The Reason You Walk
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wish list failed.
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Buy Now for $22.14
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Wab Kinew
-
Written by:
-
Wab Kinew
About this listen
A moving father-son reconciliation told by a charismatic First Nations broadcaster, musician, and activist.
When his father was given a diagnosis of terminal cancer, Winnipeg broadcaster and musician Wab Kinew decided to spend a year reconnecting with the accomplished but distant aboriginal man who'd raised him. The Reason You Walk spans the year 2012, chronicling painful moments in the past and celebrating renewed hopes and dreams for the future. As Kinew revisits his own childhood in Winnipeg and on a reserve in Northern Ontario, he learns more about his father's traumatic childhood at residential school.
An intriguing doubleness marks The Reason You Walk, a reference to an Anishinaabe ceremonial song. Born to an Anishinaabe father and a non-native mother, he has a foot in both cultures. He is a Sundancer, an academic, a former rapper, a hereditary chief, and an urban activist. His father, Tobasonakwut, was both a beloved traditional chief and a respected elected leader who engaged directly with Ottawa. Internally divided, his father embraced both traditional native religion and Catholicism, the religion that was inculcated into him at the residential school where he was physically and sexually abused.
In a grand gesture of reconciliation, Kinew's father invited the Roman Catholic bishop of Winnipeg to a Sundance ceremony in which he adopted him as his brother. Kinew writes affectingly of his own struggles in his 20s to find the right path, eventually giving up a self-destructive lifestyle to passionately pursue music and martial arts. From his unique vantage point, he offers an inside view of what it means to be an educated aboriginal living in a country that is just beginning to wake up to its aboriginal history and living presence.
Invoking hope, healing and forgiveness, The Reason You Walk is a poignant story of a towering but damaged father and his son as they embark on a journey to repair their family bond. By turns lighthearted and solemn, Kinew gives us an inspiring vision for family and cross-cultural reconciliation, and a wider conversation about the future of aboriginal peoples.
Number-one Globe and Mail nonfiction best seller
A Toronto Star nonfiction best seller
Finalist for the RBC Taylor Prize
Shortlisted for the Ontario Library Service North 2017 Louise de Kiriline Award for Nonfiction
©2015 Wab Kinew (P)2017 Penguin CanadaYou may also enjoy...
-
Walking in Two Worlds
- Written by: Wab Kinew
- Narrated by: Joelle Peters, Wab Kinew
- Length: 7 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the real world, Bugz is a shy and self-conscious Indigenous teen who faces the stresses of teenage angst and life on the Rez. But in the virtual world, her alter ego is not just confident but dominant in a massively multiplayer video game universe.
-
-
amazingly engaging
- By roxannepaul on 2021-09-24
Written by: Wab Kinew
-
True Reconciliation
- How to Be a Force for Change
- Written by: Jody Wilson-Raybould
- Narrated by: Jody Wilson-Raybould
- Length: 9 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
There is one question Canadians have asked Jody Wilson-Raybould more than any other: What can I do to help advance reconciliation? This has been true from her time as a leader of British Columbia’s First Nations, as a Member of Parliament, as Minister of Justice and Attorney General, within business communities, and when having conversations with people. Whether speaking as individuals, communities, organizations, or governments, people want to take concrete and tangible action that will make real change. They just need to know how to get started, or to take the next step.
-
-
Important historical context
- By Anonymous User on 2025-01-31
Written by: Jody Wilson-Raybould
-
Who We Are
- Four Questions For a Life and a Nation
- Written by: Murray Sinclair, Sara Sinclair, Niigaan Sinclair
- Narrated by: Murray Sinclair, Niigaan Sinclair, Shelagh Rogers
- Length: 14 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Judge, senator, and activist. Father, grandfather, and friend. This is Murray Sinclair’s story—and the story of a nation—in his own words, an oral history that forgoes the trappings of the traditionally written memoir to center Indigenous ways of knowledge and storytelling. As Canada moves forward into the future of Reconciliation, one of its greatest leaders guides us to ask the most important and difficult question we can ask of ourselves: Who are we?
