Hot Off the Press: Celebrating Black History and Indigenous Storytelling

February is an important month, as we celebrate both Black History Month and Indigenous Storytelling Month. There are some great events happening here on campus and University of Regina Press has a captivating lineup of books for you to check out this month. 

Black History Month

This year’s theme for Black History Month is “Black Legacy and Leadership: Celebrating Canadian History and Uplifting Future Generations”, acknowledging the diversity of Black Canadians, the importance of Black leadership, and the legacy being built for future generations.

As we honour the legacy and contributions of Black people in Canada and their communities, here are a few titles from University of Regina Press for you to check out:

1. Marie Carter’s In the Light of Dawn: The History and Legacy of a Black Canadian Community offers an approachable and engaging exploration of the town of Dresden’s two-hundred-year history of resistance to racism and pursuit of civil rights. Located at the terminus of the Underground Railroad, the Dawn Settlement, as it was known when it was founded in the 19^th century by abolitionists, free men, and refugees fleeing slavery, has a legacy of activism that includes the legal challenge that led to the desegregation of private businesses in Ontario in the 20^th century, it was also visited twice by Rosa Parks.
   
   

   

2. #BlackInSchool, the diary of a Black high school student Habiba Diallo, documents the systemic anti-Black racism she faces in incisive and sincere reflections that started a national conversation and made the book a bestseller.
   
   University of Regina Press will also be publishing a new edition (featuring a teacher’s guide) of this book which considers the need for educational reform from the perspective of those we most need to hear from, Black students.
   
   

   

3. Last, Until We are Free: Reflections on Black Lives Matter in Canada, which was also a bestseller, describes the history of anti-Black racism in Canada and the origin of the Canadian Black Lives Matter chapter. The book presents a comprehensive and dynamic portrait of contemporary Black Canada by weaving together personal narratives, interviews with Black activists, poetry, archival documents, and photographs.
   
   

   

The Dr. John Archer library is also celebrating Black History Month with their Blind Date with a Book contest, where you could win one of 12 books donated by University of Regina Press. The contest is open to all students, staff, and faculty and you can enter in-person at the Archer Library or online.

Indigenous Storytelling Month

Indigenous Storytelling Month, coordinated by Library Services for Saskatchewan Aboriginal Peoples Inc., celebrates First Nations, Métis, and Inuit history, language, and culture by supporting and promoting oral storytelling traditions in Saskatchewan.

In honour of Indigenous Storytelling Month, we have three more suggested titles from University of Regina Press, all from Indigenous U of R faculty members.

1. Solomon Ratt, who received the Order of Canada in 2024, is an Emeritus First Nations University Professor and the author of the memoir, kâ-pî-isi-kiskisiyân / The Way I Remember It. The book presents first Solomon Ratt’s personal narrative of his childhood with his family on reserve and in residential school in Prince Albert. Then it showcases the traditional stories in Cree that would have formed his education had he not been removed from his family and culture. Finally, the book concludes with personal stories from Solomon Ratt’s adult life, a long journey of healing that has seen him dedicate his career in education to teaching and promoting the Cree language and the storytelling tradition.
   
   

   

2. Blair Stonechild’s Challenge to Civilization: Indigenous Wisdom and the Future illustrates how Indigenous spirituality, wisdom, and land-based knowledge are critical to human survival in the face of environmental destruction. In this book that Library Journal describes as “thought-provoking”, Stonechild urges readers to recognize that humans are not the central purpose of creation, that we are also in danger of extinction, and that we must find a way of existing harmoniously with the natural and spiritual worlds.
   
   

   

3. If you can wait until next month, Governor General’s Award-winning Métis artist David Garneau’s book Dark Chapters: Reading The Still Lives of David Garneau will be released on March 25 (and is available for pre-order now). Dark Chapters brings together responses to his still life paintings that combine common objects (books, bones, teacups, mirrors) and less familiar ones (a Métis sash, a stone hammer, a braid of sweetgrass) to reflect the complexity of contemporary Indigenous experiences. The pieces of writing in the book, from some of Canada’s foremost thinkers and artists, respond to the paintings that serve as a spark for personal narrative and reflection on questions of decolonization, solidarity, representation, and history.
   
   

   

Don’t miss Book Talk: Dark Chapters: Reading the Still Lives of David Garneau featuring David Garneau in Conversation with John Hampton and Brianna Laplante on March 25 at the Dr. John Archer Library.