Additional information
by Rosanna Deerchild (Author), Solomon Ratt (Translator)
î-nitotamahk kîsik is a poetry collection in Cree that describes deep personal experiences and post-generational effects of the Canadian Aboriginal residential school confinements in the 1960's when thousands of First Nations, Métis, and Inuit children were placed in these schools against their parents' wishes. Many were forbidden to speak their language and practice their own culture. Rosanna Deerchild exposes how the residential schools systematically undermined Aboriginal culture across Canada and disrupted families for generations, severing the ties through which Aboriginal culture is taught and sustained, and contributing to a general loss of language and culture. The devastating effects of the residential schools are far-reaching and continue to have significant impact on Aboriginal communities.
Author Biography
ROSANNA DEERCHILD is an award-winning Cree author and broadcaster. She has worked for a variety of Indigenous newspapers and major networks for over 15 years, including APTN, CBC Radio, and Global. Rosanna's debut poetry collection, "this is a small northern town" won the 2009 Aqua Books Lansdowne Prize for Poetry/Prix Lansdowne de poésie. She is a co-founder and a member of the Indigenous Writers Collective of Manitoba. She currently lives in Winnipeg and works as the host of Unreserved on CBC Radio One. SOLOMON RATT was born on the Churchill River just a few kilometres north of Stanley Mission. He spoke only Cree until the age of six when he was taken away from his parents to attend a residential school in Prince Albert. He returned home from residential school every summer where he spoke Cree at all times because his parents spoke only Cree. Since 1986 he has been an associate professor of Cree language studies at the First Nations University of Canada in Regina, Saskatchewan. He is the author of "nīhithaw ācimowina / Woods Cree Stories" published by the University of Regina Press in 2014.
