1. INDIANS ON VACATION by Thomas King

Recommended by Shirley Delorme Russell, Indigenous Librarian Intern 

“Thomas King is Cherokee from the U.S. but has lived in Canada most of his adult life. Indians on Vacation is pure comedy. Along the way, you will learn some ridiculous Indigenous humour!” 

2. TIED UP IN TINSEL by Ngaio Marsh

Recommended by Aurora Tetrault, Library Assistant, Music Library 

“I highly recommend Tied Up in Tinsel by Ngaio Marsh. The author has created wonderful characters, and her plots are intricate and intriguing, to say the least. Her descriptions of people, places, and events give the reader a vivid and historical perspective of the times and her writing style is so pleasurable.”

3. NINE PRINCES IN AMBER by Roger Zelazney

Recommended by Allison Erhardt, Library Systems Specialist 

“If you are looking for a fantasy realm with unlimited possibilities to escape to, Amber is for you. The battle between Order and Chaos, following the Pattern, defeating evil — this fantasy series has it all.  Each book in this five-book series is on the shorter side, but together, with the second set of five books, makes for an epic read.  There is a set of three prequels too, if you get through the first ten! But start with your first step on the pattern and you won’t turn back.”

4. JANE EYRE by Charlotte Brontë

Recommended by Candice Lewis, Library Supervisor 

“I came very late to Jane Eyre, thinking it was stuffy and old-fashioned, so I had not given it a try.  If you have never read it, you will be so pleasantly surprised; and, even if you have, please give it a re-read.  I discover something different every time, plus the prose is sublime.”

5. LOST & FOUND by Kathryn Schulz

Recommended by Justin Fuhr, Science Librarian 

“Kathryn Schulz’s memoir recounts not only the loss of her father but how she found the love of her life. This is a story of loss and of finding yourself and the people who become close and significant to you. Schulz is a master of the written word, and you’ll find you can’t put this book down!” 

6. BLEACHERS by John Grisham

Recommended by Cody Fullerton, Acting Head, Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences Division 

“This book is short, easy to read, and very thought-provoking. It centers on high school football players who come back together 15 years after graduation to bury their former coach. As they discuss the glory days, they struggle to decide if they love or hate him. I’ve read this book many times and it had a notable impact on me as a teenager.”

7. EVERYBODY WINS: FOUR DECADES OF THE GREATEST BOARD GAMES EVER MADE by James Wallis

Recommended by Elliot Hanowski, General Librarian 

“This will be an enjoyable read for anyone who likes playing board games and wants to know more about their evolution. It’s insightful, humorous and well-illustrated!”

8. THE WEIRD SISTERS by Eleanor Brown

Recommended by Heather Bidzinski, Head, Archives & Special Collections   

“This book is about three sisters who ‘love each other [but] just don’t happen to like each other very much.’ The title reflects the family connection to all things Shakespeare; the father is a famous Shakespeare professor, and the sisters are named after famous Shakespearean women.  It’s a fun read about family coming together unexpectedly in a crisis.

9. LITTLE WOMEN by Louisa May Alcott

Recommended by Samuel Plato, Learning and Instruction Support Librarian 

“This book is wholesome, heartbreaking, and riveting throughout. With a story beginning just before Christmas in the early 1860s, you can spend your holiday break falling in love with the March sisters and follow along as they balance their dreams for themselves with their responsibilities to each other. And you can see the stage adaptation running at the Royal Manitoba Theatre Company now until December 14!”   

10. SONG OF INCREASE by Jacqueline Freeman

Recommended by Claire Settee, Indigenous Librarian Intern 

“This is a feel-good book that opens your mind. The audiobook includes ambient bee humming sounds. Not just for bee people, an accessible read for those with any level of apicultural knowledge.” 

UM Libraries locations are open for study during exams, with group and individual study spaces available at various library locations across Fort Garry and Bannatyne campuses. For quick online help, chat with library staff on Ask Us, open until 9:00 p.m. weekdays and 10:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m. on weekends. 

All UM Libraries locations will be closed December 21, 2024 – January 1, 2025.  

