National Network for Equitable Library Service

Exploring intergenerational trauma in Indigenous communities--and strategies for healing--with provocative prose and an empathetic approach. Indigenous peoples have shockingly higher rates of addiction, depression, diabetes, and other chronic health conditions than other North Americans. According to the Aboriginal Healing Foundation, these are a result of intergenerational trauma: the unresolved terror, anger, fear, and grief created in Indigenous communities by the painful experiences of colonialism, passed down from generation to generation. How are we to turn this desperate tide?

A daring post-apocalyptic novel from a powerful rising literary voice. With winter looming, a small northern Anishinaabe community goes dark. Cut off, people become passive and confused. Panic builds as the food supply dwindles. While the band council and a pocket of community members struggle to maintain order, an unexpected visitor arrives, escaping the crumbling society to the south. Soon after, others follow. The community leadearship loses its grip on power as the visitors manipulate the tired and hungry to take control of the reserve.

A bold and breathtaking anthology of queer Indigenous speculative fiction, edited by the author of Jonny Appleseed. This exciting and groundbreaking fiction anthology showcases a number of new and emerging 2SQ (Two-Spirit and queer) Indigenous writers from across Turtle Island. These visionary authors show how queer Indigenous communities can bloom and thrive through Utopian narratives that detail the vivacity and strength of 2SQness throughout its plight in the maw of settler colonialism's histories.

“Childhood Thoughts and Water" is a collection of Beat Poetry, Spoken Word, Performance Art and Lyrical Verse. This is a work which journeys into the memories and events of an Urban Indigenous warrior’s struggles to reconnect with a language and culture that is seemingly always almost out of reach.

This poetry collection creatively reveals the beautiful and bitter essences of the world from a distinctive Indigenous female voice. Speaking from her unique Mohawk perspective, the poet unapologetically sings words of wisdom and cultural confidence. By using this creative foundation to unite distinctive communities, she expresses raw emotion throughout her journey toward inner peace from a uniquely Indigenous point of view.

"Mâmitonêhta kisêwâtisiwin", a Cree translation of "Imagine Mercy", is a vibrant poetry collection portraying the daily realities of living as an Indigenous person in Canada. David Groulx and Randy Morin seamlessly weave the spiritual with the ordinary and the present with the past. The author speaks for the spirit, determination, and courage of Indigenous people, compelling readers to confront cruel reality with his honest and inspiring vision.

"The Rumour" is a collection of poetry that exposes many important issues of Indigenous discrimination, poverty, drug abuse, brutal violence, love, family, and complex human relationships. As a skilled painter, Joseph A. Dandurand portrays the essence of strong connections with rich Indigenous history, culture, traditions, and family values with broad but precise strokes. The poems come from author's lifetime experience living on the Kwantlen First Nation reserve and give a true picture of the resilience and the struggles Indigenous people experience in everyday life.

The poems in "pihta ?kwa wihta"reveal strong links to land, to family, and to the wisdom of elders. The author exposes the struggles that many Aboriginal people encounter while getting an education, dealing with family issues and abuse, learning to respect themselves and demanding respect from others, finding their place in the world, and recovering their rich history and culture. This book illustrates the resilience and strength of the Aboriginal people and the determination that they bring to their local communities across Canada.

In this poetry book, David Groulx seamlessly weaves the spiritual with the ordinary and the present with the powerful voices of the past. He speaks for the spirit, determination, and courage of Aboriginal people, compelling readers to confront cruel reality with his sincere and inspiring vision. Author's poetic power renders an honest and painful perception of Aboriginal life with strong voice against prejudice and injustice.

Written by a Mohawk Institute Residential School survivor, this is a fierce and candid story that reveals the heartbreaking trauma of that tragic time in our history. The author portrays how the ongoing impact of the residential schools confinements has affected Indigenous communities over several generations and has contributed to many social problems that continue to exist today.