Native American Heritage Through Storytelling

PBS Books, in partnership with the Association of University Presses (AUPresses), presents a special Native American Heritage Month episode of UNCOVERED, featuring Ojibway author, educator, residential school survivor, and knowledge keeper Eli Baxter, whose award-winning memoir, Aki-wayn-zih: A Person as Worthy as the Earth, is published by McGill-Queen’s University Press.

Winner of the 2022 Governor General’s Literary Award for English-Language Nonfiction, Aki-wayn-zih offers a deeply personal exploration of Indigenous knowledge, cultural identity, and the enduring relationship between language, land, and community. Drawing on his childhood growing up in a traditional Ojibway hunting and gathering society in Treaty 9 territory, Baxter shares memories of family, ancestral teachings, and his experiences surviving Canada’s residential school system.

Through personal reflection and traditional Ojibway legends shared in their original language, Baxter illuminates the importance of preserving Anishinaabay knowledge and storytelling for future generations. His experiences reveal both the lasting impact of residential schools on Indigenous families and communities and the resilience of cultural traditions that continue to connect people to their heritage.

In this compelling conversation, UNCOVERED explores how language carries history, how storytelling preserves identity, and why Indigenous voices are essential to understanding the past and shaping the future.

Audiences are also invited to continue their exploration through Native American Stories: Honoring Heritage Through Storytelling, a companion reading list featuring books from AUPresses member presses. This specially curated collection brings together Indigenous voices, historical perspectives, cultural traditions, and contemporary scholarship, providing additional opportunities for readers, libraries, and community organizations to learn, reflect, and spark meaningful conversations.

Join PBS Books and AUPresses for an inspiring conversation about the power of storytelling to preserve heritage, connect generations, and keep cultural knowledge alive.

Aki-Wayn-Zih: A Person as Worthy as the Earth

Members of Eli Baxter’s generation are the last of the hunting and gathering societies living on Turtle Island. They are also among the last fluent speakers of the Anishinaabay language known as Anishinaabaymowin. Aki-wayn-zih is a story about the land and its spiritual relationship with the Anishinaabayg, from the beginning of their life on Miss-koh-tay-sih Minis (Turtle Island) to the present day. Baxter writes about Anishinaabay life before European contact, his childhood memories of trapping, hunting, and fishing with his family on traditional lands in Treaty 9 territory, and his personal experience surviving the residential school system. Examining how Anishinaabay Kih-kayn-daa-soh-win (knowledge) is an elemental concept embedded in the Anishinaabay language, Aki-wayn-zih explores history, science, math, education, philosophy, law, and spiritual teachings, outlining the cultural significance of language to Anishinaabay identity. Recounting traditional Ojibway legends in their original language, fables in which moral virtues double as survival techniques, and detailed guidelines for expertly trapping or ensnaring animals, Baxter reveals how the residential school system shaped him as an individual, transformed his family, and forever disrupted his reserve community and those like it. Through spiritual teachings, historical accounts, and autobiographical anecdotes, Aki-wayn-zih offers a new form of storytelling from the Anishinaabay point of view.

Eli Baxter is a fluent Ojibway speaker, a survivor of the residential school system, a knowledge keeper, and a certified Ontario teacher who is married and has two grown children.

This November, UNCOVERED celebrates Native American Heritage Month by honoring the histories, cultures, languages, and stories of Indigenous peoples whose traditions and contributions continue to shape our communities today.

Storytelling has long been a powerful way to preserve cultural identity, share knowledge, connect generations, and deepen our understanding of the world around us. From ancestral teachings and oral traditions to contemporary literature and scholarship, Native American voices offer essential perspectives on history, resilience, community, and the enduring relationship between people and the land.

As conversations about cultural preservation, historical understanding, and Indigenous representation continue across the country, Native American Heritage Month provides an important opportunity to listen, learn, and engage with stories told from Indigenous perspectives.
Through its partnership with the Association of University Presses (AUPresses), PBS Books invites audiences, libraries, and community organizations to explore these stories, discover new perspectives, and create meaningful conversations within their own communities. By connecting readers with authors, books, and diverse cultural experiences, this month’s programming reflects the PBS Books mission to inspire lifelong learning, encourage dialogue, and bring people together through the power of storytelling.

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Published by McGill-Queen’s University Press 

McGill-Queen’s University Press publishes work that advances our understanding of human experience, our histories, our present worlds, and possibilities for the future. As a vital locus of intellectual and cultural exchange, we bring the best of Canadian scholarship to the world and the best of international scholarship to Canada.

MQUP is a partnership between two leading research institutions in Montreal, Quebec, and Kingston, Ontario, and is headquartered in Tiohtià:ke/Mooniyang/Montreal, within the unceded territory of the Kanien’kehá:ka Nation. From this unique position, we span cities, provinces, nations, cultures, and languages. The press acts as an intellectual heart, a mechanism of an essential exchange between scholars and readers in which knowledge is rigorously tested, enriched, and widely shared, now and over time.

Heather-Marie Montilla, a dynamic integrative leader, is an educator and nonprofit manager. She has worked in the nonprofit sector and libraries for over two decades, making a positive impact in arts, cultural, educational, and community-building arenas.

Having joined the PBS Books team as their Library Bureau Chief in Fall 2018, Montilla is now the National Director of PBS Books and has interviewed more than 150 writers. In addition, she is a faculty member at Michigan State University and Eastern Michigan University for their Arts and Cultural/Entertainment Management Programs. Having been an Executive Director for 8 years, Heather has a wide range of experience in management, finance, strategic planning, marketing, and fundraising. Heather holds a MPA From Columbia University, a MLIS from Wayne State University, and a bachelor’s from Duke University. She lives in Chicagoland, and is married with four children, a dog, and a bird.