Defining ‘Resilience’

The term resilience has many definitions, including those for psychological resilience and engineering resilience. Advanced Introduction to Resilience treats it as a systems concept, informally defined as “the capacity of a system to deal with perturbations” or “the ability to persist and adapt”, or even “the ability to successfully deal with change”. Maintaining diversity is one of the ways to build resilience. For example, biodiversity can provide resilience in the face of climate change, as illustrated by the example of Potato Park (Parque de la Papa) in Peru.

The Park is home to eight known wild and cultivated potato species, and some 1,300 varieties. It is located near the center of the domestication of potatoes and therefore at the center of potato genetic diversity. The Park is an internationally recognized protected area and Biocultural Heritage site. It has high landscape heterogeneity and varieties adapted to a diversity of habitats. By conserving a high level of potato biodiversity, the Park provides “insurance” for potato farming everywhere.

Potatoes are grown all over the world, but only a limited handful of varieties are used in various localities, including parts of Canada. This results in a high degree of vulnerability given the accelerating change in environmental conditions. The world will most likely need new potato genetic resources to modify the widely used varieties to enable them to adapt to deal with warmer or dryer conditions or new diseases.

A sample of potato biodiversity in Parque de la Papa, Peru, which serves as a source of potato genes and therefore resilience for the impacts of climate change on potato farming all over the world. Photo: Vanesa Ramos.

The book is of interest to students and academics in the area of environment and related disciples. One critical acclaim regards the book as “…a crucial ingredient of healthy environments, societies, and communities…” (Dr. Anthony Charles, Community Conservation Research Network based in Halifax). Another review characterizes the book as “…a brilliant synthesis of resilience scholarship. It provides a fresh perspective on ways that society can address its most urgent challenges despite prevailing uncertainties about the future” (Dr. F. Stuart Chapin III, University of Alaska).

Additional Information

Advanced Introduction to Resilience is published by Edward Elgar as part of the Elgar Advanced Introduction Series. https://www.e-elgar.com/shop/usd/advanced-introduction-to-resilience-9781802202212.html

Dr. Berkes has published some 250 peer-reviewed papers, and is the author or editor of 14 books, including Sacred Ecology (Routledge, 2018) which has recently been translated into Chinese. At over 100,000 citations, he has the highest Google Scholar score at the University of Manitoba. His profile and list of publications are in: https://umanitoba.ca/environment-earth-resources/dr-fikret-berkes-profile-page

Dr. David Camfield – Future on Fire: Capitalism and the Politics of Climate Change
Associate Professor, Labour Studies Program & Department of Sociology and Criminology

“Only mass social movements have the power to bring about necessary change in the fight to transition away from fossil fuels,” states Dr. David Camfield in Future on Fire. The book delves into this pivotal assertion, exploring the essence of the ecological crisis caused by capitalism and the potential solutions within eco-socialism. Through a thorough examination of the challenges faced by green left leaders and status quo-supporting politicians, Dr. Camfield’s work ignites a call to action for readers to champion the planet’s future. With a focus on the urgent need for transition, Future on Fire stands as a thought-provoking contribution, inviting us to consider the trajectory of our planet and our role in shaping its destiny. Purchase: Future on Fire: Capitalism and the Politics of Climate Change (published by Fernwood)

Dr. Sean Carleton – Lessons in Legitimacy: Colonialism, Capitalism, and the Rise of State Schooling in British Columbia
Assistant Professor, Department of History & Department of Indigenous Studies

In Lessons in Legitimacy, Dr. Sean Carleton examines the complex histories of state-run schools for both Indigenous and non-Indigenous populations in British Columbia. By analyzing the purposes served by these schools, Dr. Carleton exposes their role in promoting settler capitalism and the making of British Columbia. Drawing from history, Indigenous studies, historical materialism and political economy, this book sheds light on the role of schooling in truth and reconciliation, offering a deeper understanding of Canada’s history and fostering meaningful contemporary discussions. Lessons in Legitimacy won the 2023 Canadian Historical Association’s Clio BC prize.  Purchase: Lessons in Legitimacy (published by UBC Press)

Dr. Andrea Charron and Dr. James Fergusson – NORAD: In Perpetuity and Beyond
Associate Professor, Department of Political Studies
Professor, Department of Political Studies

