Brittany J. L. May

This book made me feel lots of things. Firstly, I think that this book is proof that the culture and teachings stolen from colonization onwards continues to have a negative effect on Indigenous people of Turtle Island.

Secondly, I challenge those who have a short sighted view on addiction to read this book. I think it’s lazy and irresponsible to assume that someone who has fallen in and out of addiction is “a lost cause” who just “takes handouts”. Addiction is an illness that stems from trauma and that trauma is often inflicted by hurt people who were hurt by our racist system.

Things need to change. As Canadians, we love to shake our heads at our neighbours to the south but we’re broken too. We need to start taking care of each other and listening to one another. We need better mental health care, more addiction treatment centres, education that’s accessible for all, and a society where no one goes hungry and everyone has clean drinking water. Poverty should not exist. Period. Everyone deserves a fair shot at life and no one should have to claw their way out of anything to get it.

I was moved to tears by this book and when I sat down to write this post I didn’t know all the above was going to pour out. As I read this book, I held in my hands 350 pages that totalled most of a man’s life, a man who struggled with trauma, identity, and addiction. A Métis-Cree man who, with a lot of help, survived. This book meant a lot to me and I hope with this post I’ve inspired someone else to pick it up. Thank you for writing this Jesse.