Kicking Off Turtle Island Reads 2018

Our team was excited to attend the Turtle Island Reads storytelling roundtable on September 19th at Thompson House on the McGill University campus. We spent a wonderful hour listening to Indigenous storytellers speak about their motivations, beliefs, and hopes for future generations of Indigenous children. Speaking in the roundtable were filmmaker Tharionente Barnes (Kanien’kehá:ka of Kahnawá:ke), journalist Jessica Deer (Kanien’kehá:ka of Kahnawá:ke) from the CBC Montreal Indigenous Unit, poet Marie Annharte Baker (Anishinaabe), Cherie Dimaline (Métis), author of “The Marrow Thieves,” and Rosa Washee (T’licho Dene) representing Richard Van Camp.

We feel privileged to have witnessed such an enlightening discussion filled with laughs, powerful messages, and wisdom. We heard directly from these storytellers’ mouths what “Story” is, what it means to them and their people, and the power that stories can have for an individual and a Nation.

Thank you for your time and your words.