Ben Powless

OOver this past year, many Canadians were suddenly and drastically awakened to the horrors of residential schools, finding evidence of thousands of lives taken away much too soon — in addition to the other, well-known abuses documented in the Truth and Reconciliation process. The horrors of these schools are not only measured in lives lost, but in cultures and languages devastated. Those languages are rich with understanding of animals, of natural cycles, of eons of meticulous scientific observations.

It’s no wonder, then, that Indigenous communities are fighting to reclaim those languages and practices, often by immersing speakers and learners in the very lands those languages developed in. At the same time, Indigenous Peoples have spent decades trying to preserve those very landscapes and waterscapes that are increasingly understood as vital to prevent widespread ecological collapse and fend off dangerous climatic changes.

This special edition seeks to collect many of those stories — of both individuals and communities fighting to remember, and to create new possibilities, as the day-to- day challenges of governance move back into Indigenous hands. These are stories, told across the vastness of Turtle Island and beyond, of trying to understand the past to create a new vision and direction for all of us today.

— Ben Powless

Note from the editors: the stories in this special edition appear the same as when they were first published, to keep the essence of the stories the way they were written. You can see the original publication dates on the contents page.