With National National Indigenous Peoples Day fast approaching, I wanted to help share some valuable resources with our readers.
To help recognize and celebrate the history, heritage, resilience, and diversity of First Nations people I have come up with a list of books to share.
April Raintree by Beatrice Mosionier: This book, originally titled 'In Search of April Raintree' begins in the 1950s and tells the story of April and Cheryl Raintree, two Métis sisters growing up in the foster care system. Throughout the book, April decides to live out her life pretending to be a white person as she is white-passing, while her sister Cheryl chooses not to deny her heritage.
This book made me incredibly emotional while reading it as you truly feel and see where both sisters are coming from. It was especially incredibly sad to see April hide who she was to try and fit into society. April Raintree features a bunch of disturbing graphic scenes as well which to this day haunt me since reading. However, I feel that the overall message of this book is an important one and for that reason I highly recommend it.
Bad Cree by Jessica Johns: This book follows a girl named Mackenzie who one day wakes up with a severed crow's head in her hands, panicking she blinks and the head disappears. Night after night, dreams return her to memories from before her sister Sabrina's death. Not being able to handle what is going on on her own Mackenzie travels back to her rural hometown in Alberta only to find her family still stuck in the same grief they were in before she left for Vancouver to escape it.
Bad Cree is a book that is a female-driven mystery story and it kept me hooked on wanting to know what would happen next. Also, I love reading books that take place in or mention Alberta.
Never Whistle at Night: An Indigenous Dark Fiction Anthology by Norris Black, Amber Blaeser-Wardzala, Phoenix Boudreau, Cherie Dimaline, Carson Faust, Kelli Jo Ford, Kate Hart, Shane Hawk, Brandon Hobson, Darcie Little Badger, Conley Lyons, Nick Medina, Tiffany Morris, Tommy Orange, Mona Susan Power, Marcie R. Rendon, Waubegeshig Rice, Rebecca Roanhorse, Andrea L. Rogers, Morgan Talty, D.H. Trujillo, Theodore C. Van Alst Jr., Richard Van Camp, David Heska Wanbli Weiden, Royce Young Wolf and Mathilda Zeller: This book features a concept that many Indigenous people believe in that one should never whistle at night as it is believed that it may summon evil spirits. Each of the short stories in this book introduces different spine-chilling events and things, including ghosts, curses, hauntings, monstrous creatures, complex family legacies, desperate deeds, and acts of revenge.
While not every short story in this anthology was a personal favourite, every short story was enjoyable to read in its own right. If reading books with different types of lore and some spooky scenes interests you, I would recommend giving this one a try.
Funeral Songs for Dying Girls by Cherie Dimaline: This book follows a girl named Winifred who has the habit of wandering around the nearby graveyard at all hours and that habit eventually starts a rumour that the cemetery is haunted. Everything changes though when an actual ghost of a teen girl who died in the ravine next to the cemetery starts to show up and Winifred starts to question everything that she believes.
This book is a coming-of-age story that I thought had a super interesting premise. Many moments in this book are super powerful and moving. Not surprisingly grief takes a big role in this book and I thought that the way this book handles the hard topics it does was done really well.
Five Little Indians by Michelle Good: This book follows the characters of Kenny, Lucy, Clara, Howie, and Masie, who were all taken from their families and sent to a remote, church-run residential school. Once released the five of them eventually find their way to downtown east side Vancouver where they strive to find a place of safety and belonging in a world that they view doesn't want them. Over the decades, the paths of the five friends, each very unique and different, continue to cross.
Five Little Indians is a book that shows the impact the residential school system had on the five main characters and in my opinion was eye-opening. While reading this story there were moments where I had to stop reading and take a moment because of how emotional and traumatic the particular scene was.
These are only some of many books that feature Indigenous characters and culture or are written by Indigenous authors.
All of the books on this list are available to take out from the Sylvan Lake Municipal Library or can be purchased wherever books are sold.
