"Learning Gently" about Reconciliation: Sniderman & Sanderson's Valley of the Birdtail

Season 5, Episode 68

In this live episode -- the second one of Getting Lit With Linda held at the Blue Metropolis Literary Festival and co-sponsored by the Quebec Writers' Federation -- Linda speaks with Andrew Stobo Sniderman and Douglas Sanderson (Amo Binashi, Beaver Clan, of the Opaskwayak Cree Nation) about their book, Valley of the Birdtail: An Indian Reserve, A White Town, and the Road to Reconciliation. The book has been receiving all manner of recognition. Here are some examples of the awards it has garnered:

• 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

• Winner – 2023 Quebec Writers’ Federation Mavis Gallant Prize for Non-Fiction and Concordia University First Book Prize.

And deservedly so. In this interview, Douglas and Andrew explain how and why we have arrived at the present moment and how there is hope for finding the pathway toward meaningful reconciliation.