Description
Peyakow: Reclaiming Cree Dignity, A Memoir by author, Darrel J. McLeod, Cree from Treaty 8 Territory in Northern Alberta, continues the poignant story of his impoverished youth, beset by constant fears of being dragged down by the self-destruction and deaths of those closest to him as he battles the bullying of white classmates, copes with the trauma of physical and sexual abuse, and endures painful separation from his family and culture. With steely determination, he triumphs: now elementary teacher; now school principal; now head of an Indigenous delegation to the UN in Geneva; now executive in the Government of Canada—and now a celebrated author. Brutally frank but buoyed throughout by McLeod’s unquenchable spirit, Peyakow - a title borrowed from the Cree word for “one who walks alone”- is an inspiring account of triumph against unimaginable odds. McLeod’s perspective as someone whose career path has crossed both sides of the Indigenous/white chasm resonates with particular force in today’s Canada. Peyakow follows Darrel J. McLeod's Governor General Literary Award for Non-Fiction book success, Mamaskatch in 2018.
FINALIST FOR THE 2021 HILARY WESTON WRITER’S TRUST PRIZE FOR NONFICTION.