
Valley of the Birdtail
An Indian Reserve, a White Town, and the Road to Reconciliation
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 $32.62
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Greg Rogers
-
Written by:
-
Andrew Stobo Sniderman
-
Douglas Sanderson
About this listen
THE NATIONAL BESTSELLER
Winner – 2023 Stubbendieck Great Plains Distinguished Book Prize
Winner – 2023 John W. Dafoe Book Prize
Winner – 2023 High Plains Book Award for Indigenous Writer
Winner – 2022 Manitoba Historical Society Margaret McWilliams Book Award for Local History
Finalist – 2023 Rakuten Kobo Emerging Writer Prize
Finalist – Writers’ Trust Shaughnessy Cohen Prize for Political Writing
Nominated – 2023 Ontario Library Association Forest of Reading Evergreen Award
Shortlisted – 2023 Quebec Writers’ Federation Mavis Gallant Prize for Non-Fiction and Concordia University First Book Prize
Finalist – Canadian Law and Society Association Book Prize
Longlisted – 2023-2024 First Nations Communities Read
A heart-rending true story about racism and reconciliation
Divided by a beautiful valley and 150 years of racism, the town of Rossburn and the Waywayseecappo Indian reserve have been neighbours nearly as long as Canada has been a country. Their story reflects much of what has gone wrong in relations between Indigenous Peoples and non-Indigenous Canadians. It also offers, in the end, an uncommon measure of hope.
Valley of the Birdtail is about how two communities became separate and unequal—and what it means for the rest of us. In Rossburn, once settled by Ukrainian immigrants who fled poverty and persecution, family income is near the national average and more than a third of adults have graduated from university. In Waywayseecappo, the average family lives below the national poverty line and less than a third of adults have graduated from high school, with many haunted by their time in residential schools.
This book follows multiple generations of two families, one white and one Indigenous, and weaves their lives into the larger story of Canada. It is a story of villains and heroes, irony and idealism, racism and reconciliation. Valley of the Birdtail has the ambition to change the way we think about our past and show a path to a better future.
Supplemental enhancement PDF accompanies the audiobook.
PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.
©2022 Douglas Sanderson and Andrew Stobo Sniderman (P)2022 HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.You may also enjoy...
-
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
-
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
-
Shame & Guilt
- Masters of Disguise
- Written by: Jane Middleton-Moz
- Narrated by: Cat Gould
- Length: 4 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
"It is my feeling that debilitating shame and guilt are at the root of all dysfunctions in families," says Jane Middelton-Moz. A few common characteristics of adults shamed in childhood: You may suffer extreme shyness, embarrassment and feelings of being inferior to others. You don't believe you make mistakes, you believe you are a mistake. You feel controlled from the outside and from within. You feel that normal spontaneous expression is blocked. You may suffer from debilitating guilt; you apologize constantly.
-
-
This is a damning description of the realities faced by children who lived a shaming experience within their families of origin
- By Anonymous User on 2024-01-22
Written by: Jane Middleton-Moz
-
Black Water
- Family, Legacy, and Blood Memory
- Written by: David A. Robertson
- Narrated by: David A. Robertson
- Length: 8 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Black Water is a memoir about intergenerational trauma and healing, about connection and about how Don’s life informed David’s own. Facing up to a story nearly erased by the designs of history, father and son journey together back to the trapline at Black Water and through the past to create a new future.
-
-
Epic, David!
- By Anonymous User on 2021-08-09
Written by: David A. Robertson
-
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
-
A National Crime
- The Canadian Government and the Residential School System
- Written by: John S. Milloy, Mary Jane Logan McCallum - foreword
- Narrated by: Wesley French
- Length: 17 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For over 100 years, thousands of Aboriginal children passed through the Canadian residential school system. Begun in the 1870s, it was intended, in the words of government officials, to bring these children into the “circle of civilization,” the results, however, were far different. More often, the schools provided an inferior education in an atmosphere of neglect, disease, and often abuse. Using previously unreleased government documents, historian John S. Milloy provides a full picture of the history and reality of the residential school system.
-
-
Heartbreaking.
- By Schvenn on 2023-12-30
Written by: John S. Milloy, and others
-
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
-
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
-
Shame & Guilt
- Masters of Disguise
- Written by: Jane Middleton-Moz
- Narrated by: Cat Gould
- Length: 4 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
"It is my feeling that debilitating shame and guilt are at the root of all dysfunctions in families," says Jane Middelton-Moz. A few common characteristics of adults shamed in childhood: You may suffer extreme shyness, embarrassment and feelings of being inferior to others. You don't believe you make mistakes, you believe you are a mistake. You feel controlled from the outside and from within. You feel that normal spontaneous expression is blocked. You may suffer from debilitating guilt; you apologize constantly.
-
-
This is a damning description of the realities faced by children who lived a shaming experience within their families of origin
- By Anonymous User on 2024-01-22
Written by: Jane Middleton-Moz
-
Black Water
- Family, Legacy, and Blood Memory
- Written by: David A. Robertson
- Narrated by: David A. Robertson
- Length: 8 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Black Water is a memoir about intergenerational trauma and healing, about connection and about how Don’s life informed David’s own. Facing up to a story nearly erased by the designs of history, father and son journey together back to the trapline at Black Water and through the past to create a new future.
-
-
Epic, David!
- By Anonymous User on 2021-08-09
Written by: David A. Robertson
-
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
-
A National Crime
- The Canadian Government and the Residential School System
- Written by: John S. Milloy, Mary Jane Logan McCallum - foreword
- Narrated by: Wesley French
- Length: 17 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For over 100 years, thousands of Aboriginal children passed through the Canadian residential school system. Begun in the 1870s, it was intended, in the words of government officials, to bring these children into the “circle of civilization,” the results, however, were far different. More often, the schools provided an inferior education in an atmosphere of neglect, disease, and often abuse. Using previously unreleased government documents, historian John S. Milloy provides a full picture of the history and reality of the residential school system.