The North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) has encountered significant changes since 2006. Dr. Andrea Charron and Dr. James Fergusson, renowned scholars in international relations, trace NORAD’s evolution, technological advancements and the unprecedented threats it faces in NORAD: In Perpetuity and Beyond. Through their comprehensive analysis, the authors evaluate NORAD’s options and recommend the necessary technological and organizational measures to protect North America. As we navigate an era of emerging challenges, this book serves as an essential tool for both scholars and practitioners in understanding the future of North American defense. Purchase: NORAD: In Perpetuity and Beyond  (published by McGill-Queen’s University Press)

Dr. Christine Stewart-Nuñez – Chrysopoeia: Essays of Languages, Love and Place
Professor, Women’s and Gender Studies Program

Dr. Christine Stewart-Nuñez invites readers to explore the intricate tapestry of family and place through a collection of interesting essays. From Istanbul’s Grand Bazaar to Ireland’s Cliff of Moher, from Hiroshima’s Peace Memorial Park to the heartland of America, each essay in Chrysopoeia transports readers to a different corner of the world. Through poetic reflections on language and place, this book offers an experience filled with inspiration. Purchase: Chrysopoeia: Essays of Languages, Love, and Place (published by Stephen F. Austin University Press)

Dr. Alison Calder – Synaptic
Professor, Department of English, Theatre, Film & Media

Explore the intersections of science, neurology and perception through Dr. Alison Calder’s collection of thought-provoking poems. Dr. Calder skillfully weaves scientific language and lyricism, inviting readers to question power and authority. The book’s two segments, “Connectomics” and “Other Disasters,” explore the brain’s neural connections and cultural perspectives, inviting readers on a journey of self-reflection and understanding. Synaptic raises fundamental questions about our interiority and the intricate relationship between language, art and daily life. Purchase: Synaptic (published by University of Regina Press)

Dr. Andrea Charron and Dr. Clara Portela – Multilateral Sanctions Revisited: Lessons Learned from Margaret Doxey
Associate Professor, Department of Political Studies
Professor, Political Science, University of Valencia, Spain

Dive into the complexities of multilateral sanctions with the book, Multilateral Sanctions Revisited. It offers a comprehensive examination of various types of sanctions imposed by the UN, regional bodies and independent actors. Dr. Andrea Charron and Dr. Clara Portela analyze how different players employ multilateral sanctions and address crucial issues such as implementation, effects, evasion and the challenges posed by emerging technologies like cryptocurrencies. This book, recognized as one of the top 100 nonfiction books of the year by the Hill Times, provides essential understanding for scholars and policymakers. Purchase: Multilateral Sanctions Revisited (published by McGill-Queen’s University Press)

Dr. David Annandale [BA/90, MA/92] – The Tyrant Skies: A Marvel: Untold Novel
Senior Instructor, Department of English, Theatre, Film & Media.

If you’re a Marvel fan, you’ll want to immerse yourself in Dr. David Annandale’s latest Doctor Doom tale, The Tyrant Skies. Dr. Annandale crafts an interesting tale of conflict and intrigue as Doctor Doom faces Red Skull, his deadliest enemy, and confronts a wave of attacks, putting his beliefs, strength and powers to the ultimate test. Purchase: The Tyrant Skies (published by Simon & Schuster)

These books can help to expand understanding, encourage critical thinking or creatively entertain. Whether you are a student, researcher or lifelong learner, we invite you to explore these publications and immerse yourself in intellectual discovery.

Méira Cook [PhD/98] (Major: English) – The Full Catastrophe

If you’re in the mood for a heartfelt and beautifully written coming-of-age tale, 2023 Margaret Laurence Award for Fiction winner The Full Catastrophe by Méira Cook is an absolute must-read. Set in downtown Winnipeg, the story follows Charlie Minkoff, a thirteen-year-old boy navigating the complexities of adolescence while living with intersex traits. Amidst struggles at school and pondering his father’s abandonment, Charlie finds solace in the love of his grandfather, a group of endearing misfits and a lovable, always-hungry dog. When he sets out on a mission to rectify his grandfather’s past, he discovers the importance of embracing his own story. This novel is a compelling blend of psychological depth, tenderness and humor that will leave you captivated. Purchase: The Full Catastrophe (published by House of Anansi Press)

