Turtle Island Reads audience picks Richard Wagamese's Indian Horse

Looking for a new book?

The audience at the inaugural Turtle Island Reads event - in Kahnawake and on social media - chose Indian Horse,the Ojibwa writer Richard Wagamese's2012 novel about an alcoholic coming to terms with his residential-school past,to put at the top of their must-read list.

More than 160 people turned out to the live-streamed public event on Wednesday eveningat theKahnawakeSurvival School on Montreal's South Shore, which showcased three recentstories written by and about Indigenous Canadians.

Co-hosted byCBC's Sonali Karnick andWaubgeshigRice, the battle-of-the-books event drew thousands ofviewers to CBC Montreal's Facebook page.

The spectators filled the school'sgymnasiumtowatch three advocates each championone book of fiction written by an Indigenous Canadian author.

Here's a look at the advocates and the books they were defending.

Indian Horse, defended by Heather White

Heather White, a highschool teacher in Kahnawakewho plays Caitlinin the APTN showMohawk Girls, championedIndian Horse(Douglas & McIntyre), which was also a finalist on CBC's Canada Reads in 2013.

White, whose father was a survivor of Indian residential schools, said Wagamese's book "paints this painfully accurate picture of life within these schools."

"What his book does is opens that door to non-Indigenous people to say, 'You know what? This land you're living on this country that is supposed to be the land of the free it came at a cost.'"

Ultimately,the character of Saul Indian Horse endures, and White said his storyunderscores the resilience of Indigenous people, their connection to the land and the strength of kinship.

• Heather White on Richard Wagamese's novel Indian Horse

Nobody Cries at Bingo, defended by Elma Moses

Elma Moses, a storyteller and professor of First Peoples Studies atConcordia University, defendedNobody Cries at Bingoby Dawn Dumont (Thistledown Press). An autobiographical novel told in a series of vignettes through the voice of a young girl, Dumont's book was at times hilarious, at times poignant, Moses said.

"One of the things that drew me to the book is the fact that Dawn's mom is a very strong woman," said Moses.

"Although she has to deal with violence, she doesn't give up. She learns how to drive a truck and,in the middle of the night,she takes her familyand escapes the violence."

• Elma Moses on Dawn Dumont's Nobody Cries at Bingo

The Back of the Turtle, defended byGage Diabo

Gage Karahkwi:ioDiabo, amusician, actor, local Kahnawake radio co-hostand master'sdegreestudent in First Peoples' literatures at Concordia University, fought forThe Back of the Turtleby Thomas King (HarperCollins).

King's novel is set in the present, with the endangered planet a major theme, but "it discusses the environment in a fun way one that makes youwant to continue reading it and not justcurl up in a ball and be sad about it," said Diabo.

The main character, he said, is flawed, in defiance of the stereotype of Aboriginal people as "caretakers of the land."

But that, he said, forces readers to take a hardlook at themselves.

• Gage Diabo on why he's championing Thomas King's Back of the Turtle

The Turtle Island Reads event, which drewits inspiration fromCBC'sCanada Reads, was a collaboration with community leaders on theKahnawakeMohawk territory, the Quebec Writers' Federation andMcGillUniversity'sInstitute for the Public Life of Arts and Ideas and the Faculty of Arts.

Copies of all three books will be donated to all 114 English-language high schools across the province with the costs covered by the QWF, McGill'sInstitute for the Public Life of Arts and Ideas and the Faculty of Arts.

A full house

The KahnawakeSurvival School's gymnasiumwas packedfor the event.

MontrealerWandaPotrykus got lost inKahnawake, trying to find school, but finally found it and was "so pleased to be here."

Potrykus came carrying asatchel full of books that sherecommends, includingasigned copy ofThomas King'sMasseyLecture series from 2003, The Truth about Stories: A Native Narrative.

"I'm a one-woman booster of First Nations literature,"Potrykussaid.

"Every time a friend asks,'What can I read?' I recommend First Nations literature. I've lent my books to people from Romania, from Syria, a lot of different places.

"When I heard about Turtle Island Reads, I thought I'd come."