Dec 15, 2020
In partnership with The NAC Indigenous Theatre this new monthly online series highlights recently published works from Indigenous authors across Turtle Island, including poetry, fiction, memoirs and plays. With Our Stories: Indigenous Book Club, we hope to expose Indigenous and non-Indigenous readers alike to diverse perspectives in the Indigenous community.
Each month will feature a different title.
Reflection questions will be shared on the library's monthly blog for each of the books and on the NAC's Facebook Event Page. Feel free to engage and share your thoughts about the books throughout the month!
Borrow the books from the library. Or purchase them from these Indigenous owned and operated bookstores.
At the end of the month, join us for a live-streamed conversation with the authors.
Also follow NAC's Facebook Events to participate in the conversation.
- January’s title is bug, a play by Yolanda Bonnell. If you missed this livestreamed talk on January 27th with Yolanda Bonnell you can watch it here.
- February's title is Performing Turtle Island: Indigenous Theatre on the World Stage edited by Jesse Rae Archibald-Barber, Kathleen Irwin and Moira J. Day. To find out more about February's title and to see the reflection questions click here. Then join us online February 24th for a live-streamed discussion with Jesse Rae Archibald-Barber (Métis, Cree, Scottish, and German) and Yvette Nolan (Algonquin)
- March's title is Uiesh - Quelque part by Joséphine Bacon. A book of poetry in French and Montegnais. A discussion with Joséphine Bacon will take place on March 31st in French.
- April's title is Approaching Fire by Michelle Porter a biography of her Métis great-grandfather, Léon Robert Goulet, a fiddler and perfomer.
- May's title is Noopiming: The Cure for White Ladies a novel by Leanne Betasamosake Simpson.
- June's title is What I Remember, What I Know: The Life of A High Exile an autobiography by Inuit Larry Audlaluk,
Our Stories: Indigenous Book Club is made possible by a partnership between the Indigenous Theatre at the National Arts Centre and the Ottawa Public Library.
With thanks to Friends of the Ottawa Public Library for their support.
NAC Our Stories: Indigenous Book Club books / Les livres du CAN Nos récits : Club de lecture autochtoneby OPLProgramsProgrammesBPO
Together the NAC Indigenous Theatre and OPL have started a book club, and you’re invited to join in! In partnership with the Ottawa Public Library, Our Stories: Indigenous Book Club will run from January - June 2021, with monthly books including poetry, fiction, memoirs and plays. At the end of each month, join us for an online conversation with each book’s author on OPL or the NACs Facebook page. Ensemble, le Théâtre autochtone du CNA et la BPO ont créé un club de lecture et vous êtes invité à joindre! En partenariat avec le Théâtre autochtone du Centre national des Arts, on lance un club de lecture. Nos récits : club de lecture autochtone vise à braquer les projecteurs sur des œuvres récentes d’autrices et d’auteurs autochtones provenant de partout sur l’île de la Tortue, qu’il s’agisse de poésie, de fiction, d’autobiographie ou de pièces de théâtre. Nous souhaitons exposer les lectrices et lecteurs autochtones et non autochtones à des perspectives diversifiées de la communauté autochtone.
Our February book is Performing Turtle Island: Indigenous Theatre on the World Stage co-edited by Jesse Rae Archibald-Barber , Kathleen Irwin and Moria Jean Day. On February 24 at 7pm EST, join us for this live, online discussion with co-editor Jesse Rae Archibald-Barber (Métis/Cree/Scottish/German) in conversation with Yvette Nolan (Algonquin) to discuss the book.
ABOUT THE BOOK: "Following the Final Report on Truth and Reconciliation, Performing Turtle Island investigates theatre as a tool for community engagement, education, and resistance. Understanding Indigenous cultures as critical sources of knowledge and meaning, each essay addresses issues that remind us that the way to reconciliation between Canadians and Indigenous peoples is neither straightforward nor easily achieved. Comprised of multidisciplinary and diverse perspectives, Performing Turtle Island considers performance as both a means to self-empowerment and self-determination, and a way of placing Indigenous performance in dialogue with other nations, both on the lands of Turtle Island and on the world stage."--from back cover.
Le titre pour le mois de mars est Uiesh - Quelque part par Joséphine Bacon. Un livre de poésie en français et montegnais. Joignez-vous à nous le 31 mars pour la conversation en français avec Joséphine Bacon.
Dans Quelque part, ou Uiesh, je m'éloigne de mon territoire, parfois je lui fais un clin d'œil puisque je ne pourrais jamais être loin, j'angoisse parce que je suis étrangère dans ce lieu (la ville) qui ne cesse de me rappeler qu'il est celui qui écrit ces mots. J'aimerais être poète simplement et y croire. Il y a des départs, il y a des déjà vécus, il y a des quelque part où je me trouve et il y a moi et mes poèmes aux mots simples.
