4 Nonfiction Books to Read During Mi'kmaw History Month

The Reconciliation Manifesto : Recovering the Land, Rebuilding the Economy by Arthur Manuel, Ronald Derrickson, et al.

In this step-by-step approach on where Indigenous peoples are today as nations, how they arrived at this point and where they are headed, this book offers reconciliation guidance. -Summary

There’s Something In The Water: Environmental Racism in Indigenous & Black Communities by Ingrid R G Waldron

Using Nova Scotia as a case study, Ingrid R. G. Waldron examines environmental racism and its health impacts in Indigenous and Black communities in Canada. -Summary

Turtle Island: The Story of North America's First People by Eldon Yellowhorn and Kathy Lowinger

“Discover the amazing story of the Indigenous peoples of the Americas from the end of the Ice Age to the arrival of the Europeans. You'll learn what people ate, how they expressed themselves through art, and how they adapted to the land.” -WorldCat

Unsettling Canada: A National Wake-Up Call by Arthur Manuel

“Unsettling Canada chronicles the modern struggle for Indigenous rights covering fifty years of struggle over a wide range of historical, national, and recent international breakthroughs.” -WorldCat

4 Nonfiction Books to Read During Mi'kmaw History Month

Keetsahnak / Our Missing and Murdered Indigenous Sisters by Kim Anderson, Maria Campbell, et al.

This collection of essays, most of which were written by Indigenous women scholars and activists, addresses historical, legal, cultural, philosophical, and psychological perspectives on the topic of missing and murdered women in Canada. -Summary

The Art of Mi’kmaw Basketry by Shalan Joudry and Holly Brown Bear

“In this book, nine artists present their work and their stories in their own words. Their unique artistic practices reflect their relationships to the natural world around them and their abilities to create unique and beautiful objects.” -Amazon

The End of This World: Climate Justice in So-Called Canada by Angele Alook, Emily Eaton, et al.

“The climate crisis is here, and the end of this world--a world built on land theft, resource extraction, and colonial genocide--is on the horizon. In this compelling roadmap to a livable future, Indigenous sovereignty and climate justice go hand in hand.” -Publisher

Truth Telling: Seven Conversations about Indigenous Life in Canada by Michelle Good

“From racism, broken treaties, and cultural pillaging, to the value of Indigenous lives and the importance of Indigenous literature, this collection reveals facts about Indigenous life in Canada that are both devastating and enlightening.” -Amazon

4 Nonfiction Books to Read During Mi'kmaw History Month

 

Beyond the Orange Shirt Story by Phyllis Webstad 

“Beyond the Orange Shirt Story is a unique collection of truths, as told by six generations of Phyllis Webstad’s family that will give readers an up-close look at what life was like before, during, and after their Residential School experiences.” -Amazon

Braiding Sweetgrass for Young Adults: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants by Monique Gray Smith, Robin Wall Kimmerer, et al. 

“Botanist Robin Wall Kimmerer's best-selling book Braiding Sweetgrass is adapted for a young adult audience by children's author Monique Gray Smith, bringing Indigenous wisdom, scientific knowledge, and the lessons of plant life to a new generation.” -WorldCat

Medicine Wheel for the Planet: A Journey toward Personal and Ecological Healing by Dr. Jennifer Grenz

Rooted in both Indigenous and Western ways of understanding and doing science, this book invites readers to share in the teachings of the four directions of the medicine wheel while arguing that a multiplicity of worldviews are required to safeguard our Earth. – Summary

Righting Canada's Wrongs: Residential Schools: The Devastating Impact on Canada's Indigenous Peoples and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's Findings and Calls for Action by Melanie Florence

This up-to-date account of the residential school system discusses aboriginal life before the schools, the history and negative repercussions of the schools, and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's Calls to Action. -Summary

Poetry Competition

 

4 Nonfiction Books to Read During Mi'kmaw History Month

 

Forever Loved: Exposing the hidden Crisis of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls in Canada by Jennifer Brant and D Memee Lavell Harvard

“In this ground-breaking new volume, Jennifer Brant and D. Memee Lavell-Harvard have pulled together a variety of voices from the academic realms to the grassroots and front-lines to speak on what has been identified as a grave violation of the basic human rights of Aboriginal women and girls.” – WorldCat

Silence to Strength: Writings and Reflections on the 60s Scoop by Christine Smith

In Silence to Strength editor Christine Miskonoodinkwe Smith gathers together contributions from twenty Sixties Scoop survivors from across the territories of Canada. This anthology includes poems, stories and personal essays. -Summary

Speaking Our Truth : A Journey of Reconciliation by Monique Gray Smith

“Guided by acclaimed Indigenous author Monique Gray Smith, readers will learn about the lives of residential school survivors and listen to allies who are putting the findings of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission into action." -Amazon

Truth and Conviction: Donald Marshall Jr. and the Mi'kmaw Quest for Justice by L. Jane McMillan

An account of how one man's fight against racism and injustice transformed the criminal justice system and galvanized the Mi'kmaw Nation's struggle for self-determination, forever changing the landscape of Indigenous rights in Canada and around the world. – Summary

