b'INDIGENOUS STORYTELLINGTWO AWARD-WINNING READSLooking for a good read? Here are two amazing recent contributions to the Indigenous book scene. Both in their own unique way highlight the struggles of Indigenous people resulting from colonialism, as well as their extraordinary resili-ence and perseverance. FIVE LITTLE INDIANS Five Little Indians is the debut fiction novel by Michelle Good, a Cree writer and member of the Red Pheasant Cree Nation in Saskatchewan. The book tells the story of Kenny, Lucy, Clara, Howie and Maisie, teenagers released after many years of detention in a church-run residential school. The five teens end up in a seedy part of Vancouver, alone and without any life skills or family support. The book spans multiple decades, highlighting their struggles in building their lives against the backdrop of the trauma they experienced in the residential school. Five Little Indians was a national bestseller and recipient of several awards, including the Scotia Bank Giller Prize, the Governor Generals Literary Award for Fiction and the Writers Trust Fiction Prize.A MIND SPREAD OUT ON THE GROUND A Mind Spread Out on the Ground is a memoir by award-winning Haudenosaunee writer Alicia Elliott. It looks at intergenerational trauma through the lens of Elliot in a collection of thought-provoking, honest essays that cover the ongoing effects of the legacy of colonialism. Topics touch on everything from parenthood and mental illness to how Indigenous writers are treated within the Canadian publishing industry. Elliott writes openly about unplanned teenage preg-nancy, her childhood diet of Kraft dinner and her battle with head lice. The book provides a candid look at the effects of cultural genocide and the ongoing legacy of colonialism.A Mind Spread out on the Ground was a national bestseller and was shortlisted for the Hilary Weston Writers Trust Prize. It was named one of the best books of 2019 by the Globe and Mail, CBC, and Chatelaine.remember the old ways of community Its called Kegedonce Press because my grandmother is the child of Chief Charles Kegedonce Jones. Her grandfather was Peter Kegedonce Jones. Kegedonce is the dominion of orator or speaker, explains Akiwenzie-Damm. When I started Kegedonce I was committed to pushing back against boundaries and limitations that [depicted] Indigenous writing as simplistic, childrens writing, or protest literature. It was put in bookstores under Canadiana, next to wildflower books and atlases.Akiwenzie-Damm too touches on the idea of writing as a safe space for Indigenous storytellers, and notes that a safe space is a natural product for an Indigenous publisher. Indigenous editors have www.blackbirdmedicines.ca greater sensitivity and awareness, she says. A bestseller might not be a main goal for an Indigenous writer. It might be language 70Spring/Summer 2022'