First Nation Communities READ (FNCR) and Periodical Marketers of Canada (PMC) have announced on June 8, 2017 that Bearskin Diary by Carol Daniels (Nightwood Editions) is the selected title of First Nations Communities Read 2017-2018 and the recipient of this year’s PMC Aboriginal Literature Award.
A jury of librarians from First Nation public libraries in Ontario, with coordination support from The Southern Ontario Library Service, selected Bearskin Diary from more than 50 titles submitted by Canadian publishers.
Raw and honest, Bearskin Diary by Carol Daniels gives voice to a generation of First Nations women who have always been silenced, at a time when movements like Idle No More call for a national inquiry into the missing and murdered Aboriginal women. Taken from the arms of her mother as soon as she was born, the novel’s protagonist, Sandy, was one of over twenty thousand Aboriginal children scooped up by the federal government between the 1960s and 1980s. From this tragic period in her personal life and in Canadian history, Sandy does not emerge unscathed, but she emerges strong—finding her way by embracing the First Nations culture that the Sixties Scoop had tried to deny.
The First Nation Communities READ jury considered more than 50 submissions before coming up with the shortlist. The other finalists were:
- Missing Nimama by Melanie Florence (Clockwise Press, 2015)
- Price Paid by Bev Sellers (Talonbooks, 2016)
- They Called Me Number One by Bev Sellers (Talonbooks, 2013)
- How I Became a Ghost by Tim Tingle (The Roadrunner Press, 2015)
In arriving at its selection decision, the jury agreed that Bearskin Diary is an important book that tells a story of Sandy, one of thousands of Aboriginal children taken from their families by provincial governments during what is now referred to as the Sixties Scoop. Sandy’s journey is one of tragedy and triumph, rage and celebration. It is a story everyone must read.
The focus of the First Nation Communities READ program alternates annually between books for children and books for adults and young adults.
The Aboriginal Literature Award, inspired by the goals of the FNCR program, recognizes the work of the creators of outstanding Aboriginal literature and supports the objectives of PMC’s Foundation for the Advancement of Canadian Letters (FACL). The annual award of $5,000 will be presented to Carol Daniels on June 28, 2017 as part of the National Aboriginal Day celebrations in Toronto.