4 Nonfiction Books to Read During Mi'kmaw History Month

A Journey of Love and Hope: The Inspirational Words of a Mi'kmaw Elder by Elder Sister Dorothy Moore and Gerald Gloade 

“The long-awaited collection of talks, presentations, prayers, and ceremonies of renowned Mi'kmaw Elder, human rights activist, and language and culture warrior, Sister Dorothy Moore.” -Amazon

Contested Waters: The Struggle Against Water Privatization in the United States and Canada by Joanna L Robinson

A timely anthology featuring diverse perspectives – Indigenous and non-Indigenous – on the right to fish in the Atlantic, with the goal of creating dialogue and solutions. -Summary

First Nations Self-Government: 17 Roadblocks to Self-Determination, and One Chief's Thoughts on Solutions by Leroy Wolf Collar

“This guide is for current and aspiring Indigenous leaders who want to increase their understanding of good governance, management, and leadership, as well as those who want to explore issues around Indigenous self-determination in Canada.” -Amazon

Highway of Tears: A True Story of Racism, Indifference and the Pursuit of Justice for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls by Jessica McDiarmid

"This stunning work of investigative journalism follows a series of unsolved disappearances and murders of Indigenous women in rural British Columbia along Highway 16, a 450-mile stretch of dirt and asphalt, surrounded by rugged wilderness and snowy mountain peaks."--Publisher

Wi’kipatmu’k Mi’kmawey

October is Mi’kmaw History Month. Visit the CEC library to check out our fiction titles by aboriginal authors.

A 16-year-old Lipan Apache girl from Texas and a cottonmouth person from the spirit world connect when both need help. -Summary

Life has been a struggle for Toby Goodman. Set in a small town in the 1990s, this is the story of a girl on the edge—of a breakdown, of family secrets, of learning who she really is. -Summary

“Throughout World War II, in the conflict fought against Japan, Navajo code talkers were a crucial part of the U.S. effort. Now Joseph Bruchac brings their stories to life for young adults through the riveting fictional tale of Ned Begay, a sixteen-year-old Navajo boy who becomes a code talker.” -Amazon

A Texas Apache teen comes face-to-face with a cousin's ghost and vows to unmask the murderer. Elatsoe combines mystery, horror, noir, ancestral knowledge, and haunting illustrations. -Summary

"Taken from their families and sent to residential school, Kenny, Lucy, Clara, Howie and Maisie are barely out of childhood when released. The paths of the five crisscross over the decades as they struggle to overcome, or at least forget, the trauma they endured during their years at the Mission.” -WorldCat

When Louise's boyfriend mocks Native people she dumps him. She'd rather spend time working on the school newspaper. The paper's staff soon find themselves with a major story : the musical director's inclusive approach to casting The Wizard of Oz has been provoking backlash. –Summary

“Saul Indian Horse is in trouble, and there seems to be only one way out. As he journeys his way back through his life as a northern Ojibway, from the horrors of residential school to his triumphs on the hockey rink, he must question everything he knows.” -WorldCat

“Inspired by a handful of old postcards sent by Uncle Leroy nearly a hundred years earlier, Bird and Mimi attempt to trace Mimi’s long-lost uncle and the family medicine bundle he took with him to Europe.” -Amazon

“When Will returns to Medicine River for his mother's funeral, he doesn't count on Harlen Bigbear and his brand of community planning. Harlen tries to sell Will on the idea of returning to Medicine River to open shop as the town's only Native photographer. Somehow, that's exactly what happens." WorldCat

Medicine Walk, a novel by Canadian First Nations author Richard Wagamese, relates the journey of 16-year-old Franklin Starlight and his dying, alcoholic father Eldon Starlight to find a burial site for Eldon at a place deep in the forest he remembers fondly from his youth. -Summary 

"The final novel from Richard Wagamese, the bestselling and beloved author of Indian Horse and Medicine Walk, centers on an abused woman on the run who finds refuge and then redemption on a farm run by an Indigenous man with wounds of his own.” –WorldCat

Reckoner; Book One

“When Cole Harper is compelled to return to Wounded Sky First Nation, he finds his community in chaos: a series of shocking murders, a mysterious illness ravaging the residents, and re-emerging questions about Cole's role in the tragedy that drove him away 10 years ago.” -WorldCat

Reckoner; Book Two

"Cole is struggling to settle into life in Wounded Sky. He may have stopped a serial killer but the trouble is far from over. A creature lurks in the shadows of Blackwood Forest, the health clinic is on lockdown, and old secrets threaten to bubble to the surface. ” -WorldCat

Reckoner; Book Three

“Cole is dead. Reynold McCabe is alive and free. Mihko Laboratories has reopened the research facility and is working to manufacture and weaponize the virus that previously plagued Wounded Sky. People are dying. And time is running out.” -WorldCat

Misewa Saga; Book One

Morgan and Eli, two Indigenous children forced away from their families, are brought together in a foster home in Winnipeg. They each feel disconnected and struggle to fit in -- until they find a secret place, and a portal opens to another reality.

