Indigenous Justice Book Suggestions (Adults)

Do you want to expand your understanding of Indigenous history and justice? 

Justice and Reconciliation Mobilizer Shannon Perez has provided her Top 6 thought provoking reads. Covering the spectrum from U.S. to Canada and fiction to non-fiction, this reading list is guaranteed to get you thinking.

1. The Inconvenient Indian: Thomas King

This non-fiction book looks at the interactions between Indigenous peoples and newcomers from contact to now. This book offers a satirical look at that history. A great introduction for folks trying to understand the root of some of the conversations the land we call North America is now having.

2. One Church Many Tribes: Richard Twiss

Indigenous identity and Christian identity are not exclusive to each other, Indigenous identity can create beautiful diversity in the body of the church. Have you ever asked questions about how culture and Christianity go together? This book would make a great starting point to broaden your perspective on the diversity that builds the body of Christ.

3. Neither Wolf Nor Dog: Kent Nerburn

This award winning memoire offers the reader a chance to travel alongside an Indigenous Elder ‘Dan.’ Meeting a variety of characters along the way, the worldviews of Indigenous peoples are shared in a way that makes you question your own understanding of the world.

4. Seven Fallen Feathers: Tanya Talaga

If you’ve heard the name Chanie Wenjack or wondered what is happening in Thunder Bay Ontario, this hard hitting book will give you insight into the history that has led up to these current events. The stories of these youths are ones that will stick with you for a long time.

5. In Search of April Raintree: Beatrice Mosionier

A fictional story of two Métis sisters separated from their family and each other. The girls deal with their identities in divergent ways in a world that is not kind to them.  Hard hitting, this book still offers the reader hope.

6. Braiding Sweetgrass Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants: Robin Wall Kimmerer

Braiding and Sweetgrass are synonymous with Indigenous identity. Now putting the two together, as an action, invites the reader to learn more, to be curious about the teachings that come from braiding and from sweetgrass; teachings that were hidden, taken away, dismissed but are so valuable to our human needs. Kimmerer is a scientist and uses words like symbiosis but she adds another depth to describing how creation works in harmony.  As a reader we feel that we are designed in a way that we have something to offer, to receive and responsibilities. Responsibilities that don’t burden us but responsibilities that let each one of us be the best we can be.