Two books with strong ties to the University of Manitoba have been selected for this year’s CBC’s Canada Reads competition: A Two-Spirit Journey by Ma-Nee Chacaby with Mary Louisa Plummer published by University of Manitoba Press and When the Pine Needles Fall by Katsi’tsakwas Ellen Gabriel with UM Assistant Professor in History and Indigenous Studies Sean Carleton.

Each year, the great Canadian book debate searches for the one book every Canadian should read and, for 2025, the panelists are searching for “one book to change the narrative.” A Two-Spirit Journey and When the Pine Needles Fall were selected alongside 13 other longlisted titles for their “power to change how we see, share and experience the world around us.”

In A Two-Spirit Journey, Ma-Nee Chacaby, a two-spirit Ojibwe-Cree writer, activist, and storyteller tells her extraordinary life story of hope and healing. Growing up learning from her Cree grandmother in a remote northern Ontario community, Chacaby endured and overcame abuse and alcohol addiction, ultimately becoming a counsellor and teacher and leading Thunder Bay’s first gay pride parade. A Two-Spirit Journey won the Ontario Historical Society’s Alison Prentice Award and the Oral History Association’s Book Award.

When the Pine Needles Fall describes Canada’s 1990 siege of Kanehsatà:ke and Kahnawà:ke known as the Oka Crisis from the perspective of the Kanien’kehà:ka (Mohawk) spokesperson during the siege, Katsi’tsakwas Ellen Gabriel. The book offers personal and profound insights into Gabriel’s life and work as an Indigenous land defender, human rights activist, and feminist leader.

The five shortlisted titles will be announced, along with their champions, on January 23, 2025, and the debates will take place March 17–20, 2025

UM Staff