As the production schedule for my next novel firms up, I was asked to write a brief note on the intention behind the story. Here’s what I wrote:
I wanted to write Early Bird to show the lighter side of life on the rez. Even in the smallest communities, there is a diverse and compelling cast of characters that make everyday life funny and entertaining. That’s no different than any other small rural Canadian community, it’s just that we as Indigenous people haven’t had as many opportunities to portray our true amusing selves in mainstream Canadian storytelling. Early Bird is my opportunity to showcase the wonderfully authentic humanity that thrives in a modern First Nation, all the while weaving interesting characters together in unforgettably comedic and dramatic moments. In this story, a fictional Anishinaabe community on the north shore of Lake Huron learns it might lose its beloved bingo hall, and as rumours swirl over the course of a snowy Saturday two weeks before Christmas, people eventually come to learn what matters most as community members: the bonds between them. I hope this story resonates with readers everywhere. I want my fellow Anishinaabeg and the wider Indigenous community to find home and hilarity in these pages, and I want readers of all backgrounds to join us in celebrating the joy and unique complexity of modern rez life.
Early Bird will be published by Random House Canada on April 20, 2027. Hope you’ll check it out!
Big hugs and love to my mom @molegamona on your 70th birthday. It’s a huge milestone and I hope you’re proud and happy with your life journey up to this point. You taught us to be kind, creative, mindful, and so much more, and it’s really special to see you pass your gifts on to your grandchildren. Happy birthday! We love you lots 😁🙌🏽❤️
Happy end of exams! We’re celebrating by taking a look back at our final Trinity Reads event this year with @waub@miiyaabin@indigenouslitlab@instagrahamlibrary and sharing some photos of our communities all coming together. We hope that over the spring and summer season, you continue to read books that challenge perceptions of what is possible and seek out storytellers who make this world a better place! Thanks for spending the year with us 📚
📸: @scottdionphotography
Took a rip up to Val Caron this afternoon for open mat at @sudburymmavalley , the new @officialsudburymma location. If you’re in the Valley and interested in martial arts, check it out! Excellent new gym run by a great team.
Group and action shots courtesy @jameshodgyhodgins
Sometimes it feels like boulders trying to squeeze through that hourglass, but most of the time it’s a mudslide gushing into the bottom, then all of a sudden you’re 47 years old. My body is showing some signs of wear. I have only 30% hearing in my right ear and am awaiting a hearing aid. I’m literally long in the tooth with my gums receding and the exposed roots of my teeth now discoloured. I think I’m developing arthritis in a few of my fingers. I worry my right knee is gonna give out any day now, and sometimes my left elbow stiffens up seemingly randomly. But the sciatica I’ve lived with for 15 years now is mostly manageable, so you gotta savour the silver linings when you can.
The spiritual and mental health is much more complicated to measure than with the simple binary of pain and comfort, but overall I couldn’t be more grateful for this time in my life. Both the triumphs and the challenges grow larger as the years go on, but I’ve been equipped to live through either thanks to the love and support I’m always fortunate to receive, including the birthday wishes from you all.
I had an excellent 47th birthday doing many of the things I love to do, and I look forward to as many more birthdays as I have to come. Nmiigwechiwendam!
☀️ Dévoilement artiste #5 - Waubgeshig Rice
Comment traduire une œuvre profondément ancrée dans un territoire et une culture ?
Découvrez Waubgeshig Rice, auteur originaire de la Première Nation de Wasauksing.
Avec son roman Moon of the Turning Leaves (La lune des feuilles rouges, @prise_de_parole ), il propose une œuvre où le territoire, la langue et la mémoire se rencontrent.
Aux côtés du traducteur Daniel Grenier, cette réflexion met en lumière les défis du passage d’une langue à l’autre, entre fidélité, sens et résonance culturelle.
💬 Une voix essentielle à découvrir.
#SLGS2026 #SalonDuLivre #LittératureAutochtone #Traduction
@waub
@rageagainstthemachine ’s second album Evil Empire was released 30 years ago today. Anyone who knows me is aware that RATM was my favourite band when I was younger, and their music and activism helped shape me in many ways. I was turning 17 when Evil Empire came out, and I hadn’t anticipated new music so excitedly up to that point in my life. I was very eager to hear how they’d follow up their revolutionary debut album, and they far exceeded my hopes and expectations. The music itself was still firmly rooted in heavy riff rock and hip hop, while bringing in elements of metal and hardcore. And most importantly to me, the lyrical themes ferociously vocalized Indigenous resistance, anti-fascism, anti-capitalism, systemic oppression, intergenerational trauma, and more that hit home for a Nish kid from the rez.
