Finding Otipemisiwak: The People Who Own Themselves
$34.99-
A Sixties Scoop survivor's journey back to her Nation and the truth of who she is
Otipemisiwak is a Plains Cree word describing the Metis, meaning “the people who own themselves.”
Andrea Currie was born into a Metis family with a strong lineage of warriors, land protectors, writers, artists, and musicians - all of which was lost to her when she was adopted as an infant into a white family with no connection to her people. It was 1960, and the Sixties Scoop was in full swing. Together with her younger adopted brother, also Metis, she struggled through her childhood, never feeling like she belonged in that world. When their adoptions fell apart during their teen years, the two siblings found themselves on different paths, yet they stayed connected. Currie takes us through her journey, from the harrowing time of bone-deep disconnection, to the years of searching and self-discovery, into the joys and sorrows of reuniting with her birth family.
Finding Otipemisiwak weaves lyrical prose, poetry, and essays into an incisive commentary on the vulnerability of Indigenous children in a white supremacist child welfare system, the devastation of cultural loss, and the rocky road some people must walk to get to the truth of who they are. Her triumph over the state's attempts to erase her as an Indigenous person is tempered by the often painful complexities of re-entering her cultural community while bearing the mark of the white world in which she was raised. In Finding Otipemisiwak, one woman's stories about surviving, then thriving as a fully present member of her Nation and the human family are a portal. Readers who walk through will better understand the impact of the Sixties Scoop in the country now called Canada.
Available June 10, 2025. PRE-ORDER NOW!
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Andrea Currie is a writer, healer, and activist born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, and currently living in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia. She is a psychotherapist working in Indigenous mental health and has accompanied the We'koqma'q Residential School Survivors on their healing journey for the past twenty years.
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Published: June 2025
ISBN: 9781778523595
Duration: 8:10
Reviews
“Fascinating insight into the work [Currie] has pioneered as a psychotherapist to other Indigenous survivors of the Scoop and of residential schools … A stirring and hopeful vision of spiritual reconciliation with the ghosts of the past.” — Publishers Weekly (STARRED REVIEW)
“This book takes on the quality of a great radio documentary, splicing prose, poetry, and actuality as Andrea Currie cross-examines colonization and the story that settler society placed over her like a net. When she comes to know who she and her people are, there is joy and there is sadness, but also truth and belonging, a firm scaffolding as Andrea comes to own herself. Finding Otipemisiwak is a powerful act of resistance and gripping to read. It is a balm.” — Shelagh Rogers, founding host and co-creator of The Next Chapter CBC Radio Honorary Witness, Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada
“Finding Otipemisiwak is a poignant story of self-discovery, weaving Red River Metis heritage with personal narrative and ancestral lore and honouring resilience amidst the Sixties Scoop.” — Albert G.D. Beck, Director, Manitoba Metis Federation
“Finding Otipemisiwak is an at times gut-wrenching but always honest account of a time in this nation's history that for too long has been overlooked. Andrea Currie's beautiful poetry and crisp prose force, in such a meaningful way, the reader to acknowledge the hurt done and the need for healing in this land we now call Canada. Combining fact and personal history, Currie brings us into the story of a country willing to sacrifice the welfare of Indigenous children for reasons we still struggle to understand. We should all pause and sit with Currie and her words and join her in the vulnerability she places on the page. We will be better for it. This book is a remarkable collection of knowledge for those who want to learn.” — Amanda Peters, author of The Berry Pickers
“Finding Otipemisiwak is a beautifully written story of tragedy and triumph, as well as one of escape from a false family into the embrace of a loving one. Threading through Currie's remarkable tale is a heart-wrenching bond between her and her adoptive brother, Rob. This book contains a story that desperately needs to be told.” — Frank Macdonald, author of A Forest for Calum