-
-
Hidden gem
- By vj on 2024-11-04
Written by: Murray Sinclair, and others
-
The Inconvenient Indian
- A Curious Account of Native People in North America
- Written by: Thomas King
- Narrated by: Lorne Cardinal
- Length: 9 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Inconvenient Indian is at once a “history” and the complete subversion of a history - in short, a critical and personal meditation that the remarkable Thomas King has conducted over the past 50 years about what it means to be “Indian” in North America. Rich with dark and light, pain and magic, this book distills the insights gleaned from that meditation, weaving the curiously circular tale of the relationship between non-Natives and Natives in the centuries since the two first encountered each other.
-
-
Angry, embarrassed, disgusted, horrified, nauseous, scared and so so sad, but hopeful and now informed.
- By Shantelle Lamouche on 2021-01-18
Written by: Thomas King
-
Call Me Indian
- From the Trauma of Residential School to Becoming the NHL's First Treaty Indigenous Player
- Written by: Fred Sasakamoose, Bryan Trottier - foreword
- Narrated by: Wilton Littlechild
- Length: 10 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Fred Sasakamoose, torn from his home at the age of seven, endured the horrors of residential school for a decade before becoming one of 120 players in the most elite hockey league in the world. He has been heralded as the first Indigenous player with Treaty status in the NHL. After twelve games, he returned home. When people tell Sasakamoose's story, this is usually where they end it. Sasakamoose's groundbreaking memoir sheds piercing light on Canadian history and Indigenous politics, and follows this man's journey to reclaim pride in a heritage that had been used against him.
-
-
Eye Opening!
- By RL9 on 2021-12-01
Written by: Fred Sasakamoose, and others
-
Unreconciled
- Family, Truth, and Indigenous Resistance
- Written by: Jesse Wente
- Narrated by: Jesse Wente
- Length: 6 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Part memoir and part manifesto, Unreconciled is a stirring call to arms to put truth over the flawed concept of reconciliation, and to build a new, respectful relationship between the nation of Canada and Indigenous peoples.
-
-
Brilliant Must Listen/Read for all Canadians
- By Cass on 2022-02-04
Written by: Jesse Wente
-
Walking in Two Worlds
- Written by: Wab Kinew
- Narrated by: Joelle Peters, Wab Kinew
- Length: 7 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the real world, Bugz is a shy and self-conscious Indigenous teen who faces the stresses of teenage angst and life on the Rez. But in the virtual world, her alter ego is not just confident but dominant in a massively multiplayer video game universe.
-
-
amazingly engaging
- By roxannepaul on 2021-09-24
Written by: Wab Kinew
-
True Reconciliation
- How to Be a Force for Change
- Written by: Jody Wilson-Raybould
- Narrated by: Jody Wilson-Raybould
- Length: 9 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
There is one question Canadians have asked Jody Wilson-Raybould more than any other: What can I do to help advance reconciliation? This has been true from her time as a leader of British Columbia’s First Nations, as a Member of Parliament, as Minister of Justice and Attorney General, within business communities, and when having conversations with people. Whether speaking as individuals, communities, organizations, or governments, people want to take concrete and tangible action that will make real change. They just need to know how to get started, or to take the next step.
-
-
Important historical context
- By Anonymous User on 2025-01-31
Written by: Jody Wilson-Raybould
-
Who We Are
- Four Questions For a Life and a Nation
- Written by: Murray Sinclair, Sara Sinclair, Niigaan Sinclair
- Narrated by: Murray Sinclair, Niigaan Sinclair, Shelagh Rogers
- Length: 14 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Judge, senator, and activist. Father, grandfather, and friend. This is Murray Sinclair’s story—and the story of a nation—in his own words, an oral history that forgoes the trappings of the traditionally written memoir to center Indigenous ways of knowledge and storytelling. As Canada moves forward into the future of Reconciliation, one of its greatest leaders guides us to ask the most important and difficult question we can ask of ourselves: Who are we?
-
-
Hidden gem
- By vj on 2024-11-04
Written by: Murray Sinclair, and others
-
The Inconvenient Indian
- A Curious Account of Native People in North America
- Written by: Thomas King
- Narrated by: Lorne Cardinal
- Length: 9 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Inconvenient Indian is at once a “history” and the complete subversion of a history - in short, a critical and personal meditation that the remarkable Thomas King has conducted over the past 50 years about what it means to be “Indian” in North America. Rich with dark and light, pain and magic, this book distills the insights gleaned from that meditation, weaving the curiously circular tale of the relationship between non-Natives and Natives in the centuries since the two first encountered each other.
