Native American Black Elk is known to millions from the book Black Elk Speaks. Yet the man himself faded from view, even though he witnessed momentous events in the American West. Now Joe Jackson has crafted an American epic, restoring to Black Elk the richness of his life and times.

** IBBY Canada 2022 Honor List ** When a young girl moves from the country to a small town, she feels lonely and out of place. But soon she meets an elderly woman next door, who shares her love of arts and crafts. Can the girl navigate the changing seasons and failing health of her new friend? Acclaimed author and artist Julie Flett's textured images of birds, flowers, art, and landscapes bring vibrancy and warmth to this powerful story, which highlights the fulfillment of intergenerational relationships and shared passions.

The current Status criteria of the Indian Act contains descent-based rules akin to blood quantum that are particularly discriminatory against women and their descendants, which author Pamela Palmater argues will lead to the extinguishment of First Nations as legal and constitutional entities. Beginning with an historic overview of legislative enactments defining Indian status and their impact on First Nations, the author examines contemporary court rulings dealing with Indigenous identity, Aboriginal rights, and the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Palmater also examines band membership codes to determine if their reliance on status criteria perpetuates discrimination. She offers changes for determining Indigenous identity and citizenship and argues that First Nations must determine citizenship themselves.

Tsimshian storyteller and artist Roy Henry Vickers shares an adventure from his childhood in the Indigenous village of Kitkatla, on BC's north coast. When Uncle Johnny accidentally catches an orphaned sea lion pup in his fishing net, young Roy and his cousin Bussy take responsibility for nursing the tiny creature back to health. They name the pup Ben, short for Teeben--the Tsimshian word for sea lion. With the boys' loving care, Ben eats and eats and grows and grows, getting up to all sorts of fun in Kitkatla, including towing the boys in their skiff and showing local dogs who is boss! Eventually, Ben must return to the wild, leaving his human friends to remember him fondly. Fifteen original illustrations by Roy Henry Vickers accompany the text, capturing the beauty of the West Coast and the richness of village life. Ben the Sea Lion will delight readers of all ages.

Skaay of the Qquuna Qiighawaay was born in the Haida village of Qquuna about 1827 and lived most of his adult life in the village of Ttanuu. He survived the epidemics that annihilated more than nine-tenths of the Haida population, and at the dawn of the twentieth century he was living in the mission village of Skidegate, revered for his knowledge of the myths.

In September 1900 a young American linguist named John Swanton came to the Haida country, determined to learn everything he could of Haida culture. Two weeks after he arrived he and Skaay were introduced, and in October and November 1900 Skaay dictated to John Swanton, in the classical Haida language, the contents of this book.

Being in Being includes all the surviving works of this master Haida storyteller: (1) The Qquuna Cycle, which at 5,500 lines is the longest extant work of Haida poetry and one of the great monuments of Native American literature; (2) Raven Travelling, the longest and most complex trickster story ever recorded on the Northwest Coast, and (3) The Qquuna Qiighawaay, which is the brief and poignant story of Skaay's maternal lineage.

The creation of the Canada–US border in the Pacific Northwest is often presented as a tale of two nations, but beyond the macro-political dynamics is the experience of individuals. Before and After the State examines the imposition of a border across a region that already held a vibrant, highly complex society and dynamic trading networks. Allan McDougall, Lisa Philips, and Daniel Boxberger explore fundamental questions of state formation, social transformation, and the (re)construction of identity to expose how the devices and myths of nation building affect people’s lives.

What does it mean to become a man in the Arctic today? Becoming Inummarik focuses on the lives of the first generation of men born and raised primarily in permanent settlements. Forced to balance the difficulties of schooling, jobs, and money that are a part of village life with the conflicting demands of older generations and subsistence hunting, these men struggle to chart their life course and become inummariit - genuine people. Peter Collings presents an accessible, intelligent, humorous, and sensitive account of Inuit men who are no longer youths, but not yet elders. Based on over twenty years of research conducted in Ulukhaktok, Northwest Territories, Becoming Inummarik is a profound and nuanced look at contemporary Inuit life that shows not just what Inuit men do, but who they are. Collings recounts experiences from his immersion in the daily lives of Ulukhaktok's men - from hunting and sharing meals to playing cards and grocery shopping - to demonstrate how seemingly mundane activities provide revelations about complex issues such as social relationships, status, and maturity. He also reflects on the ethics of immersive anthropological research, the difficulties of balancing professional and personal relationships with informants, and the nature of knowledge in Inuit culture. Becoming Inummarik shows that while Inuit born into a modern society see themselves as different from their parents' generation, their adherence to traditional ideas about life ensures that they remain fully Inuit even as their community has witnessed drastic upheaval.

Taken from the arms of her mother as soon as she was born, Sandy was only one of over twenty thousand Aboriginal children scooped up by the federal government between the 1960s and 1980s. Sandy was adopted by a Ukrainian family and grew up as the only First Nations child in a town of white people. Ostracized by everyone around her and tired of being different, at the early age of five she tried to scrub the brown off her skin. But she was never sent back into the foster system, and for that she considers herself lucky. From this tragic period in her personal life and in Canadian history, Sandy does not emerge unscathed, but she emerges strong--finding her way by embracing the First Nations culture that the Sixties Scoop had tried to deny. Those very roots allow Sandy to overcome the discriminations that she suffers every day from her co-workers, from strangers and sometimes even from herself.

What does the phrase Métis peoplesmean in constitutional terms? As lawyers and scholars dispute forms of Métis identity, and debate the nature and scope of Métis rights under the Canadian Constitution, understanding Métis experience of colonization is fundamental to achieving reconciliation. In Bead by Bead, contributors address the historical denial - at both federal and provincial levels - of outstanding Métis concerns and Aboriginal rights claims, in particular with respect to land, resources, and governance. Tackling such themes as ongoing colonial policies, the invisibility of Métis women in court decisions, identity politics, and racist legal principles, they uncover the troubling issues that plague Métis aspirations for a just future. This nuanced analysis of the parameters that current Indigenous legal doctrines place around Métis rights discourse moves beyond a one-size-fits-all definition of Métis or a uniform approach to Aboriginal rights. By raising critical questions about self-determination, colonization, kinship, land, and other essential aspects of Métis lived reality, these clear-eyed essays go beyond legal theorizing and create pathways to respectful, inclusive Métis-Canadian constitutional relationships.