b'JOURNALISMBy Bryan HansenA WARRIOR RISING,A VOICE OF TRUTHBrandi Morin recognizes the power of Indigenous womens storytellingF rom the heart of Treaty 6And through witnessing, documentingof her kookum, a survivor. They werent territory in Alberta, Brandiand connecting with people. I just believereferred to as residential schools; they just Morin, an award-winningthat it is powerful in that way, she shares.called it The Convent, and we werent journalist of Cree, IroquoisAs a journalist, telling Indigenous storiesmade aware that it was just the Native kids and French descent, stands as a teller ofrevolves around human rights and justicethat were made to go there and experi-truths. For more than a decade, Morin hasand our peoples voices being stifled forence abuse, had their language taken and specialized in sharing Indigenous stories,so long. all of these different atrocities committed, many of which have sparked change andMorins passion for storytelling correlatesshe explains.promoted reconciliation in Canadasto her own personal healing journey and is political, cultural and social landscapes.fueled by a hunger for discovery. Im justMorins work is driven by an inherent The author of Our Voice of Fire: Memoir of aabsolutely obsessed with telling Indigenousneed to share the truths of Indigenous Warrior Rising recently received the 2024stories, she admits. When I first startedpeoples. Its just incredible to be alive in Freedom to Read Award from the Writerstelling Indigenous stories about two yearsthis time, where we are on the cusp, the Union of Canada, which recognizes workinto my career as a journalist, it kind ofthreshold of ending all this silencing and supporting freedom of expression. coincided with this healing journey of myracism and discrimination, for our truths own, of reconnecting and of healing. to finally be told, she says. Indigenous Morins work is not just about journalism;peoples have wisdom to share; we have to her, its also about storytelling. WeThis journey led her to learn aboutbeauty, and culture, and ways of life and connect, as human beings, to stories, right?residential schools and the experiencesknowing to share with the world, especially 40Spring/Summer 2024'