The totem pole forms the foundation for this unique and important oral history of Canada. Its goal is both toweringly ambitious and beautifully direct: To tell the story of this country in a way that prompts readers to look from different angles, to see its dimensions, its curves, and its cuts. To see that history has an arc, just as the totem pole rises, but to realize that it is also in the details along the way that important meanings are to be found. To recognize that the story of the past is always there to be retold and recast, and must be conveyed to generations to come. That in the act of re-telling, meaning is found, and strength is built.
When it comes to telling the history of Canada, and in particular the history of the relationship between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples, we need to accept that the way in which our history has traditionally been told has not been a common or shared enterprise. In many ways, it has been an exclusive and siloed one. Among the countless peoples and groups that make up this vast country, the voices and experiences of a few have too often dominated those of many others.
Reconciling History shares voices that have seldom been heard, and in this ground-breaking book they are telling and re-telling history from their perspectives. Born out of the oral history in True Reconciliation, and complemented throughout with stunning photography and art, Reconciling History takes this approach to telling our collective story to an entirely different level.
The Honourable Jody Wilson-Raybould, P.C., O.B.C., K.C., served as the Independent Member of Parliament for Vancouver Granville, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, Minister of Veterans Affairs and Associate Minister of National Defence until her resignation in 2019. Wilson-Raybould is a Principal of JWR Group, a lawyer, an advocate and leader among Canada’s Indigenous Peoples with a strong reputation as a bridge builder between communities, and a champion of good governance and accountability. She has been a provincial crown prosecutor, a councillor for the We Wai Kai Nation, a chair of the First Nations Finance Authority and has served as the BC regional chief of the Assembly of First Nations. Wilson-Raybould has written two bestselling books, “Indian” in the Cabinet: Speaking Truth to Power (2021) and From Where I Stand: Rebuilding Indigenous Nations for a Stronger Canada (2019).
Jody Wilson-Raybould is a descendant of the Musgamagw Tsawataineuk and Laich-Kwil-Tach peoples, which are part of the Kwakwaka’wakw, also known as the Kwak’wala-speaking peoples. She is a member of the We Wai Kai Nation. Her traditional name, Puglaas, means “woman born to noble people.”
Dr. Roshan Danesh, K.C., is an internationally renowned lawyer and educator who for over two decades has been on the frontlines of advancing Indigenous rights and reconciliation in Canada. Danesh’s reconciliation work has included representing Indigenous Nations and political organizations in complex negotiations, serving as the special counsel on reconciliation to the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, and advising the Government of British Columbia on the adoption of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
Alongside his work in Canada on Indigenous rights, Danesh has worked around the globe on issues of peacebuilding and conflict resolution, including helping design and implement cutting edge peace education initiatives that have involved hundreds of thousands of people, including as part of post-conflict reconstruction efforts.
Educated at Harvard Law School, Danesh has taught at universities across Europe and North America, and is a widely published author, including Dimensions of Bahá’í Law (2019).
On October 29, the 2024 J.W. Dafoe Book Prize winner, John Vaillant, read from Fire Weather: The Making of a Beast to a full house at Whodunit? Mystery Bookstore.
The J.W. Dafoe Book Prize is worth $12,000, and is formally awarded at the J.W. Dafoe Foundation’s Book Prize Event this fall in Winnipeg.
During his tenure at the Manitoba Free Press, later renamed the Winnipeg Free Press, from 1901-1944, Dafoe was known for his advocacy of western development, free trade, national independence, and the British Commonwealth.
Plundering the North
“This captivating book, recasts an oft-told tale but in a new light. The search for Franklin’s grave has gripped historians and the public for decades but McGoogan presents a fresh view of the mystery of his disappearance. Searching for Franklin reveals the lethal hubris of an English Navy man who killed hundreds of people, ignored the advice of Indigenous locals, and enjoyed the posthumous status of a hero. The book also masterfully situates Franklin’s last journeys against a lifetime of colonial work.”
