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Indigenous & First Nations Studies: Indigenous Authors

Library and online resources for researching Indigenous and First Nations topics.

Big Thank You

Most of the contents of these lists were compiled by Diane Cruickshank of Fraser Valley University Library. She has granted us permission to use them.  Thank you!

Drama

Iron Peggy (2018)

A powerful play that will appeal to audiences both young and old, Iron Peggy uses a creative and ever-surprising blend of voices and sceneries to tell this moving story. With 2018 marking the 100th-year anniversary of WWI, Iron Peggy is an excellent introduction to its history and a touching testimony that not only celebrates the First Nation participation in the war effort but also a young girl's personal victory.  

The Rez Sisters (2020)

This award-winning play by Native playwright Tomson Highway is a powerful and moving portrayal of seven women from a reserve attempting to beat the odds by winning at bingo. And not just any bingo. It is THE BIGGEST BINGO IN THE WORLD and a chance to win a way out of a tortured life. 

Cerulean Blue (2015)

A comedic play about a struggling blues band invited to participate in a benefit concert for a First Nation community in conflict with governmental authorities.

Yukonstyle (2014)

Garin was two years old when his mother disappeared from a run-down East Vancouver neighbourhood. And now that the Robert Pickton trials are gaining national attention, Garin wonders if his mother, a First Nations woman, could be one of the unidentified victims.

The (Post) Mistress (2013)

Canada's most famous Indigenous playwright, Tomson Highway, sets his latest theatrical achievement, The (Post) Mistress, in a not-so-distant past, when sending letters through the mail was still vital to communicating with friends and loved ones, and the small-town post office was often the only connection to faraway places longed-for or imagined.

Where the Blood Mixes (2012)

Where the Blood Mixes is meant to expose the shadows below the surface of the author's First Nations heritage, and to celebrate its survivors. Though torn down years ago, the memories of their Residential School still live deep inside the hearts of those who spent their childhoods there. For some, like Floyd, the legacy of that trauma has been passed down through families for generations. But what is the greater story?

Fiction (Short Stories and Novels)

Cherokee / Greek heritage

Cree heritage

Dakota (Dakhóta) people

Dogrib (Tlicho) heritage

Haida / Heiltsuk heritage

Innu/Montagnais Indians heritage

Kiowa people/ Plains heritage

Metis / Cree heritage

Metis / Russian heritage

Metis / Plains heritage

Metis / Salish heritage

Metis / Ojibwa heritage

Metis heritage

Mohawk heritage

Navajo

Oji Cree heritage

Ojibwa heritage

Okanagan heritage

Panawahpskek (Penobscot) heritage

Salish heritage

Sicangu Lakota nation heritage

 

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Search using keywords. You'll find books, DVDs and online resources like e-books and streaming video.

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To find resources on this topic, we suggest you first try typing into the search box the following terms:

  • Indigenous literature
  • Indigenous authors
  • Indigenous authors - Canada
  • Authors, Canadian (Indigenous)
  • Indigenous Peoples - Fiction
  • Indigenous women - Fiction
  • Canadian literature
  • Canadian poetry

If you are having trouble finding any resources using these search words, you can try using more outdated terminology or you can ask us to search for you. For example, two subject terms used frequently in our Library catalogue are Native Peoples Canada and Indians of North America. These terms are commonly used in academic libraries, even though they don't accurately reflect the current language used to describe Indigenous people in Canada today. This terminology is disrespectful and hurtful. We sincerely apologize for any pain this may cause. We are currently working towards changing this aspect of the library system. Unfortunately these changes can take time and we appreciate your patience and understanding.  The good news is that our newer resources are all using the more representative and respectful subject term Indigenous Peoples.

 
 
 

Poetry

Scars & Stars (2022)

A beautiful and moving collection of poems and stories from the author of the #1 bestselling memoir From the Ashes. Throughout the collection, prose pieces complement the poems, and to bring readers into Jesse’s life with greater intimacy than ever before.

It Was Never Going to Be Okay (2020)

A collection of poetry and prose exploring the intimacies of understanding intergenerational trauma, Indigeneity and queerness, while addressing urban Indigenous diaspora and breaking down the limitations of sexual understanding as a trans woman. 

Mahikan Ka Onot (2020)

Mahikan ka onot collects the finest work of accomplished Indigenous poet Duncan Mercredi, from his first book in 1991 to recent unpublished poems. These are poems of life on the land as well as life in the city, vibrant with the rhythms of traditional Cree and Métis storytelling but also with the clamour and the music of the streets. 

The East Side of It All (2020)

Dandurand's work tackles complicated personal and social issues by drawing on his observations of the natural world. His voice is lyrical yet intimate, obscured yet sitting with you at the kitchen table having a cigarette. The East Side of It All is the journey of a broken man gifted with stories and poems who finally accepts his gift and shares with the world his hidden misery and joy.

Crow Gulch (2020)

Walbourne-Gough lyrically sifts through archival memory and family accounts, resurrecting story and conversation, to patch together a history of a people and place. Here he finds his own identity within the legacy of Crow Gulch and reminds those who have forgotten of a glaring omission in history.

Rebel Poet (2019)

This eagerly anticipated follow-up to the breakout memoir How to Be an Indian in the 21st Century delves more deeply into the themes of family, community, grief, and the struggle to make a place in the world when your very identity is considered suspect.

Devil in the Woods (2019)

A series of letter and prayer fictional and real poems addressed to Canadian figures. The 69 poems are addressed to Shawn Atleo, Pierre Berton, Margaret Atwood, Sarah Polley, K.D. Lang, and Don Cherry, among others,

Treaty #: Poems (2019)

 "A treaty is a contract. A treaty is enduring. A treaty is an act of faith. A treaty at its best is justice. It is a document and an undertaking. It is connected to place, people and self. It is built on the past, but it also indicates how the future may unfold. Armand Garnet Ruffo's TREATY # is all of these. 

Cross Genre

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