Evil Empire gave me so much more than music, though. The album liner came with a photo of a wide display of books, ranging from fiction to politics to philosophy. As an avid reader and aspiring writer who was already politically active, this de facto required reading list immediately captivated me. I wanted to read them all, and went right to the high school library to find what I could. I worked my way through Manufacturing Consent and Das Kapital, and while I learned a lot, I quickly realized I was in over my 17-year-old head. So I put the non-fiction aside, and started working my way through the fiction pictured in the pile.
As someone who dreamed of one day writing fiction, seeing my favourite band highlight some novels was a big deal. Within the next couple years I read Tropic of Cancer, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, Walden, The Grapes of Wrath, and Invisible Man. The latter two remain on my list of all-time favourite novels. I believe I would have come to read all of these novels eventually, but Rage Against the Machine put them on my radar at an important time of my life. Now as a novelist myself 30 years later, I look back on Evil Empire with gratitude and an exhilaration that hasn’t faded.
You can find a list of the books in the photo at the Evil Empire Wikipedia page
During the @little_nhl last month @braided.strength put a call out for players to wear their braids proudly and share pics. Jiikwis was of course happy to participate, and they kindly rewarded him with a gift certificate to buy some sports gear! Just in time for lacrosse season. Chi-miigwech @braided.strength for your great initiative to share our culture! #braidedstrength #boyswithbraids #anishinaabe
niiyawen’enh - my namesake
I always say the greatest gift my parents gave me was life, and their next greatest gift to me was my great-grandfather’s name. His government name was Alfred Tabobondung, but he was more commonly known in family and community as Waubgeshig. When my parents found out I was coming along back in the late 1970s, they decided they wanted to name me in the Anishinaabe language, so they consulted with my grandmother (my dad’s mom) and she suggested her father’s name. That’s how I was legally named from birth, something that wasn’t as common back then as it is now.
Translated directly from Anishinaabemowin, Waubgeshig means “white sky.” It can also refer to how the sky looks at dawn before the sun comes up. Nowadays it’d be spelled more like Waabagiizhig. I’ve carried and spoken this name proudly for almost 47 years now, and every time I introduce myself I pay homage to my family, community, people, and language. Although I never knew him, I like to think I keep his memory alive too, because from the stories I’ve heard, he was a strong leader and skilled on the land.
There’s lots I’ve written already about names in Indigenous languages, and there’ll be more to come. It’s a special thing, and it’s important that we always do our best to pronounce the names of others correctly. The slightest of mispronunciations can render these beautiful words meaningless, and at worst, disrespect family and community. So if you ever have to speak with or introduce someone with an Anishinaabe name, make sure to take the time to ask and get it right. Sometimes you can find audio or video online of them saying it themselves. We’re proud of our names, and we’re proud to share them with the world!
Thank you everyone for a spectacular day of reading and community with our inaugural Trinity Reads author @waub ! We started off with a visit to @firstnationshouse with office hours in the lodge, then headed to Trinity for the lecture. Very appreciative to @indigenouslitlab and Dr. Jennifer Brant for grounding us in our relations to the land, and to @miiyaabin for enthralling the audience with a dialogue reading of “ai tried to code being indian” before Waub’s incredible keynote. Thank you also to @mohawksoda@oronhienha.wi@bobbileejournal for making this night extra special and to @instagrahamlibrary for arranging the reading rec table (and @queenbooksto for being our favourite bookseller). This was truly a special gathering and incredible way to mark the end of Trinity Reads this year. Safe travels to Waub on the way home and thank you for sharing your time and creative spirit with us!
A beautiful evening with the inaugural Trinity Reads author, Waubgeshig Rice. Nia:wen and thank you Waub for gifting us with story, to Leanne Toshiko Simpson for bringing it all together (including Mohawk Soda ☺️) and to Miyo for always reminding us of the power of stories 💕
