.
Thank you to Kay Burns and Zia Davidian for their valuable assistance in putting together this selection.
Indigenous Authors in the Spotlight Series
Inuit Testimony, Critique & Practice (Fall 2022)
Memoirs & Life Stories (Fall 2021)
Indigenous Feminisms (Spring/Summer 2020)
Science Fiction & Futurisms (Fall 2019)
Indigenous Poetry (Winter 2019)
Indigenous Knowledges and Research Methods (2018)