Misewa Saga; Book Two 

Home after their adventure in the Barren Grounds, Eli and Morgan struggle with personal issues--Eli is being bullied, while Morgan has questions regarding her birth mother. They turn to the place where they know they can learn the most, Misewa.

"In a world ravaged by global warming, people have lost the ability to dream. The only people still able to dream are North America's indigenous population - and their marrow that holds the cure for the rest of the world. But getting the marrow, and dreams, means death for the unwilling donors.  – WorldCat 

The thrilling follow-up to the bestselling, award-winning novel The Marrow Thieves, about a dystopian world where the Indigenous people of North America are being hunted for their bone marrow and ability to dream. -Summary

From the bestselling author of The Break comes a staggering intergenerational saga that explores how connected we are, even when we’re no longer together—even when we’re forced apart. -Summary

A boy discovers his Native American heritage in this Depression-era tale of identity and friendship by the author of Code Talker -Summary

“Bugz is caught between two worlds. In the real world, she's a shy and self-conscious Indigenous teen who faces the stresses of teenage angst and life on the Rez. But in the virtual world, her alter ego is not just confident but dominant in a massively multiplayer video game universe. Feng is a teen boy who has been sent from China to live with his aunt, a doctor on the Rez, after his online activity suggests he may be developing extremist sympathies. Meeting each other in real life, as well as in the virtual world, Bugz and Feng immediately relate to each other as outsiders and as avid gamers.” -WorldCat

New Nonfiction

“In this ground-breaking new volume, Jennifer Brant and D. Memee Lavell-Harvard have pulled together a variety of voices from the academic realms to the grassroots and front-lines to speak on what has been identified as a grave violation of the basic human rights of Aboriginal women and girls.” - WorldCat

This collection of essays, most of which were written by Indigenous women scholars and activists, addresses historical, legal, cultural, philosophical, and psychological perspectives on the topic of missing and murdered women in Canada. -Summary

“Thomas Hobbes' seminal work, Leviathan, stands as a cornerstone of political philosophy, providing profound insights into the nature of government, society, and human behavior.” -Amazon

The essays in this volume tackle the protection of individual liberty, the basic principles of ethics, the benefits and the costs of representative institutions, and the central importance of gender equality in society. - Summary

In Silence to Strength editor Christine Miskonoodinkwe Smith gathers together contributions from twenty Sixties Scoop survivors from across the territories of Canada. This anthology includes poems, stories and personal essays. -Summary

“In this book, nine artists present their work and their stories in their own words. Their unique artistic practices reflect their relationships to the natural world around them and their abilities to create unique and beautiful objects.” -Amazon

An account of how one man's fight against racism and injustice transformed the criminal justice system and galvanized the Mi'kmaw Nation's struggle for self-determination, forever changing the landscape of Indigenous rights in Canada and around the world. - Summary

New Nonfiction

“Drawing on new evidence, this book advances a general theory why the silent revolution in values triggered a backlash fueling support for authoritarian-populist parties and leaders in the US and Europe. The conclusion highlights the dangers of this development and what could be done to mitigate the risks to liberal democracy.” -Amazon

“This guide is for current and aspiring Indigenous leaders who want to increase their understanding of good governance, management, and leadership, as well as those who want to explore issues around Indigenous self-determination in Canada.” -Amazon

“The author argues that American society is leaning toward despotism and totalitarianism and looks back at the 20th century for examples of how totalitarianism has taken over before.” -WorldCat

“Collecting the most incisive and influential writings of one of Rome's finest orators, this selection includes letters to friends and statesmen on Roman life and politics; the vitriolic Second Philippic Against Antony; and his two most famous philosophical treatises, On Duties and On Old Age.” -Worldcat

“Written as an eloquent defense of the faith at a time when the Roman Empire was on the brink of collapse, this work examines the ancient pagan religions of Rome, the arguments of the Greek philosophers and the revelations of the Bible. Pointing the way forward to a citizenship that transcends worldly politics and will last for eternity.” -WorldCat

“In this powerful story of spiritual awakening, Randy Kritkausky shares his journey into the realm of ancestral Native American connections and intimate encounters with Mother Earth and shows how anyone can spiritually reconnect with their ancestors and Nature.” – Amazon

New Nonfiction

When a high school student started a private Instagram account that used racist and sexist memes to make his friends laugh, he thought of it as “edgy” humor. Pretty soon, everyone knew. In the end, no one was laughing. -Summary

In this selection, arranged chronologically, McInerny brings together Thomas’s sermons, commentaries and responses to criticism, and substantial extracts from the principal works: the Summa theologiae and Summa contra Gentiles. - Summary

“The climate crisis is here, and the end of this world--a world built on land theft, resource extraction, and colonial genocide--is on the horizon. In this compelling roadmap to a livable future, Indigenous sovereignty and climate justice go hand in hand.” -Publisher

“These works collectively represent some of the first and most important rejections of monarchial rule and helped to lay the foundation towards the representative governments that now dominate the Western world.” -Amazon

A unique and detailed snapshot of all 23 of Canada’s Prime Ministers from Sir John A. Macdonald to Justin Trudeau. -Summary