This collection of essays by John Brady McDonald is comprised of various personal stories, experiences, and insights. These essays are informative, and the author uses humour and directness to share stories regarding such themes as colonization, racism, history, resiliency, resurgence, and reconciliation. Within this collection, McDonald shares his lived experiences of being a residential school Survivor, a firefighter, a father, an artist, an activist, and more. Throughout many of these essays, he demonstrates his pride and respect for his nēhiyaw and Métis ancestry. McDonald has lived in Kistahpinânihk, a word referring to a place to gather and meet and to the lands that include Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, where he was born. Many of the essays, or stories, are centred within these lands, while others involve his journeys to various places around the world, including other Canadian provinces, the United States, and England. This book is a finalist in the 2023 Lambda Literacy Award for Bisexual Nonfiction.

Images: b&w photographs
Contributor Affiliation: John Brady McDonald (Muskeg Lake Cree Nation)
Bibliography: No
Index: No

Source: Books BC - Indigenous Books for Schools

John Brady McDonald is a Nehiyawak-Metis writer, artist, historian, musician, playwright, actor and activist born and raised in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan. He is from the Muskeg Lake Cree Nation and the Mistawasis Nehiyawak. The great-great-great grandson of Chief Mistawasis of the Plains Cree, as well as the grandson of famed Metis leader Jim Brady, John’s writings and artwork have been displayed in various publications, private and permanent collections and galleries around the world, including the Canadian War Museum in Ottawa. John is one of the founding members of the P.A. Lowbrow art movement, and served as Vice President of the Indigenous Peoples Artists Collective for nearly a decade. John also served a term as vice-chair of the Board of Directors for Spark Theatre, and as a Senator with the Indigenous Council Committee of CUPE Saskatchewan. The author of several books, John studied at England’s prestigious University of Cambridge, where in July 2000 he made international headlines by symbolically “discovering” and “claiming” England for the First Peoples of the Americas. John is also an acclaimed public speaker, who has presented in venues across the globe. His artwork and writing have been nominated for several awards, including the 2022 Saskatchewan Book of the Year Awards, the 2022 High Plains Book Awards, and the 2023 Lambda Literary Awards. John was awarded the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Medal (Saskatchewan).

John Brady McDonald's profile page

• Winner, Saskatchewan Book Award for Non-fiction
• Winner, Indigenous Peoples' Writing Award – Saskatchewan Book Awards
• Short-listed, Lambda Literary Award for Bisexual Nonfiction