Join in stimulating discussions on selected titles in a friendly and relaxed atmosphere on the last Friday of the month.

Our People Will Be Healed, Alanis Obomsawin’s 50th film, reveals how a Cree community in Manitoba has been enriched through the power of education. The Helen Betty Osborne Ininiw Education Resource Centre in Norway House, north of Winnipeg, receives a level of funding that few other Indigenous institutions enjoy. Its teachers help their students to develop their abilities and their sense of pride. 

2017. 96 minutes. English with French subtitles. 
Courtesy of the National Film Board. 

Drop-in

Have you ever considered writing a mystery? In this interactive workshop, we’ll explore the characteristics of various types of mysteries and how to add ingredients from other genres, like thrillers and crime. We’ll discuss practical techniques for presenting clues, building suspense, and making the reader play an active part in solving your puzzle. Whether you're a seasoned writer or just starting out, this session will equip you with the tools to craft page-turning mysteries.

QUOTE: “As Tanya Talaga investigates the story of her great-great grandmother's fate, she lays bare the dark history of a nation. This is about a Canada that you do not know, but one we all must confront. The Knowing is harrowing, illuminating and necessary reading.” — Carol Off

Presented in partnership with the Ottawa International Writers Festival and Library and Archives Canada.

We are honoured to present an evening with Tanya Talaga, the critically acclaimed and award-winning author of Seven Fallen Feathers. Her new book, The Knowing, is a riveting exploration of her family’s story and a retelling of the history of the country we now call Canada.

For generations, Indigenous People have known that their family members disappeared, many of them after being sent to residential schools, “Indian hospitals” and asylums through a coordinated system designed to destroy who the First Nations, Métis and Inuit people are. This is one of Canada’s greatest open secrets, an unhealed wound that until recently lay hidden by shame and abandonment.

Deeply personal and meticulously researched, The Knowing is a seminal unravelling of the centuries-long oppression of Indigenous People that continues to reverberate in these communities today. 

Hosted by Joy SpearChief-Morris.