In 2005, award-winning writerRichard Wagamesemoved with his partner to a cabin outside Kamloops, B.C. In the crisp mountain airWagamesefelt a peace hed seldom known before. Abused and abandoned as a kid, hed grown up feeling there was nowhere he belonged. For years, only alcohol and moves from town to town seemed to ease the pain.

InOne Native Life,Wagameselooks back down the road he has travelled in reclaiming his identity and talks about the things he has learned as a human being, a man and an Ojibway in his fifty-two years. Whether hes writing about playing baseball, running away with the circus, attending a sacred bundle ceremony or meeting Pierre Trudeau, he tells these stories in a healing spirit. Through them,Wagamesecelebrates the learning journey his life has been.

Free of rhetoric and anger despite the horrors he has faced,Wagameses prose resonates with a peace that has come from acceptance. Acceptance is an Aboriginal principle, and he has come to see that we are all neighbours here.One Native Lifeis his tribute to the people, the places and the events that have allowed him to stand in the sunshine and celebrate being alive.

By Richard Wagamese

272pages
5.4 x 8.5inches
ISBN 9781553653127
Softcover
Douglas & McIntyre
2009