Lise Gaboury Diallo [BesA/78] (Major: French) – Petites Déviations

For poetry enthusiasts looking for an asserting collection, Lise Gaboury Diallo’s Petites Déviations is a gem. As an acclaimed figure in French-Canadian literature, Diallo’s poetic skill shines through, where she delves into contemplations, introspective reflections and intimate confidences. The poems explore the masks we wear, the compromises we make and the passage of time, revealing a rich tapestry of emotions and experiences. Winner of the Rue-Deschambault prize, this collection will leave you with a heightened sense of awareness and a deeper connection to the world around you. This book is written in French. Purchase: Petites Déviations (published by Renaud-Bray)

David Thomas Smith [BA/73, MCP/77] – After 60 and On the Edge Like Indiana Jones

Let’s dive into an exciting adventure through the eyes of a first-time author, David Thomas Smith, as he takes you on a journey through his travels and volunteer assignments for the Canadian Executive Service Organization (CESO). In After 60 and On the Edge Like Indiana Jones: Amazing Experiences Through Volunteering and Travel, Smith shares tales of his escapades in various developing countries, providing deep understanding into the challenges, rewards and cultural uniqueness he encounters. This story not only narrates the excitement of his experiences but also serves as a reminder of the value of volunteer service. If you’re seeking an inspiring and fascinating memoir, this book is the perfect companion for your summer reading list. Purchase: After 60 and On the Edge Like Indiana Jones (published by FriesenPress)

John Einarson [BA/73, CertEd/78] (Major: History) – Heart of Gold: A History of Winnipeg Music

Let’s take a look at the rich musical heritage of Winnipeg with renowned music historian John Einarson’s Heart of Gold: A History of Winnipeg Music. This comprehensive exploration takes readers on a fascinating journey through the city’s various music scenes, from Indigenous and francophone music to country, folk, rock’n’roll and more. Einarson reveals how Winnipeg has been a significant hub for Canadian music for over a century, with its artists shaping and influencing the nation’s musical landscape. If you’re a music enthusiast or simply curious about the vibrant cultural history of Winnipeg, this book is a must-read. Purchase: Heart of Gold: A History of Winnipeg Music

Guy Gavriel Kay [BA/75] (Major: Philosophy) – All the Seas of the World

The latest from international best-selling fantasy author Guy Gavriel Kay is a page-turning drama that offers moving reflections on memory, fate and the random events that can shape our lives. Two assassins are dropped on a lonely stretch of coast in the dark of night. They have been hired by two of the most dangerous men alive to alter the balance of power in the world. If they succeed, the consequences will affect the destinies of empires and the lives of many. The books from this award winning author are definitely worth a look. In 2014, Kay was named to the Order of Canada and his works have been translated into more than thirty languages. Purchase: All the Seas of the World (published by Penguin Canada)

James Arnett [BA/59, LLB/63] – Bean Fate: Based on a True Crime

If you’re a fan of gripping true-crime stories set in the Prohibition era, Bean Fate a debut novel from James Arnett will keep you on the edge of your seat. Inspired by shocking events in a Saskatchewan border town, this novel uncovers the intricate web of suspicions surrounding the politicians and their potential connections to Al Capone and the Chicago Mob. Follow rookie cop Jack Ross as he unravels the truth, even after being taken off the case. Bean Fate is a riveting tale of intrigue, crime and the quest for justice. Purchase: Bean Fate: Based on a True Crime

Chimwemwe Undi [BA(Adv)/16, JD/20] (Major: Linguistics)–“Auto-epithalamium” and “Epithalamium Ending in Death” included in Canthius 10

For lovers of evocative poetry, the works of Chimwemwe Undi, Winnipeg’s Poet Laureate for 2023-24 and a lawyer with TDS Law in Winnipeg, are a great choice. Her poems “Auto-epithalamium” and “Epithalamium Ending in Death” explore the intersection of love and climate grief, offering profound insights into human emotions and the impact of climate change. These poems celebrate love’s joy and simultaneously address the challenges posed by climate uncertainties in relationships. Undi’s unique storytelling and spoken word traditions will leave you moved and deeply connected to her words. You can read her poems in the 10^th issue of feminist literary periodical Canthius. Also watch for Undi’s debut collection, Scientific Marvel, coming to print in April 2024. Purchase: Canthius 10

Whether you’re basking under the sun or seeking solace in the shade, these books will be your perfect summer companions, offering unforgettable journeys through captivating stories and thought-provoking poetry.

