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Reconciliation Reading Series (#6): “Birdie”
Julia Rohan

Reconciliation Reading Series (#6): “Birdie”

$40.00 $0.00

rec·on·cil·i·a·tion 

/ˌrekənˌsilēˈāSH(ə)n/ 

“Establishing and maintaining a mutually respectful relationship between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal peoples in this country. In order for that to happen, there has to be awareness of the past, an acknowledgement of the harm that has been inflicted, atonement for the causes, and action to change behaviour.” - Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) report [2015]. Learn more about Reconciliation on the Indigenous Corporate Training Inc website.

 

Spiritual Path to Awakening (SPA) is proud to offer Julia Rohan’s Reconciliation Reading Series, as an opportunity for learning and dialogue related to reconciliation. SPA takes pride in our commitment to making Indigenous Knowledge and Truth and Reconciliation an integral part of our event culture. This Reconciliation Reading Series is the seventh Active Allyship Event. Revisit recap posts for our past Active Allyship Events on the SPA Instagram:

 

The sixth Reconciliation Reading Series will take place over 3-consecutive weeks in October 2023 and focus on “Birdie” by Tracey Lindberg. “Bernice Meetoos will not be broken. A big, beautiful Cree woman with a dark secret in her past, Bernice (Birdie) has left her home in northern Alberta to travel to Gibsons, B.C. She is on something of a vision quest, looking for family, for home, for understanding. She is also driven by the leftover teenaged desire to meet Pat John—Jesse from The Beachcombers—because he is, as she says, a working, healthy Indian man. Birdie heads for Molly’s Reach to find answers, but they are not the ones she expected. With the arrival in Gibsons of her Auntie Val and her cousin Skinny Freda, Birdie begins to draw from her dreams the lessons she was never fully taught in life. Part dream quest and part travelogue, Birdie is a darkly comic and moving first novel about the universal experience of recovering from tragedy, informed by the lore and knowledge of Cree traditions. At heart, it is the story of an extraordinary woman who travels to the deepest part of herself to find the strength to face the past and to build a new life.” The full book description and about the author can be found below & on the Tracey Lindberg website.

NEW! Thanks to generous funding from the United Church of Canada Justice and Reconciliation grant, we are pleased to provide event learners reimbursement for their copy of “Birdie”(1 book or e-book per registered learner who takes part in the event series). Learners are to source the book (in their desired format, from their desired supplier) and keep the receipt or order confirmation. Kindly bring the receipt / order confirmation to session #1 of Reconciliation Reading Series (#6) for reimbursement from SPA. SPA has created a suggestion list on where to get your copy HERE.

Learners of the Reconciliation Reading Series are responsible for having the first 5 chapters read by the first session on Wednesday, October 11, 2023.

Learners will be provided a digital “Book Study Guide,” developed by the program leader, by email ahead of the first session. Upon registering, you will be prompted to download a digital document that contains all the event details. Please email path.awakening@gmail.com if you have difficulty downloading the pdf.

 

Reconciliation Reading Series (#6): “Birdie”

Weekly: Wednesday, October 11, 2023 - Wednesday, October 25, 2023 

Downtown Abbotsford, Conference Room B, Trinity Memorial United Church 

12:00 p.m. - 2:00 p.m. (each week)

$40.00 (total for the full 3-week series, including reimbursement of the book at session #1)

 

This event is open to all members of the community. Space is limited, please pre-register on the SPA website to reserve your spot. 

 

Trinity Memorial United Church is located at 33737 George Ferguson Way in downtown Abbotsford, BC. V2S 2M4. Free parking is available onsite (in the church parking lot) for event attendees. The event will take place in “Conference Room B,” located on the upper level of the church. Entry points: the office’s entrance if you’re comfortable with stairs or accessible entry via the sanctuary. Both entry points are located off of Trinity Street.

 

By registering for this event, learners, and their guests (if applicable) have agreed to our Policies & Etiquette.