ABOUT THE BOOK: "In Approaching Fire, Michelle Porter embarks on a quest to find her great-grandfather, the Métis fiddler and performer Léon Robert Goulet. Through musicology, jigs and reels, poetry, photographs, and the ecology of fire, Porter invests biography with the power of reflective ingenuity, creating a portrait which expands beyond documentation into a private realm where truth meets metaphor."--
Our May book is Noopiming: The Cure for White Ladies by Leanne Betasamosake.
ABOUT THE BOOK: Mashkawaji (they/them) lies frozen in the ice, remembering a long-ago time of hopeless connection and now finding freedom and solace in isolated suspension. They introduce us to the seven main characters: Akiwenzii, the old man who represents the narrator's will; Ninaatig, the maple tree who represents their lungs; Mindimooyenh, the old woman who represents their conscience; Sabe, the giant who represents their marrow; Adik, the caribou who represents their nervous system; Asin, the human who represents their eyes and ears; and Lucy, the human who represents their brain. Each attempts to commune with the unnatural urban-settler world, a world of SpongeBob Band-Aids, Ziploc baggies, Fjällräven Kånken backpacks, and coffee mugs emblazoned with institutional logos. And each searches out the natural world, only to discover those pockets that still exist are owned, contained, counted, and consumed. Cut off from nature, the characters are cut off from their natural selves.
Our June Book is What I Remember, What I Know: The Life of A High Artic Exile by larry Audlaluk. ABOUT THE BOOK: "Larry Audlaluk was born in Uugaqsiuvik, a traditional settlement west of Inujjuak in northern Quebec, or Nunavik. He was almost three years old when his family was chosen by the government to be one of seven Inuit families relocated from Nunavik to the High Arctic in the early 1950s. They were promised a land of plenty. They were given an inhospitable polar desert. Larry tells of loss, illness, and his family's struggle to survive, juxtaposed with excerpts from official reports that conveyed the relocatees' plight as a successful experiment. With refreshing candour and an unbreakable sense of humour, Larry leads the reader through his life as a High Arctic Exile--through broken promises, a decades-long fight to return home, and a life between two worlds as southern culture begins to encroach on Inuit traditions."--Provided by publisher.
Our January book is the play bug by Yolanda Bonnell. On January 27 at 7pm EST, join us for a live, online discussion with author Yolanda Bonnell (Ojibwe/South Asian) in conversation with researcher and theatre-worker Jill Carter (Anishinaabe/Ashkenazi) to discuss the book. We’ll be sharing reflection questions in our book club Facebook event throughout January. Feel free to engage and share your thoughts about the book throughout the month!
Indigenous Bookstores across Turtle Island / Librairies autochtones de l'île de la Tortueby OPLProgramsProgrammesBPO
If you want your very own copy to keep of the titles in the NAC Our Stories: Indigenous Book Club try these Indigenous owned and operated booksellers. Si vous voulez votre propre copies des titres du CAN Nos récits : Club de lecture autochtone , essayez ces libraires détenus et gérés par des Autochtones.
Good Minds
Located in Six Nations of the Grand River Territory, Brantford, OntarioBeaded Dreams
Beaded Dreams mission is to support indigenous artists and to keep this beautiful culture alive and is located here in OttawaStrong Nations
Indigenous owned and operated online bookstore and publisher on traditonal Snuneymuxw Territory (Nanaimo, BC)Massy Books
Massy Books is 100% Indigenous owned and operated and a member of the Stó:lō Business Association. We acknowledge we operate on the traditional, ancestral, unceded, and occupied territory of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and sel̓íl̓witulh (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations. (Vancouver, BC)Iron Dog Books
Iron Dog Books is an Indigenous-owned bookshop and booktruck dedicated to bringing low cost reading to Səl̓ilwətaɁɬ, Sḵwx̱wú7mesh and xʷməθkʷəy̓əm territories (meBarely Bruised Books
Located in Ottawa.Librairie Hannenorak | Livres papier et numériques
La Librairie Hannenorak, située au cœur de la communauté de Wendake, ouvre ses portes à l’été 2009 sur l’initiative de Daniel Sioui; Cassandre Sioui, sa conjointe, le rejoint un an plus tard pour s'impliquer dans le projet. Après dix ans d'existence, à l'été 2019, la Librairie déménage dans un local plus grand et se transforme pour offrir un plus large éventail de livres. Institution indépendante agréée et seule librairie située sur une communauté autochtone au Québec, la Librairie Hannenorak est fière de devenir la librairie générale de prédilection pour les résidents de la couronne nord de Québec. Elle conserve aussi intact son désir de faire découvrir la littérature des Premières Nations en mettant à la disposition des amateurs une section spécialisée (pour être tenu au courant des nouveautés autochtones, consultez notre site à hannenorak.com).