If you are reading Canadian writers’ work right now (and you should be!), why not select an author who is also a UM grad?

These include:

Junebat by John Elizabeth Stintzi [BA(Hons)/14], described as sometimes very combative, and sometimes it’s very tender. It’s meant to embody instability or “unknowable-ness.”

Songs for the End of the World by Salema Nawaz [MA/06], a novel about family and parenthood, about loss and regret, about momentary connection and lingering solitude.

The Water Beetles by Michael Kaan [MBA/09, BSW/97, BA(Hons)/90], loosely based on the diaries of Kaan’s own father, Kaan said. It tells story of a family as they look to survive the 1941 Japanese invasion of Hong Kong.

Rekindling the Sacred Fire: Métis Ancestry and Anishinaabe Spirituality by Chantal Fiola [BA(Hons)/04] highlights the ongoing historical impacts of colonization upon Métis identity and spirituality through interviews with Manitoba Métis.

Don’t Try This at Home: One Family’s (Mis)adventures Around the World by Daria Salamon [BEd/95] and Rob Krause, an honest reflection on parenting and marriage while meeting the challenges of foreign customs, broken-down buses, stomach bugs, personal loss, and their often less-than-enthusiastic children.

And while you are reading a UM alumni author, why not join the UM Alumni Book Club? Open to all, the next reading period begins in March with President Michael Benarroch’s selection, Medicine Walk, by Canadian author Richard Wagamese.

Contest Alert!

From now until February 28, you could win a book lover’s prize package via the UM Alumni Instagram channel! Take a photo of yourself with a book by your favourite Canadian author and post it on your Instagram account! Full entry requirements and rules can be read here.

Guy Gavriel Kay’s [BA/75, Philosophy] Fionavar Tapestry series, which has sold over a million copies worldwide since being published in the 1980s, has been optioned for television by Temple Street, the Canadian production company behind the hit show Orphan Black.

Kay’s fantasy trilogy, comprised of The Summer Tree, The Wandering Fire and The Darkest Road, follows the journey of five men and women who are thrust into war after being lured to Fionavar— the first of all worlds — under false pretences.

The books draw from Celtic and Norse mythology, as well as the legend of King Arthur, and has been called “one of the classics of modern fantasy literature.” It’s been translated into over 25 languages.

“I know The Tapestry has had a powerful impact on readers — and on other writers — and that’s part of why I’ve been careful with the rights. I’m excited and anticipate this adaptation will bring new people to Fionavar, while rewarding longstanding fans,” said Kay in a news release.

“Guy’s work is exhilarating and cathartic, and we can’t wait to share this epic story with audiences around the world,” said David Fortier and Ivan Schneeberg, co-executive chairmen at Boat Rocker, Temple Street’s parent company. “We’re excited to start assembling the creative team to help realize our vision.”

We celebrated our 50th anniversary and mounted an exhibit at the University of Manitoba Archives and Special Collections while also putting out 14 books, several of which received national media attention.

 Here are a few highlights from a festive year in publishing. (We might be biased but we think books—printed or electronic—make smart gifts…)

No Man’s Land: The Life and Art of Mary Riter Hamilton by Kathryn A. Young & Sarah M. McKinnon

Western Canadian artist Mary Riter Hamilton (1868–1954) was determined to be a professional artist. Her story moves from homestead beginnings to genteel drawing rooms in Winnipeg, Victoria, and Vancouver to art schools in Paris and Berlin. But what drove a female artist with a comfortable life to one of hardship and loneliness, documenting the battlefields of France and Belgium after World War One?

Mary Riter Hamilton’s work can be found in galleries and museums throughout Canada and her early shows in Winnipeg were part of what started the discussion about establishing what would become the Winnipeg Art Gallery.

No Man’s Land is the first biography of Riter Hamilton. Ten years in the making, Young & McKinnon talk about Riter Hamilton’s life, her art, and the importance of female networks.

We knew we had to publish this book because it manages to trace the trajectory of an early Winnipeg artist, a female artist in an era dominated by male artists, from china painting to battle zones.

• Recommended readers: artists, military history buffs, readers of Manitoba histories.

The North End Revisited by John Paskievich

We published John Paskievich’s The North End in 2007 and it quickly became one of our most critically-acclaimed and best-selling books.

