Skip to main content Skip to search Skip to search

Children's Nonfiction Native Canadian

Treaty Words

For As Long As the Rivers Flow

by (author) Aimée Craft

illustrated by Luke Swinson

Publisher
Annick Press
Initial publish date
Mar 2021
Category
Native Canadian, Multigenerational, Native American, Cultural Heritage
  • Hardback

    ISBN
    9781773214962
    Publish Date
    Mar 2021
    List Price
    $16.95
  • eBook

    ISBN
    9781773214979
    Publish Date
    Mar 2021
    List Price
    $18.99

Add it to your shelf

Where to buy it

Recommended Age, Grade, and Reading Levels

  • Age: 10 to 18
  • Grade: 5 to 12
  • Reading age: 10 to 18

Description

The first treaty that was made was between the earth and the sky. It was an agreement to work together. We build all of our treaties on that original treaty.

On the banks of the river that have been Mishomis’s home his whole life, he teaches his granddaughter to listen—to hear both the sounds and the silences, and so to learn her place in Creation. Most importantly, he teaches her about treaties—the bonds of reciprocity and renewal that endure for as long as the sun shines, the grass grows, and the rivers flow.

Accompanied by beautiful illustrations by Luke Swinson and an author’s note at the end, Aimée Craft affirms the importance of understanding an Indigenous perspective on treaties in this evocative book that is essential for readers of all ages.

About the authors

Aimée Craft is an Indigenous (Anishinaabe-Métis) lawyer (called to the Bar in 2005) from Treaty 1 territory in Manitoba. She is currently an Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Common law, University of Ottawa. Craft is the former Director of Research at the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls and the founding Director of Research at the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation. Her book, Breathing Life into the Stone Fort Treaty: An Anishnabe Understanding of Treaty One (2013) won the Eileen McTavish Sykes Award for Best First Book.

Aimée Craft's profile page

Luke Swinson is an Anishinaabe illustrator who is a member of the Mississaugas of Scugog Island First Nation. He lives in Kitchener, ON.

Luke Swinson's profile page

Awards

  • Joint winner, Indigenous Voices Awards
  • Short-listed, Red Cedar Book Award
  • Commended, Storytelling World Awards, Honor title
  • Nominated, Rocky Mountain Book Award
  • Joint winner, Best Books of 2021, Kirkus Reviews
  • Joint winner, Best Bets Book List, OLA
  • Joint winner, Must-Read KidLit Titles, Festival of Literary Diversity (FOLD) Kids

Editorial Reviews

“Meditative, devotional, and vital.”

Kirkus Reviews, *starred review, 03/02/21

“A small, quiet, and enormously powerful story.”

Youth Services Book Review, *starred review, 04/21/21

“This exemplary narrative nonfiction book proves an understanding of Indigenous perspectives on treaty relationships, affording vital—and not often heard—historical and cultural context to these living agreements.”

Quill & Quire, *starred review, 04/21

“The reverence . . . comes through in Aimée Craft’s words, resonant and weighty, steadfast and dynamic.”

CanLit for Little Canadians, 04/26/21

“Craft’s writing is almost faultless. Her lyrical and evocative word choices are ideal for reading aloud in order to enjoy the rhythms of the poetic language. . . . Swinson’s illustrations augment the sense of love and respect conveyed by the words. . . . Highly recommended.”

CM Reviews, 01/29/21

“This quiet contemplative account of learning to live with nature and together as people has a place in every collection, and while its meditative tone will appeal to older and more advanced readers, it could be the centerpiece of a story hour for younger listeners.”

School Library Journal, *starred review, 06/21

“Elegantly reveals the intended beauty and harmony of a treaty from an indispensable Indigenous perspective.”

Publishers Weekly, *starred review, 07/26/21

Other titles by

Indigenous Resurgence in an Age of Reconciliation

edited by Heidi Kiiwetinepinesiik Stark, Aimée Craft & Hōkūlani K. Aikau

Vulnerable

The Law, Policy and Ethics of COVID-19

edited by Colleen M. Flood, Vanessa MacDonnell, Sophie Thériault & Sridhar Venkatapuram
contributions by Jane Philpott, Katherine Fierlbeck, Lorian Hardcastle, Aimée Craft, Deborah McGregor, Jeffery Hewitt, Michelle Giroux, David Robitaille, Amir Attaran, Adam R. Houston, Bryan Thomas, Carissima Mathen, Alexandra Flynn, Mel Cappe, Grégoire Webber, Tim Caulfield, Jeffrey Simpson, Paul Daly, Marie-France Fortin, Jennifer A. Quaid, Kumanan Wilson, Teresa Scassa, Kelly Bronson, Jason Millar, Vardit Ravitsky, Daniel Weinstock, Terry Skolnik, Martha Jackman, Delphine Nakache, Yves Le Bouthillier, Martine Lagacé, Linda Garcia, Leilani Farha, Kaitlin Schwan, Adelina Iftene, Jamie Chai Yun Liew, Y.Y. Brandon Chen, Anne Levesque, Kwame McKenzie, Jennifer A. Chandler, Mona Gupta, Yasmin Khaliq, Simon Hatcher, Olivia Lee, Tess Sheldon, Ravi Malhotra, Pat Armstrong, Hugh Armstrong, Ivy Bourgeault, Katherine Lippel, Louise Bélanger-Hardy, Vanessa Gruben, Sarah Berger Richardson, Anis Chowdhury, Jomo Kwame Sundaram, Sam Halabi, Chidi Oguamanam, Steven J. Hoffman, Patrick Fafard, Céline Castets-Renard, Eleonore Fournier-Tombs, E. Richard Gold, Jeremy de Beer, Matthew Herder & Jason W. Nickerson

Pathways of Reconciliation

Indigenous and Settler Approaches to Implementing the TRC's Calls to Action

edited by Aimée Craft & Paulette Regan

A Knock on the Door

The Essential History of Residential Schools from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, Edited and Abridged

foreword by Phil Fontaine
by (author) Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada
afterword by Aimée Craft

Breathing Life into the Stone Fort Treaty

An Anishnabe Understanding of Treaty One

by (author) Aimée Craft
foreword by John Borrows

Related lists