The world’s Indigenous communities are fighting to live and dying too young. In this vital and incisive work, Tanya Talaga explores intergenerational trauma and the alarming rise of youth suicide.
From Northern Ontario to Nunavut, Norway, Brazil, Australia, and the United States, the Indigenous experience in colonised nations is startlingly similar and deeply disturbing. It is an experience marked by the violent separation of Peoples from the land, the separation of families, and the separation of individuals from traditional ways of life — all of which has culminated in a spiritual separation that has had an enduring impact on generations of Indigenous children. As a result of this colonial legacy, too many communities today lack access to the basic determinants of health — income, employment, education, a safe environment, health services — leading to a mental health and youth suicide crisis on a global scale. But, Talaga reminds us, First Peoples also share a history of resistance, resilience, and civil rights activism, from the Occupation of Alcatraz led by the Indians of All Tribes, to the Northern Ontario Stirland Lake Quiet Riot, to the Standing Rock protests against the Dakota Access Pipeline, which united Indigenous Nations from across Turtle Island in solidarity.
All Our Relations is a powerful call for action, justice, and a better, more equitable world for all Indigenous Peoples.
‘Tanya Talaga has written an urgent, passionate book, which is about the legacies of colonialism in the most naked, raw sense … Talaga writes with a sense of urgency as one who knows the story from the inside.’
Patrick Wright, Five Books
‘An essential work of non-fiction … Through storytelling, on-the-ground reporting, literature surveys, and plenty of statistics, Talaga demonstrates the extent to which Indigenous children continue to live under the full weight of colonial history … All children, she writes, ‘need to know who their ancestors are, who their heroes and villains are.’ In All Our Relations, Talaga restores that basic right to Indigenous children who have been robbed of it. And the rest of us, as an epigraph from author Thomas King makes clear, no longer have the excuse of saying we haven’t heard this story. Talaga alone has told it twice now.’
Quill & Quire
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‘All Our Relations is an impeccably researched and unflinching documentation of how both colonial histories and ongoing genocidal practices have created the suicide crisis among Indigenous youth across the globe. Tanya Talaga expertly folds together interviews, storytelling, and statistics to bring us directly to the startling truth that Indigenous youth are fighting to find themselves through the multiple separations forced on them by settler states: separation of parents from children, separation of peoples from their land, and separation of tongues and hearts from their languages and traditions. All Our Relations is a call to action and a testament to the strength and tenacity of Indigenous people around the world.’
2019 Hilary Weston Writers’ Trust Prize for Nonfiction Jury Citation
‘Talaga's passion for the topic is palpable as she shares eye-opening stories and heartbreaking statistics ... Thoughtful and thought-provoking.’
Parvati Magazine
‘This book is both moving and effective; it creates the space for readers to understand the complexity of these issues … An excellent read.’
Ottawa Review of Books
‘While drawing on academic studies, All Our Relations is a burning missive about what is happening now, on the ground, and what needs to be done to make for safe and healthy indigenous communities.’
Fiona Capp, The Age
‘A heartbreaking book … [Tanya Talaga’s] writing style is clear and easy to read, and she has a way of telling the reader what they need to know about policy and history by telling stories about people and communities, who are at the heart of this book.’
Ranuka Tandan, Hon Soit
Praise for Seven Fallen Feathers:
‘Talaga’s research is meticulous and her journalistic style is crisp and uncompromising … The book is heartbreaking and infuriating, both an important testament to the need for change and a call to action.’ STARRED REVIEW
Publishers Weekly
Praise for Seven Fallen Feathers:
‘An urgent and unshakable portrait of the horrors faced by Indigenous teens going to school in Thunder Bay, Ontario, far from their homes and families … Talaga’s incisive research and breathtaking storytelling could bring this community one step closer to the healing it deserves.’ STARRED REVIEW
Booklist
Praise for Seven Fallen Feathers:
‘Seven Fallen Feathers is achingly blunt in confronting recurring damage that must be repaired. The book puts a human face to the headline statistics, reveals the continuing harm of unequal educational opportunity, and delivers the evidence of systemic racism in Canada with an insistent voice. Tanya Talaga draws the reader into communities of hurt and flawed responses surrounding the deaths of seven Indigenous students, the ‘fallen feathers.’ Talaga yanks at the reader’s complacency with her story of separated families, untethered youths, and the seemingly unbridgeable distance between cultures. She offers painful lessons while courting hope.’
BC National Award for Canadian Nonfiction Jury Citation
