Northern Wildflower

Foreword by: Leanne Betasamosake Simpson

Northern Wildflower is the beautifully written and powerful memoir of Catherine Lafferty. With startling honesty and a distinct voice, Lafferty tells her story of being a Dene woman growing up in Canada’s North and her struggles with intergenerational trauma, discrimination, poverty, addiction, love, and loss. Focusing on the importance of family ties, education, spiritualism, cultural identity, health, happiness, and the courage to speak the truth, Lafferty’s words bring cultural awareness and relativity to Indigenous and non-Indigenous readers alike, giving insight into the real issues many Indigenous women face and dispelling misconceptions about what life in the North is like.

AUTHOR

Leanne Betasamosake Simpson

Leanne Betasamosake Simpson is a researcher, writer, and educator of Mississauga and Scottish ancestry. She is a member of the gidigaa bzhiw dodem and a citizen of the Nishnaabeg nation. Leanne holds a PhD from the University of Manitoba and is the past director of Indigenous Environmental Studies at Trent University. Her research interests include Indigenist theory and methodology, Indigenous political cultures and traditional governance, Nishnaabeg women, Indigenous Knowledge, and Indigenous philosophies on land and the environment. Leanne currently teaches at the Centre for World Indigenous Knowledge Athabasca University and has previously taught at Trent University, the University of Victoria, the University of Manitoba, and Tampere University in Finland.

AUTHOR

Katłıà

Katłįà is a Dene woman from the Northwest Territories. Previously serving as a councillor for her First Nation, Yellowknives Dene, she is an activist, poet and columnist and law student in Indigeous Legal Orders. Katłįà writes about Indigenous injustices with a focus on the North. Katłįà’s first novel, Land-Water-Sky, won the NorthWoods Book Awards (2021)

AUTHOR

Catherine Lafferty

Catherine Lafferty grew up in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, where she was primarily raised by her grandparents, who instilled in her a sense of pride in who she is and where she comes from. Catherine honours her First Nation background through her position as a Council Member for the Yellowknives Dene First Nation. Her hobbies include writing, creating music and film, and spending time with her family.

Reviews

“Lafferty has pulled this off with disarming honesty and grace.”

– Quill and Quire, January 2018

Catherine Lafferty’s life story as a daughter and mother wanting more for her family and for herself is so completely inspiring. Northern Wildflower is a celebration of soul, grace and dignity. I am floored with the talent, courage and heart inside this wonderful debut.

– Richard Van Camp, author of The Lesser Blessed

“Reading Catherine Lafferty’s memoir Northern Wildflower, I kept wondering if my responses to it made me a morally reprehensible human being, a Donald Trump of the reviewing world. How can a story of growing up as a First Nations Dene woman in the Northwest Territories and Alberta against a backdrop of addiction, violence, poverty, prostitution rings, and teen pregnancy be so charming, joyous, and life-affirming? Do I find the way it explores or resists trauma relatable?” – Kamal Al-Solaylee, Quill and Quire

Awards

There are no awards found for this book.

Reader Reviews

Details

Dimensions:

158 Pages
9in * 6in * .5in
.25kg
.25kg

Published:

September 10, 2018

Publisher:

Fernwood Publishing

ISBN:

9781773630403

Book Subjects:

SOCIAL SCIENCE / Indigenous Studies

Featured In:

All Books

Bookville 2023 – Indigenous Lit

Language:

eng

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