Mamaskatch: A Cree Coming of Age

"Affecting and full of heart" (Buzzfeed), Mamskatch follows Darrel McLeod as he navigates family history and trauma. As a small boy in remote Alberta, McLeod is immersed in his Cree family's history, passed down in the stories of his mother, Bertha. There he is surrounded by her tales of joy and horror—including the cruelty she and her sisters endured in residential school—as well as his many siblings and cousins, and the smells of moose stew and wild peppermint tea. He learns to be fiercely proud of his heritage and to listen to the birds that will guide him throughout his life. But after a series of tragic losses, his home life becomes unstable: he witnesses domestic violence, suffers abuse from his brother-in-law, and grapples with his sexuality. Thrillingly written in a series of fractured vignettes, and unflinchingly honest, Mamaskatch—"It's a wonder!" in Cree—is a heartbreaking account of how traumas are passed down from one generation to the next, and an uplifting story of one individual who overcomes enormous obstacles in pursuit of a fulfilling life.