The primary focus of the series will be on Indigenous authors from across Turtle Island but may also include books from indigenous allies who use their writing to advocate in solidarity with Indigenous peoples. If you have a novel to suggest, kindly email it to path.awakening@gmail.com. The seven books we have read together so far within our Active Allyship Events are: “Five Little Indians” by Michelle Good, “Medicine Walk” by Richard Wagamese, “Permanent Astonishment” by Tomson Highway, “They Called Me Number One” by Bev Sellars, “21 Things You May Not Know About the Indian Act” by Bob Joseph, and “Indian Horse” by Richard Wagamese. 

 

ABOUT THE PROGRAM LEADER: 

Julia Rohan is an author, singer-songwriter and visual artist. A graduate of the Honours English Literature program (with Distinction) at Concordia University in Montreal, she has since self-published a fantasy trilogy (“The Weaverworld Trilogy”) and produced two CDs of original music. In 2002 she was a runner-up in the CBC-QWF short story contest. 

Since moving to BC in 2018, she has published two more books. One is a work of local history entitled “The Trethewey Women: 1800-1900”, available through Heritage Abbotsford Society. The other, a book of quotes, poems, prayers, photographs and lyrics by various contributors, is available from the author and at local retailers. Titled “Everyday Inspirations”, it includes her own work as well as that of friends and famous writers throughout the centuries. 

Julia has been twice nominated for the Abby Award given out annually by the Abbotsford Arts Society – once in 2019 and again in 2020. She is currently at work on a book regarding certain women in the Bible. She and her husband, retired architect Ted Yudelson, enjoy sharing their passions with others – and Reconciliation is high on their list of priorities.

 

ABOUT THE NOVEL:

“Birdie roars with life. Tracey Lindberg weaves a gripping account of a painful journey. Her heroine Bernice is by turns lyrical and brutal, gripping and insightful. An uncompromising first novel.”

—EDEN ROBINSON
Award-winning author of Monkey Beach and Blood Sports

 

“This is a gritty, articulate, beautifully written novel, and Lindberg is a powerful new voice on the literary landscape and on the road to decolonization.”

—MARIA CAMPBELL
Award-winning author of Halfbreed

 

“A stunning debut novel, grounded in the sheer beauty of Cree poetics, love, and a benevolence few of us are lucky enough to know. The brilliance of Indigenous women dances off each page—this story is our story, so carefully woven together into a tapestry that is the spine of our collective beings. I see myself, my family and my life in every sentence. This is the novel Canada has been waiting for.”

—LEANNE SIMPSON
Award-winning author of Island of Decolonial Love

Birdie 

Bernice Meetoos will not be broken.

A big, beautiful Cree woman with a dark secret in her past, Bernice (Birdie) has left her home in northern Alberta to travel to Gibsons, B.C. She is on something of a vision quest, looking for family, for home, for understanding. She is also driven by the leftover teenaged desire to meet Pat John—Jesse from The Beachcombers—because he is, as she says, a working, healthy Indian man. Birdie heads for Molly’s Reach to find answers, but they are not the ones she expected.

With the arrival in Gibsons of her Auntie Val and her cousin Skinny Freda, Birdie begins to draw from her dreams the lessons she was never fully taught in life. Part dream quest and part travelogue, Birdie is a darkly comic and moving first novel about the universal experience of recovering from tragedy, informed by the lore and knowledge of Cree traditions. At heart, it is the story of an extraordinary woman who travels to the deepest part of herself to find the strength to face the past and to build a new life.

 

Description from the Tracey Lindberg website

  

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Tracey Lindberg is a citizen of As’in’i’wa’chi Ni’yaw Nation Rocky Mountain Cree and hails from the Kelly Lake Cree Nation community. She is an award-winning academic writer and teaches Indigenous studies and Indigenous law at two universities in Canada. She sings the blues loudly, talks quietly and is next in a long line of argumentative Cree women. This is her first novel.

From the Tracey Lindberg website

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