National Network for Equitable Library Service

On the 2nd of September, 1998, near the small fishing village of Peggys Cove, N.S., a Swissair passenger jet carrying 229 people crashed into the ocean with a complete loss of life. This book is the true story of the crash investigation as told by the RCMPs main crime scene investigator who worked on the investigation from start to finish. For more than four years, he searched for the truth amid the remains of human flesh, and the debris of the aircraft. What he found was not what was presented to the public.

The Stump Farm, by Robert J. Adams, follows the trials of Bobby during the time Canada brought its soldiers back from the Second World War. The hardships of the time go unnoticed by a young boy more concerned with genuine moose hide moccasins, his grandfather's .22 and a Marilyn Monroe pin-up on the outhouse wall. Through this naïve youth we see a world without cynicism and harsh realities – a time when our needs were simple and laughter came easily.

Stories from a Canadian fish and wildlife officer. 

An exploration of the "enemy alien" experience in Canada during the Great War.

Approximately 8,000 Canadian civilians were imprisoned during the First World War because of their ethnic ties to Germany, Austria-Hungary, and other enemy nations. Although not as well-known as the later internments of Japanese Canadians during the Second World War, these incarcerations played a crucial role in shaping debates about Canadian citizenship, diversity, and loyalty.

In The Knowledge Seeker, Blair Stonechild shares his own sixty-year journey of learning--from residential school to PhD and beyond--looking all the while to find a place for Indigenous spirituality in the classroom. Encouraged by an Elder who insisted sacred information be written down, Stonechild explores the underlying philosophy of his people's teachings to demonstrate that Indigenous spirituality can speak to our urgent, contemporary concerns.

Oil is not new to Saskatchewan. Many of the wells found on farmland across the province date back to the 1950s when the industry began to spread. But there is little doubt that the recent boom (2006-2014) and subsequent downturn in unconventional oil production has reshaped rural lives and landscapes. While many small towns were suffering from depopulation and decline, others reoriented themselves around a booming oil industry.

Mythologizing Norval Morrisseau examines the complex identities assigned to Anishinaabe artist Norval Morrisseau. Was he an uneducated artist plagued by alcoholism and homelessness? Was Morrisseau a shaman artist who tapped a deep spiritual force? Or was he simply one of Canada’s most significant artists? Carmen L. Robertson charts both the colonial attitudes and the stereotypes directed at Morrisseau and other Indigenous artists in Canada’s national press. Robertson also examines Morrisseau’s own shaping of his image.

In the wake of colonization, in a landscape of loss and dispossession, can we rediscover ways to share the land with other creatures and one another? Towards a Prairie Atonement addresses this question by enlisting the help of a Métis Elder and revisiting the history of one corner of the Great Plains. Set on a prairie remnant seven thousand years old, this book's lyrical blend of personal narrative, prairie history, imagery, and argument begins with the cause of protecting native grassland on community pastures.

In a passionate call to action, Harold Johnson, Cree trapper and Crown Prosecutor, examines alcohol--its history, its myths, and its devastating impact on his community. Confronting what he calls a crime against humanity--one in every two will die an alcohol-related death in northern communities--Johnson refuses to be silent any longer. Asserting that the "lazy, drunken Indian" story is a root cause of the alcohol problems, Johnson sets out to recast the narrative of his people, urging them to reject this racist description of who they are.

As an Elder once said, "Learn one Cree word a day for 100 days, and emerge a different person." In 100 Days of Cree Neal McLeod offers a portal into another way of understanding the universe--and our place within it--while demonstrating why this funny, vibrant, and sometimes salacious language is "the sexiest" of them all (according to Tomson Highway).