REGINA, Sask. — For generations, the history of Indigenous communities losing their reserve lands has remained largely untold, but a new book launched in Regina is working to change that.
This week, at the University of Regina, Dr. Kenton Storey and the Chacachas Treaty Nation launched their new book, The Lost Reserve.
The book explores the history of Indigenous communities and reserve lands in Canada, examining how land was taken or lost and the lasting impacts on Indigenous Peoples, particularly the Chacachas Treaty Nation.
Storey believes readers will almost certainly learn something new from the book.
"There's a lot of history in the book that I think those relatively unfamiliar with this period of time will find extremely shocking," said Storey.
Editor Raquel Fletcher pointed out that telling stories of this nature can be difficult when so much history has been lost, but with the diligent co-operation of the Chacachas Treaty Nation people, Storey has been able to piece together a comprehensive narrative.
"Kenton has done so much work on this, and is just such an elegant writer, and has dug through all of the historical documents, and then on top of that, done all of these interviews and oral histories," said Fletcher.
Storey says he can't thank the Chacachas Treaty Nation enough for partnering with him on the book and that it's important to remember that even though Storey wrote the book, the story is theirs.
"The more those stories are understood, the more settler Canadians, like myself, will understand where we're coming from, and where we're going," said Storey.