-
-
Heartbreaking.
- By Schvenn on 2023-12-30
Written by: John S. Milloy, and others
-
Louis Riel
- Written by: Dan Asfar, Tim Chodan
- Narrated by: Steve Jodoin
- Length: 6 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Champion of a people or traitorous rabble-rouser? Political visionary or religious lunatic? Louis Riel is one of the most ambiguous figures in Canadian history, a man who stood and fell for the Métis nation. Hear about the fascinating western icon in this well-paced biography. The doomed struggle of Louis Riel and his Métis people against the new Canadian government is a story rich in drama and cultural change.
-
-
Louis Riel Doesn’t Take Sides in Its Telling
- By Ringo Davil on 2023-07-09
Written by: Dan Asfar, and others
-
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
-
The Glass Ocean
- A Novel
- Written by: Beatriz Williams, Lauren Willig, Karen White
- Narrated by: Vanessa Johansson, Saskia Maarleveld, Brittany Pressley
- Length: 13 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This is a captivating historical mystery, infused with romance, that links the lives of three women across a century - two deep in the past, one in the present - to the doomed passenger liner, RMS Lusitania.... Her finances are in dire straits, and best-selling author Sarah Blake is struggling to find a big idea for her next book. Desperate, she breaks the one promise she made to her mother and opens an old chest that belonged to her great-grandfather, who died when the RMS Lusitania was sunk by a German U-boat in 1915. What she discovers there could change history.
-
-
No male voices
- By Rosemary F. on 2022-04-07
Written by: Beatriz Williams, and others
-
Fatty Legs (10th Anniversary Edition)
- Written by: Margaret-Olemaun Pokiak-Fenton, Christy Jordan-Fenton, Debbie Reese - foreword
- Narrated by: Lisa Nasson
- Length: 1 hr and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Margaret Olemaun Pokiak-Fenton’s powerful story of an Inuvialuit girl standing up to the bullies of residential school in the far North has been reissued to commemorate the memoir’s 10th anniversary with updates to the text, reflections on the book’s impact, and a bonus chapter from the acclaimed follow-up, A Stranger at Home.
Written by: Margaret-Olemaun Pokiak-Fenton, and others
-
To Be a Man
- A Guide to True Masculine Power
- Written by: Robert Augustus Masters PhD
- Narrated by: Keith Roberts
- Length: 9 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
With To Be a Man, this acclaimed psychotherapist and relationship expert offers a groundbreaking and deeply insightful guide to masculine power and fulfillment. He shares what’s needed to enter a manhood as empowered as it is vulnerable, as emotionally literate as it is unapologetically alive - a manhood at home with truly intimate relationship.
-
-
Ironically it's talk of shame attempts to shame
- By Tony Hallock on 2023-10-30
Written by: Robert Augustus Masters PhD
-
Animal
- A Novel
- Written by: Lisa Taddeo
- Narrated by: Emma Roberts
- Length: 10 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Joan has spent a lifetime enduring the cruelties of men. But when one of them commits a shocking act of violence in front of her, she flees New York City in search of Alice, the only person alive who can help her make sense of her past. In the sweltering hills above Los Angeles, Joan unravels the horrific event she witnessed as a child - that has haunted her every waking moment - while forging the power to finally strike back.
-
-
Very interesting story
- By Anonymous User on 2024-09-30
Written by: Lisa Taddeo
What listeners say about Valley of the Birdtail
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Michael Melenberg
- 2023-11-03
Stories throughout Canada's history all tied toget
This book had so many stories that all tied together, that paint a very clear picture of the overt and structural racism that was created for Indigenous Peoples. But there is also stories of success that showcase possible pathways to reconciliation.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Alex Murphy
- 2023-08-14
Very Interesting from a fresh point of view.
The book has lot of information and the narrator was easy to listen to. An enlightening perspective from the Idigenous Peoples point of view.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Elaine
- 2023-08-14
Best book by far on understanding the need for reconciliation
Greg rogers is a wonderful story teller. His enunciation in both English and Cree added to the credibility of the reconciliation story. So much history and information packed into this book and made accessible through the art of story telling. I now have a better understanding of the history of settlement, the laws and the basis for racism. Should be a must read in high school.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Anonymous User
- 2022-11-25
Essential reading for Canadians
An important story that will change your understanding of Canada and Indigenous Peoples. The recommendations are thoughtful and if implemented would fundamentally change our country for the better.
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
-
Story
- Victoria Templin
- 2022-09-30
A magnificent book
This incredible book about the settlement of Canada should be required reading for citizenship. It is disturbing, enlightening and an absolute revelation.
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
- Belinda Burston
- 2023-02-07
An Outstanding Book
The authors frame the history of Canada's relationship with the First Nations in a powerful way. They chose to tell it through several generations of two families whose lives exist in parallel but very different universes. The critical differences, and their results frame everything we need to know to understand the shocking wrongs done to Indigenous peoples in Canada. This book would be an excellent addition to any Indigenous studies curriculum.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Alann
- 2023-04-01
The Truth
Thank you for such a wonderful, informative and more truthful telling of the history of this area. I taught/was Principal in Pauingassi First Nations for 12 years. It was such a shock to see and continue to see the unfairness that our First Nations people live with. I’m proudly married to a First Nations man and extremely lucky to have my mother in law who is a residential school survived living with us. Thank you again.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!