Event: The Knowing – Tanya Talaga

Introduction

A few months ago, I went to the book launch of The Knowing by Tanya Talaga at Library and Archives Canada in Ottawa. I wanted to read the book before I wrote this blog post. Now that I have, here is some information about the event.

Quote

“Our families were broken apart for decades by everything outlined in this book. But we are putting ourselves back together again. That is the power of our ancestors rising through us to tell our stories.”

The Event

• The event took place on 30 September 2024, the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. “The day honours the children who never returned home and Survivors of residential schools, as well as their families and communities.”¹
• The Knowing tells the story of the search for Annie Carpenter, Tanya Talaga’s great-great-grandmother, who went missing when she was 60 years old. While looking for her ancestor, the author explains Canada’s history from the point of view of the First Nations, Métis and Inuits.
• Tanya Talaga explains: “We have all heard of someone who didn’t come home — this is The Knowing. It is Canada’s shame.”²
• The book includes 4 parts that correspond to the medicine wheel. This idea came to the author in a dream, but she wasn’t sure if it was appropriate. So she asked elders what they thought and they approved.
• The research for the book was really hard to do, as a lot of records are missing. It was like looking for a needle in a haystack. Only about 10 % of records are digitized, and a lot of documents were destroyed when residential schools were closing.
• Tanya Talaga turned to Facebook to learn more about the Carpenter family on the James Bay Coast. Paula Rickard, a Cree healthcare worker and a part-time genealogist (she has 13,000 people in her family tree), answered her and helped her find records.
• Sometimes, the author found documents by accident, and she discovered relatives who died in Indian Residential Schools. She said it was painful, but it’s important to know what happened.
• Most of the teachers and priests who abused the children in the Indian Residential Schools were never prosecuted for their crimes. Neither were the healthcare workers in Indian hospitals and sanitariums.
• In the book, Tanya Talaga also talks about her trip to the Vatican with a delegation seeking an apology from the Pope in the name of the Catholic church for the genocide of First Nations, Métis and Inuits in Canada.
• When they found Annie, they discovered 32 other graves, and they’re still trying to find the families of these people.
• A 4-part documentary series of the same title was made while the author was writing the book. You can watch it on CBC and CBC Gem.
• Here is the video of the September 30^th, 2024, event: https://writersfestival.org/events/fall-2024-in-person-events/the-knowing

¹ Source: Canadian Heritage
² Source: CBC Books