RAVEN Trust's inaugural book club choice an award winner
The Birdtail River runs through western Manitoba, and RAVEN Trust wants you to read all about it.
Since 1879, the river has separated the Waywayseecappo Indian reserve and the town of Rossburn which was mostly settled by Ukrainian immigrants. The story behind these two communities is found in Valley of the Birdtail: An Indian Reserve, a White Town, and the Road to Reconciliation (HarperCollins 2022).
Traditionally an organization that supports Indigenous-led litigation for environmental justice, RAVEN Trust is spreading its wings to include a new book club series beginning in April, and is inviting everyone to join.
RAVEN Trust's Levin Chamberlain says the group is hoping the series will provide a community for people to envision a better and brighter future for reconciliation and Indigenous sovereignty. He says the response has been overwhelming, with hundreds of people eager to tune in, and more signing up every day.
The first book on the list is Valley of the Birdtail, a story about life on an Indian reserve, a white town and the road to reconciliation that lies between them. The book was written by law professors Douglas Sanderson and Andrew Snobo Sniderman.
This national bestseller has amassed a large number of literary prize wins including the 2023 John W. Dafoe book prize, the 2023 Mavis Gallant Prize for Non-Fiction and the Concordia University First Book Prize, among many others. (The book is available in print version in all the usual places, and as an audiobook HERE.)
In Canada, colonialism has meant Indigenous voices, stories, and narratives have been suppressed, according to Chamberlain. He sees engaging with Indigenous authors as an opportunity for settlers to engage in a more just future. "Amplifying Indigenous voices and stories – especially in the area of Indigenous laws, sovereignty, and justice – is vital if we are to navigate reconciliation together."
"Book clubs are a great way to discuss important, challenging, and heart-lifting narratives in a way that brings people together," says Chamberlain. He adds that book clubs can offer "an opportunity to connect, explore, and to initiate transformative social change with support and care."
The discussion will be held as a part of the April 3 online event.
The Watershed reached out to the authors to talk about their experience writing this book.
Andrew Stobo Sniderman is a lawyer and an award-winning freelance journalist who has written about reconciliation issues on residential schools, and won many awards including the Canadian Association of Journalists (CAJ) award for best print feature in 2011.
Douglas Sanderson (Amo Binashii) is a member of the Beaver Clan from the Opaskwayak Cree Nation. He is an associate professor at the University of Toronto's Faculty of Law, the Prichard Wilson Chair in Law & Public Policy and a senior advisor on Indigenous issues. He was also Sniderman's former professor.
Sniderman says the book began with the question of how neighbouring schools could become separate and unequal. But, as the authors' volume of research grew, the scope of the book did too. "We tried to tackle a bigger question: why is Canada so separate and unequal, as between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Canadians?"
In the end, they did this by focusing on the lives of nine individuals, who became "the characters who bear the weight of this incredible story."
He says they chose the small valley in rural Manitoba as a perfect setting to showcase much of what has gone wrong in Canada between Indigenous peoples and settlers, and also, more recently, what can go right.
The experience of co-writing a book was new to both men, but they saw it as a form of reconciliation in itself. "Co-authoring was the only way to do right by this amazing story," says Sniderman. "It's about neighbouring communities— one Indigenous, another white. As we did, Canada (also) has to do."
When asked about what he'd most like readers to take away from the book, Sniderman references former senator and chair of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission Murray Sinclair. "He once said, 'The truth will set you free, but first it will piss you off.' We expect our book will upset and anger readers at times, but most of all we want you to end up with a sense of hope.”
RAVEN Trust's first book club will meet April 3 from 5-6 p.m. PDT. Details about how to join can be found HERE. Donations to RAVEN Trust can be made HERE.
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