-
-
Angry, embarrassed, disgusted, horrified, nauseous, scared and so so sad, but hopeful and now informed.
- By Shantelle Lamouche on 2021-01-18
Written by: Thomas King
-
Call Me Indian
- From the Trauma of Residential School to Becoming the NHL's First Treaty Indigenous Player
- Written by: Fred Sasakamoose, Bryan Trottier - foreword
- Narrated by: Wilton Littlechild
- Length: 10 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Fred Sasakamoose, torn from his home at the age of seven, endured the horrors of residential school for a decade before becoming one of 120 players in the most elite hockey league in the world. He has been heralded as the first Indigenous player with Treaty status in the NHL. After twelve games, he returned home. When people tell Sasakamoose's story, this is usually where they end it. Sasakamoose's groundbreaking memoir sheds piercing light on Canadian history and Indigenous politics, and follows this man's journey to reclaim pride in a heritage that had been used against him.
-
-
Eye Opening!
- By RL9 on 2021-12-01
Written by: Fred Sasakamoose, and others
-
Unreconciled
- Family, Truth, and Indigenous Resistance
- Written by: Jesse Wente
- Narrated by: Jesse Wente
- Length: 6 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Part memoir and part manifesto, Unreconciled is a stirring call to arms to put truth over the flawed concept of reconciliation, and to build a new, respectful relationship between the nation of Canada and Indigenous peoples.
-
-
Brilliant Must Listen/Read for all Canadians
- By Cass on 2022-02-04
Written by: Jesse Wente
-
21 Things You May Not Know About the Indian Act
- Helping Canadians Make Reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples a Reality
- Written by: Bob Joseph
- Narrated by: Sage Isaac
- Length: 3 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Based on a viral article, 21 Things You May Not Know About the Indian Act is the essential guide to understanding the legal document and its repercussion on generations of Indigenous peoples, written by a leading cultural sensitivity trainer. The Indian Act, after 141 years, continues to shape, control, and constrain the lives and opportunities of Indigenous peoples, and is at the root of many lasting stereotypes.
-
-
Essentially Canadian - Must Read.
- By Marcel Molin on 2019-08-23
Written by: Bob Joseph
-
Our Voice of Fire
- A Memoir of a Warrior Rising
- Written by: Brandi Morin
- Narrated by: Brandi Morin
- Length: 5 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Brandi Morin is known for her clear-eyed and empathetic reporting on Indigenous oppression in North America. She is also a survivor of the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls crisis and uses her experience to tell the stories of those who did not survive the rampant violence. From her time as a foster kid and runaway who fell victim to predatory men and an oppressive system to her career as an internationally acclaimed journalist, Our Voice of Fire chronicles Morin’s journey to overcome enormous adversity and find her purpose, and her power, through journalism.
-
-
amazing powerful book about life and struggles of an indigenous person and her upraisal to her life purpose.
- By Suren on 2024-09-12
Written by: Brandi Morin
-
One Drum
- Stories and Ceremonies for a Planet
- Written by: Richard Wagamese
- Narrated by: Christian Baskous
- Length: 4 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
One Drum draws from the foundational teachings of Ojibway tradition, the Grandfather Teachings. Focusing specifically on the lessons of humility, respect, and courage, the volume contains simple ceremonies that anyone anywhere can do, alone or in a group, to foster harmony and connection. Wagamese believed that there is a shaman in each of us, that we are all teachers, and in the world of the spirit, there is no right way or wrong way.
-
-
Engaging and thoughtful
- By Anonymous User on 2020-01-09
Written by: Richard Wagamese
-
Truth Telling
- Seven Conversations About Indigenous Life in Canada
- Written by: Michelle Good
- Narrated by: Megan Tooley
- Length: 4 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
With authority and insight, Truth Telling examines a wide range of Indigenous issues framed by Michelle Good’s personal experience and knowledge. From racism, broken treaties, and cultural pillaging, to the value of Indigenous lives and the importance of Indigenous literature, this collection reveals facts about Indigenous life in Canada that are both devastating and enlightening.
