Reconciling History

A Story of Canada

By: Jody Wilson-Raybould, Roshan Danesh

Narrated by: Jody Wilson-Raybould, Roshan Danesh, Reneltta Arluk, Dillan Meghan Chiblow, Glen Gould, Tai Amy Grauman, Sarah Kelley, Asivak Koostachin, Chris Mejaki, Marion Newman, Joshua Odjick, Kaitlyn Yott, Adrian Shepherd-Gawinski

One of Indigo's Top 10 History Books of 2024 and Top 100 Books of 2024 • One of the Toronto Star’s 25 books to read this season • One of Kobo CA's Best Nonfiction Ebooks of the Year • One of CBC's Best Canadian Nonfiction of 2024

From the #1 national bestselling author of 'Indian' in the Cabinet and True Reconciliation, a truly unique history of our land—powerful, devastating, remarkable—as told through the voices of both Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples.

The totem pole forms the foundation for this unique and important oral history of Canada. Its goal is both toweringly ambitious and beautifully direct: To tell the story of this country in a way that prompts readers to look from different angles, to see its dimensions, its curves, and its cuts. To see that history has an arc, just as the totem pole rises, but to realize that it is also in the details along the way that important meanings are to be found. To recognize that the story of the past is always there to be retold and recast, and must be conveyed to generations to come. That in the act of re-telling, meaning is found, and strength is built.

When it comes to telling the history of Canada, and in particular the history of the relationship between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples, we need to accept that the way in which our history has traditionally been told has not been a common or shared enterprise. In many ways, it has been an exclusive and siloed one. Among the countless peoples and groups that make up this vast country, the voices and experiences of a few have too often dominated those of many others.

Reconciling History shares voices that have seldom been heard, and in this ground-breaking book they are telling and re-telling history from their perspectives. Born out of the oral history in True Reconciliation, and complemented throughout with stunning photography and art, Reconciling History takes this approach to telling our collective story to an entirely different level.

Critic reviews

Longlisted for the J.W. Dafoe Book Prize

One of Indigo's Top 10 History Books of 2024 and Top 100 Books of 2024 • One of the Toronto Star’s 25 books to read this season • One of Kobo CA's Best Nonfiction Ebooks of the Year • One of CBC's Best Canadian Nonfiction of 2024

Understanding Canada's History and Our Path Forward

This is a truly excellent audiobook that provides a broad perspective of the indigenous experience in Canada since First Contact. It is an excellent companion to Murray Sinclair's autobiography and report of the Truth and Reconciliation of Canada.

The audiobook is brought to life through indigenous voices reading from selected treaties, speeches and historical documents. Through these factual excerpts, we learn the history we weren't taught in school.

As the book clearly illustrates, much has been lost by all Canadians - indigenous as well as non-indigenous - thanks to Canada's dishonourable and reprehensible treatment of First Nations, since First Contact. Such treatment included violation of human rights, treaty rights, and even existential rights of First Nations people both as individuals and as a People.

The audiobook makes it clear that the discovery of unmarked graves of children who died at the former Kamloops residential school was a pivotal point in Canada's history. The news received world-wide attention, and awakened non-indigenous Canada - and the world - to the atrocities committed by Canadian governments and churches to support colonial conquest. It marks the beginning of awareness and a beginning for reconciliation.

The book ends at a crossroads. Are we doomed to repeat history? Or are we ready to begin acting together as one People - to build a strong Canada in respectful and productive partnership with First Nations?

This audiobook provides a convincing reason for all Canadians to recognize the wrongs of the past and work towards reconciliation, respect, and partnership - and learn to act as One People.