Paskievich came to Canada from a refugee camp in Austria and settled with his parents in Winnipeg’s North End. As a child and then as a young man, he walked the North End’s streets, where Indigenous peoples and Old World immigrants crossed the boundaries of ethnicity, class, and culture.

As an adult, Paskievich went away to study photography in Montreal, and, when he came home, picked up a camera and started walking the streets of his old neighbourhood.

John is probably best known as an award winning documentary filmmaker—his most recent of which was Special Ed (2013)—but he always returned to the North End with his camera.

And when our 50th anniversary appeared on the event horizon, we knew we wanted to re-issue The North End. But we didn’t just want to hit print again—we wanted to do something a little different. So we asked Paskievich for new photographs and wound up including 80 of them, selected from the four decades of images Paskievich had amassed. Add to that an interview by the always-interesting Alison Gillmor and a new essay by North End ex-pat George Melnyk, and we had The North End Revisited.

• Recommended readers: Anyone who thinks that every birthday needs a Jeannie’s cake and that the only real bagels are from Gunn’s, street photography nuts, people who love a good coffee table book, aspiring filmmakers.

Snacks: A Canadian Food History by Janis Thiessen

How could you not like a history of junk food? (How could you not want to read a book by a historian whose favourite flavour of chip is dill pickle?)

In her book Snacks, University of Winnipeg historian Janis Thiessen profiles several iconic Canadian snack food companies, including Old Dutch Potato Chips, Hawkins Cheezies, and chocolatier Ganong. These companies have developed in distinctive ways, reflecting the unique stories of their founders and their intense connection to specific places.

Along the way Thiessen uncovers the roots of our deep loyalties to different snack foods, what it means to be an independent snack food producer, and the often-quirky ways snacks have been created and marketed.

• Recommended readers: People interested in the local food movement, people who eat/make snacks, CSA farmers and the people who buy shares, both sides of the Cheezies vs. Cheetos debate, members of the Facebook group devoted to the Cuban Lunch.

Two Years Below the Horn: Operation Tabarin, Field Science, and Antarctic Sovereignty by Andrew Taylor, edited by Daniel Heidt & P. Whitney Lackenbauer

Andrew Taylor (1907–1993) was Scotland-born but Manitoba-bred. He attended the University of Manitoba and before World War Two broke out, he was the town engineer in Flin Flon, Manitoba.

In the years that followed, Taylor became one of Canada’s foremost polar explorers. Given his extensive pre-war surveying experience, once war was declared Taylor was asked to join Operation Tabarin, a landmark British expedition to the Antarctic to establish sovereignty and conduct science. When mental strain caused the operation’s commander to resign, Taylor became the first and only Canadian to lead an Antarctic expedition.

Brought out of the archive by military historians Daniel Heidt & P. Whitney Lackenbauer, Taylor’s diary of this fascinating era on the world stage is well worth reading.

• Recommended readers: People interested in polar exploration, history of science people, military history buffs, everyone that’s ever cruised to Alaska, the Antarctic, or trained to Churchill, winter campers.

The Clay We Are Made Of: Haudenosaunee Land Tenure on the Grand River by Susan M. Hill

At University of Manitoba Press, we’ve specialized in telling the stories of life on the prairies. We’ve published pioneering books about the Metis, Cree, Anishinaabe, and Dene people of this region. We’ve told the stories of early Winnipeg, of Red River, and any number of small communities and reserves.

In 1999, we published one of the first detailed examinations of the inner workings of Canada’s residential school system. In 2017, we published an essential history of residential schools from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada.

As we begin our second 50 years, we wanted to broaden our scope. And so we’ve started to publish books about the Six Nations that stretched from Canada to the United States. Susan Hill’s The Clay We Are Made Of is a great addition to that small but growing list.

Hill is a Haudenosaunee citizen (Wolf Clan, Mohawk Nation) and a long-time resident of Ohswe:ken (Grand River Territory) who now teaches at the University of Toronto. She’s a scholar writing out of and to her community and so provides a unique perspective on Haudenosaunee land tenure on the Grand River.

• Recommended readers: Members of the Mohawk, Cayuga, Onondaga, Oneida, Seneca, and Tuscarora nations. Canadian historian buffs who want a new and compelling Indigenous perspective on the history of a dynamic First Nation. The Anishinaabeg, Cree, Oji-Cree, Dakota, and Dene people. Members of the Métis Nation.

