All Our Relations: Finding the Path Forward

Tanya Talaga is an Anishinaabe author and journalist whose fight for Indigenous inclusion, acknowledgement and truth is well known in Canada. I read her previous book Seven Fallen Feathers a few years ago and decided to listen to this audiobook which was offered on Audible.ca.

This heartbreaking and candid lecture, which was part of her 2018 Massey Lecture series, describes the suicide epidemic within our Indigenous population - now the leading cause of death in Canadian First Nation communities. As Talaga shows, it is prevalent not only among Canadian Indigenous youth, but within many other Indigenous communities across the world. 

At the heart of this suffering is the impact of colonialism, the genocide of Indigenous peoples and the horrific abuse Indigenous children suffered at the hands of their government and religious institutions at residential schools. Talaga provides many stats and facts, which sometimes became a bit overwhelming, but the content is important and heartbreaking. 

This lecture should be considered a starting point for people to learn more about the issues facing our Indigenous peoples. We cannot move forward without acknowledgement of what has happened. It was only last week that the Pope finally acknowledged the Catholic Church's part in Indigenous residential schools. It's a good start - a baby step, but unless it is followed up by real action (*ahem, Canadian government) and justice for our Indigenous peoples, I fear little will change. 

This 5-hour lecture is not an easy listen, but Talaga's passion and knowledge of the issues are clear. I come away from this audiobook, narrated by the author, with a better understanding of how colonialism has impacted the globe and encourage people to listen to it and consider it a first step in understanding the long-lasting impact of colonialism on Indigenous peoples around the world. 

My Rating: 4 stars

Author: Tanya Talaga

Genre: Nonfiction, Indigenous, Canadian

Type and Source: eAudiobook from Audible, Audible Original

Narrator: Tanya Talaga

Run Time: 5 hours, 10 minutes

Opening Line: In the spring of 2017, I was driving 

down May Street in Thunder Bay, Ontario, with Ricki Strang. 

Book Description from GoodReads: In this vital and incisive work, bestselling and award-winning author Tanya Talaga explores the alarming rise of youth suicide in Indigenous communities in Canada and beyond. From Northern Ontario to Nunavut, Norway, Brazil, Australia, and the United States, the Indigenous experience in colonized nations is startlingly similar and deeply disturbing. It is an experience marked by the violent separation of Peoples from the land, the separation of families, and the separation of individuals from traditional ways of life — all of which has culminated in a spiritual separation that has had an enduring impact on generations of Indigenous children. As a result of this colonial legacy, too many communities today lack access to the basic determinants of health — income, employment, education, a safe environment, health services — leading to a mental health and youth suicide crisis on a global scale. But, Talaga reminds us, First Peoples also share a history of resistance, resilience, and civil rights activism, from the Occupation of Alcatraz led by the Indians of All Tribes, to the Northern Ontario Stirland Lake Quiet Riot, to the Standing Rock protests against the Dakota Access Pipeline, which united Indigenous Nations from across Turtle Island in solidarity.

Based on her Atkinson Fellowship in Public Policy series, All Our Relations is a powerful call for action, justice, and a better, more equitable world for all Indigenous Peoples.