When We Play Our Drums, They Sing: The Journey Forward, a Novella on Reconciliation

Publisher's description (McKellar and Martin, 2018): 
Narrated by 12-year-old Dene Cho and set in the fictional town of Fort Simmer, the story roils with suppressed anger, frustration, and, above all, questions. Dene is an unhappy boy who feels he doesn’t fit in with the other kids in his small Northwest Territories community. When Dene gets hauled into the school office for defiant behaviour he is granted a four-day excused absence (rather than a suspension) to learn as much about his culture as he can and report back. Dene is most angry about the fact that the elders in his community are dying and their history is not being passed down to the next generation. Dene spends most of his time away from school with a blind Elder named Snowbird, who teaches him many of the things he wants to know, including words in their Tlicho (or Dogrib) language, what it was like during the time when Indian agents were taking children away to residential schools, and even a traditional drum song that Dene’s father used to sing. By the end of his time with Snowbird, Dene is less angry but no less adamant in his belief that things need to change.

Author biography (richardvancamp.com, 2023): 
Richard Van Camp is a proud member of the Dogrib (Tłı̨chǫ) Nation from Fort Smith, NWT, Canada. He is an internationally renowned storyteller and best-selling author. His novel, The Lesser Blessed, is now a movie with First Generation Films and premiered in September of 2012 at the Toronto International Film Festival. He is the author of five collections of short stories, six baby books, three children’s books, five comics and much more. 

Resource format: Novella

Age recommendation: Grades 4 - 9

Keywords: residential schools, reconciliation, community, intergenerational, Dene, Dogrib, language, language loss, reclammation, elder, knowledge keeper, history, impact of Residential schools, colonialism, effects of colonialism, culture, tradition, story

Year of publication: 2018

Publisher information: McKellar and Martin