Today is National Indigenous Peoples Day, a day for all Canadians to recognize and celebrate the unique heritage, diverse cultures and outstanding contributions of First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
At Great Plains, we celebrate the works of Richard Van Camp, whose book Night Moves was recently released as an audiobook; Errol Ranville’s memoir Run As One; Leonard Flett’s From the Barren Lands; and Sheila North’s forthcoming memoir My Privilege, My Responsibility. We are honoured to share their stories.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
At the same time that we celebrate Indigenous contributions and culture, we also acknowledge that this is a time of national grieving, and that there is still much work to do in dismantling white supremacy in our industry and our community. As a publisher located on Anishinaabe, Cree, Oji-Cree, Dakota, Dene, and Métis land, we dedicate ourselves to move forward in partnership with Indigenous communities in a spirit of reconciliation and collaboration. We add our names to the ongoing calls to implement all 94 of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s calls to action. We will be donating 25% of our website sales for the last two weeks of June to Wa-Say Healing Centre in Winnipeg.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
We encourage settlers to learn more about Indigenous history and contemporary Indigenous perspectives through #OwnVoices reads. David Alexander Robertson has compiled a list of books by Indigenous writers about residential schools. For resources and information on taking more direct action, check out the On Canada Project – Settlers Take Action.