From its beginnings, broadcasting has caused political and cultural trouble in Canada. Government has always been unsure what to do with it, and at the moment we are still unsure how to handle it, as the current imbroglio over Netflix and other streaming services demonstrates. A discussion of broadcasting is never too late or too early. There are always difficult questions.

Len Kuffert, a University of Manitoba historian, has gone back to the beginnings of this conundrum in his new book, Canada Before Television: Radio, Taste, and the Struggle for Cultural Democracy (McGill-Queens University Press). The word “television” appears in the title, but this is a book about radio and its earliest impact.

When I think about Canada before television, I think about The Happy Gang, which ran for half an hour every weekday at lunchtime from 1937 to 1959, introducing a joyful bunch of singers and musicians and their regrettably unforgettable theme song (“Keep happy with the Happy Gang – keep happy, keep healthy, to heck with being wealthy”). Even in its dying days, crowds of fans created a national uproar when Maclean’s published an article, “The Unhappy Gang,” depicting the lot of them as a nest of vipers who mostly couldn’t stand each other.

But that’s not Kuffert’s story. In a good-hearted and sympathetic way, he charts the impact of radio when it was young.

What delighted people, and sometimes terrified them, was radio itself. It was going to be free, but how free and in what way? It was like the press, but it was also radically different. A newspaper could be read privately by someone alone in a corner, but radio might be heard by a whole family. Maybe it needed to be censored.

Would it be the same on Sunday as on other days? In Kuffert’s account we hear about the Eddie Cantor show, which was imported into Canada. The singer-comedian’s jokes were in questionable taste, according to some listeners. One said “It is hardly the thing to serve up to Canadians on a Sunday night.” This was the era when much of Canada tried to live by the Lord’s Day Act. Radio might corrupt even the Sabbath.

University of Manitoba Press is publishing Ma-Nee’s memoir via its Critical Studies in Native History Series, which is edited by Robin Jarvis Brownlie, professor of history at the U of M.

The book starts:

“My earliest memories are of gathering kindling, making snowshoes, and hunting and trapping in my isolated Canadian community, where alcoholism was widespread in the 1950s. In 2013, more than half a century later, I performed a healing ceremony and then helped lead the first gay pride parade in my city, Thunder Bay, Ontario. This book describes the extraordinary path that led me to this place.”

A Two-Spirit Journey

Ma-Nee Chacaby marching in the 1989 Boston Pride parade

A Two-Spirit Journey is Ma-Nee Chacaby’s extraordinary account of her life as an Ojibwa-Cree lesbian. From her early, often harrowing memories of life and abuse in a remote Ojibwa community riven by poverty and alcoholism, Chacaby’s story is one of enduring and ultimately overcoming the social, economic, and health legacies of colonialism.

As a child, Chacaby learned spiritual and cultural traditions from her Cree grandmother and trapping, hunting, and bush survival skills from her Ojibwa stepfather. She also suffered physical and sexual abuse by different adults, and in her teen years became alcoholic herself. At twenty, Chacaby moved to Thunder Bay with her children to escape an abusive marriage. Abuse, compounded by racism, continued, but Chacaby found supports to help herself and others. Over the following decades, she achieved sobriety; trained and worked as an alcoholism counsellor; raised her children and fostered many others; learned to live with visual impairment; and came out as a lesbian. In 2013, Chacaby led the first gay pride parade in Thunder Bay.

Raised by her Cree grandmother in a remote Ojibwa community near Lake Nipigon, Ont., Chacaby has emerged from hardship grounded in faith, compassion, humour, and resilience. Her memoir provides unprecedented insights into the challenges still faced by many Indigenous people.

Two-Spirit

As Two-Spirited People of Manitoba Inc. says: Two-Spirit  is a term used to describe Aboriginal people who assume cross-, or multiple gender roles, attributes, dress and attitudes for personal, spiritual, cultural, ceremonial or social reasons. These roles are defined by each cultural group and can be fluid over a person’s lifetime. Modern terms like gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, transsexual and intersected (in combination with, or exclusive to, Two-Spirit) may be adopted by some Aboriginal people to define who they are.