Wednesday, June 28, 2023 AT 7 PM
FREE in-person event
Join us for the book presentation of The Valley of the Birdtail: An Indian Reserve, a White Town and the Road to Reconciliation with authors Andrew Stobo Sniderman, Douglas Sanderson.
Divided by a beautiful valley, a Ukrainian community and an Indian reserve have been neighbours nearly as long as Canada has been a country. Their story reflects much of what has gone wrong in relations between Indigenous Peoples and non-Indigenous Canadians. It also offers, in the end, an uncommon measure of hope. Valley of the Birdtail is about how two communities became separate and unequal—and what it means for the rest of us.This book follows multiple generations of two families, one Ukrainian-Canadian, one Indigenous, and weaves their lives into the larger story of Canada.
Moderated by Cassian Soltykevych – President of the Ukrainian Canadian Professional and Business Federation (UCPBF)
The Valley of the Birdtail by Andrew Stobo Sniderman and Douglas Sanderson will be for sale at the event (at a discounted rate).
Presented by SVI and the Ukrainian Canadian Professional and Business Federation
While participation is free, donations are appreciated to support First Nations, Inuit and Métis organizations.
Proceeds from the event will be donated to the Native Canadian Centre of Toronto (NCCT).
Contact cultural.svi@gmail.com with any questions.
DOUGLAS SANDERSON (AMO BINASHII)
Douglas Sanderson (Amo Binashii) is Beaver Clan, from the Opaskwayak Cree Nation. He is a Fulbright Scholar, and holds the Prichard Wilson Chair in Law and Public Policy at the University of Toronto, Faculty of Law. Professor Sanderson has served as Senior Advisor to the Government of Ontario, in the offices of the Attorney General and Aboriginal Affairs.
ANDREW STOBO SNIDERMAN
Andrew Stobo Snidreman is a writer, lawyer and Rhodes Scholar from Montreal. He has written for the New York Times, the Globe and Mail, and Maclean’s. He has also argued before the Supreme Court of Canada, served as the human rights policy advisor to the Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs, and worked for a judge of South Africa’s Constitutional Court.
CASSIAN SOLTYKEVYCH (Moderator)
Cassian is the owner of Urban Block Media, a web development and marketing company, and Canadian Webinar Solutions, a webinar and online meeting production company. Cassian volunteers his time as the National Secretary of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress (UCC), and as President of the Ukrainian Canadian Professional and Business Federation (UCPBF).
2022 BOOK OF THE YEAR
(CBC BOOKs, Apple Books,Winnipeg Free Press, HISTORY TODAY)
Winner, Dafoe Prize
Winner, Stubbendieck Great Plains Distinguished Book Prize
Finalist, Shaughnessy Cohen Prize for Political Writing
Finalist, Ontario Library Association Evergreen Award
Finalist, KOBO Emerging Writer Prize
REVIEWS
“Brilliant…One of the most gripping books I’ve read this year”
— Shelagh Rogers
“the authors eschew academic abstraction…in favour of vivid detail…This is an optimistic Book that celebrates the Human Spirit”
— Literary Review of Canada
“Outstanding . . . a wake-up call and an important contribution to the truth we all need to know before racism can end and reconciliation begin.".”
— Winnipeg Free Press
“Offers gritty, eye-opening details about the history and present-day reality of this country . . . a startling and optimistic way forward.”
— Toronto Star
“The comparative histories of these neighbouring communities paint a stark and compelling picture.”
— Hill Times
“This is a magnificent book. It’s a new history of Canada, as lived in two communities—Rossburn and Waywayseecappo—who shared the same valley but never lived the same reality. I am haunted by what I learned and touched by the hope that these communities can teach us all how to live together in peace and justice. A truly extraordinary achievement: peeling back the layers of the history, searching through the records, but never once losing the characters, the detail, the grit of lives lived. I'm just so impressed.”
— Michael Ignatieff, author of On Consolation: Finding Solace in Dark Times
“Meticulously researched and written with compassion, Valley of the Birdtail draws two parallel lines hopelessly distant, and then shows us a pathway through which they can come together. It’s a work of trauma, of broken relationships, of how we perceive one another, but ultimately, it’s a story of possibility and healing.”
— David A. Robertson, author of Black Water: Family, Legacy, and Blood Memory
St. Volodymyr Institute gratefully acknowledges the generous support of the Shevchenko Foundation Ukrainian Canadian Veterans Fund, the SUS Foundation of Canada, The St. Volodymyr Foundation, and Delta Bingo & Gaming.
Інститут св. Володимира висловлює подяку Фонду Українсько-Канадських Ветеранів при Фундації ім. Т. Шевченка ,Фундації СУС в Канаді, Фундація св. Володимира i Delta Bingo & Gaming за фінансову підтримку культурних програм.