-
-
Excellent information
- By Deborah E Harcus on 2023-06-15
Written by: Michelle Good
-
Mind over Matter
- Hard-Won Battles on the Road to Hope
- Written by: Jordin Tootoo, Stephen Brunt - contributor
- Narrated by: Jordin Tootoo
- Length: 5 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For some hockey players, retirement marks the moment when it’s all over. But Jordin Tootoo is not most hockey players. Having inspired millions when he first broke into the league, Tootoo continued to influence people throughout his career—not only through his very public triumph over alcoholism, but also his natural charisma. And now, years after hanging up his skates, he is more committed to doing things the right way and speaking about it to others, whether it’s corporate executives or Indigenous youth.
-
-
Authors very candid recollections of his life and times
- By Robert W. IRONSIDE on 2024-10-15
Written by: Jordin Tootoo, and others
-
Rez Rules
- My Indictment of Canada's and America's Systemic Racism Against Indigenous Peoples
- Written by: Chief Clarence Louie
- Narrated by: Chief Clarence Louie
- Length: 13 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 1984, at the age of 24, Clarence Louie was elected Chief of the Osoyoos Indian Band in the Okanagan Valley. Nineteen elections later, Chief Louie has led his community for nearly four decades. The story of how the Osoyoos Indian Band - “The Miracle in the Desert” - transformed from a Rez that once struggled with poverty into an economically independent people is well-known. Guided by his years growing up on the Rez, Chief Louie believes that economic and business independence are key to self-sufficiency, reconciliation, and justice for First Nations people.
-
-
Disappointing, but worthwhile.
- By Schvenn on 2023-10-23
Written by: Chief Clarence Louie
What the critics say
Related Collections
What listeners say about The Reason You Walk
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Kelly
- 2022-09-03
Author read is the best!
This book has helped me to better understand what I already know. Definitely a must read that can help build up Indigenous fluidity, for the people and their future!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Mekhala Sarkar
- 2023-10-01
Please listen to this book
Thank you, Wab Kinew, for your honesty and your powerful insights. Your words will stay with me for a long time. The quest for self-knowledge is never-ending, and we all need examples we can look up to as we walk that path. Yours is one that I think many readers and listeners can learn from. Meegwetch.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- JCooper
- 2022-04-08
must read for everyone
Wab Kinew narrates this incredible, insightful book about his reason for walking, inviting us to do the same. It is full of wisdom and teachings that he shares openly to us all. I am a non-native Sundancer and first generation settler of european parents and have children whose father is Dene. This book has helped in understanding their father who was put in residential school in Alberta and has suffered greatly with the trauma from those experiences and the racism and oppression that has continued throughout his life.
With much gratitude - Pilamyayelo
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- P Bevans
- 2023-10-19
An invitation to walk the path of reconciliation
Engaging, enlightening, uplifting! I was moved to tears more than once, as Wab recounted his experiences, reminded of my privilege, and our shared humanity!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Sarah Langford
- 2021-12-09
Beautiful story told by the author
What a beautiful story of love, family and learning about the pain of residential schools and how brave the victims were. It’s also about family, tradition, healing and courage. It’s lovely hearing the language spoken and sung by the author as well. Highly recommend this book to every Canadian. I hope we all can learn about honouring our loved ones from this book.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Richard Wesley
- 2021-05-06
excellent listen
easy to listen and follow along. kept myself captivated throughout the whole story. 💯loved it
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Jeanette M.
- 2020-10-03
Powerful Story
A really beautiful walk through the evolution of both Wab and his father. I feel like I learned a lot about Canada and the Anishnaabe people as well as the bit of Ontario I lived in for almost a decade, all while being carried in the personal, yet universal stories of family.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Christina C.
- 2023-01-02
Excellent storytelling!!
I found listening to this audiobook. It was easy to stay, focussed and engage with the character.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Crystal McLeod
- 2019-04-24
Seeing a New Side of Colonialism
Read this book twice, and skimmed through it again last month - Absolutely loved it! Each time I read it, I see something new in Kinew's memoir that enlightens and surprises me.
Wab Kinew paints an incredible story of his and his father's life experiences. As a colonial Canadian, this memoir provided me rare insight into First Nations culture, knowledge, and perspectives. The abhorrence of residential school, intergenerational trauma, and continuing racism in mainstream Canadian society are present in this story. However, Kinew masterfully presents these terrible moments as apart of a larger, uplifting storyline of healing and reconciliation.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- John Lucente
- 2021-02-02
excellent
must read for everyone
good book for highschool program
my daughter recommended
iam glad i took her recommendation
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!