An unflinching reimagining of Legacy: Trauma, Story, and Indigenous Healing for young adults
Written specifically for young adults, reluctant readers, and literacy learners, Killing the Wittigo explains the traumatic effects of colonization on Indigenous people and communities and how trauma alters an individual’s brain, body, and behavior. It explores how learned patterns of behavior — the ways people adapt to trauma to survive — are passed down within family systems, thereby affecting the functioning of entire communities. The book foregrounds Indigenous resilience through song lyrics and as-told-to stories by young people who have started their own journeys of decolonization, healing, and change. It also details the transformative work being done in urban and on-reserve communities through community-led projects and Indigenous-run institutions and community agencies. These stories offer concrete examples of the ways in which Indigenous peoples and communities are capable of healing in small and big ways — and they challenge readers to consider what the dominant society must do to create systemic change. Full of bold graphics and illustration, Killing the Wittigo is a much-needed resource for Indigenous kids and the people who love them and work with them.
Sales and Market Bullets
- PRACTICAL STRATEGIES: This book is blunt and realistic, and every chapter includes strategies for reclaiming health and wellness within an anti-oppression/decolonial framework.
- THE RIGHT AUTHOR FOR THE BOOK: Suzanne Methot has been working with Indigenous people/families/children/youth for 30 years. Her contributions include:
- Harm reduction and other services to people experiencing homelessness and street-involved youth as a volunteer with Anishnawbe Health Street Patrol
- Support to on-reserve Community Health Representatives in over 40 reserve communities across Ontario and the facilitation of a province-wide community consultation on long-term care in on-reserve communities while working with the Union of Ontario Indians (now the Anishinabek Nation)
- Support for individuals and families at West Neighbourhood House, Native Women’s Resource Centre of Toronto, YWCA Elm Centre, and the Toronto District School Board
- Contributing to the ROM’s Indigenous Advisory Circle for six years
- Sitting on the Parkdale Queen West community health centre board of directors
- Involvement in community-led projects that blended Indigenous cultural approaches with western approaches (such as Ontario Native Literacy Coalition’s Native Literacy Planning Process while at Native Women’s Resource Centre of Toronto)
- Helping develop a culture-based curriculum framework for urban Indigenous learners while seconded to the First Nations Adult Education Project (joint project between the Native Canadian Centre, Native Women’s Resource Centre, and the then-Toronto Board of Education)
- YOUTUBE CONTENT: Suzanne is starting a YouTube interview series with leaders in systemic and institutional change, including museum educator Wendy Ng, anthropologist Craig Cipolla, and Indigenous educators and health care workers.
- AWARD-WINNING AND WELL-REVIEWED AUTHOR:
- Methot’s previous title, Legacy, was the winner of the 2019–20 Huguenot Society of Canada Award
- “Powerful … A deeply empathetic and inspiring work with insights of value to anyone struggling to overcome personal or communal trauma.” — Library Journal on Legacy
- “[A] beautifully written book about strategies for healing from intergenerational trauma … . In crystal-clear prose, Methot has written a book that is both easy to follow and crucial to read.” — LitHub on Legacy
Audience
- Indigenous teens
- Parents of Indigenous teens
- Teachers
- People interested in Indigenous issues and reconciliation
- Educational wholesalers and librarians