Niigaan Sinclair

Niigaanwewidam James Sinclair is Anishinaabe (St. Peter’s/Little Peguis) and an Assistant Professor at the University of Manitoba. He is the author of Wînipêk, nominated for a 2024 Governor General’s Literary Award for Nonfiction. He is a regular commentator on Indigenous issues on CTV, CBC’s Power & Politics, and APTN, and his written work can be found in the pages of The Exile Edition of Native Canadian Fiction and Drama, newspapers like The Guardian, and online with CBC Books: Canada Writes. Sinclair is the co-editor of the award-winning Manitowapow: Aboriginal Writings from the Land of Water (Highwater Press, 2011) and Centering Anishinaabeg Studies: Understanding the World Through Stories (Michigan State University Press, 2013) and is the Editorial Director of The Debwe Series with Portage and Main Press. Sinclair obtained his BA in Education at the University of Winnipeg, before completing an MA in Native- and African-American literatures at the University of Oklahoma and a PhD in First Nations and American Literatures from the University of British Columbia.

Facebook: Niigaan James Sinclair
Instagram/Threads: @niigaanwewidam

FESTIVAL BOOK

Wînipêk: Visions of Canada from an Indigenous Centre 

Niigaan Sinclair has been called provocative, revolutionary, and one of this country’s most influential thinkers on the issues impacting Indigenous cultures, communities, and reconciliation in Canada. In his debut collection of stories, observations, and thoughts about Winnipeg—the place he calls “ground zero” of Canada’s future—read about the complex history and contributions of this place alongside the radical solutions to injustice and violence found here, presenting solutions for a country that has forgotten principles of treaty and inclusivity. It is here, in the place where Canada began—where the land, water, people, and animals meet—that a path “from the centre” is happening for all to see.

At a crucial and fragile moment in Canada’s long history with Indigenous peoples, one of our most essential writers begins at the centre, capturing a web spanning centuries of community, art, and resistance.

Based on years’ worth of columns, Sinclair delivers a defining essay collection on the resilience of Indigenous peoples. Here, we meet the creators, leaders, and everyday people preserving the beauty of their heritage one day at a time. But we also meet the ugliest side of colonialism, the Indian Act, and the communities who suffer most from its atrocities.

Sinclair uses the story of Winnipeg to illuminate the reality of Indigenous life all over what is called Canada. This is a book that demands change and celebrates those fighting for it, that reminds us of what must be reconciled and holds accountable those who must do the work. It’s a book that reminds us of the power that comes from loving a place, even as that place is violently taken away from you, and the magic of fighting your way back to it. 

GET THE BOOK

Owl’s Nest Books | Calgary Public Library | Audio

BE CURIOUSER

• In ‘Wînipêk’, an Affirming Indigenous Vision for the Future. –The Tyee
• How Winnipeg helps tell the story of Canada. –The Sunday Magazine with Piya Chattopadhyay
• Fight for Indigenous identity continues. –Niigaan Sinclair, Winnipeg Free Press