Awards

• Commended for Indigenous History Book Prize 2024 (Canada)

Overview

Eight years in the making, Lha yudit'ih We Always Find a Way is a community oral history of Tsilhqot'in Nation v. British Columbia, the first case in Canada to result in a declaration of Aboriginal Rights and Title to a specific piece of land. Told from the perspective of the Plaintiff, Chief Roger William, joined by fifty Xeni Gwet'ins, Tilhqot'ins, and allies, this book encompasses ancient stories of creation, modern stories of genocide through smallpox and residential school, and stories of resistance including the Tilhqot'in War, direct actions against logging and mining, and the twenty-five-year battle in Canadian courts to win recognition of what Tilhqot'ins never gave up and have always known. ""We are the land,"" as Chief Roger says. After the violence of colonialism, he understands the court case as ""bringing our sight back."" This book witnesses the power of that vision, its continuity with the Tilhqot'in world before the arrival of colonizers two centuries ago, and its potential for a future of freedom and self-determination for the Tilhqot'in People.

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9781772013825

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Reviews

"""A book that sings with the beauty of the spoken word as it conveys the life and death seriousness and courage of the Tsilhqot’in people … This splendid book belongs in every school library in Canada, and on the bookshelves of anyone interested in the Truth and Reconciliation process. Highly recommended."" - Tom Sandborn, the Vancouver Sun ""a valuable contribution to decolonizing and resurgence scholarship"" – BC Studies"

Author Information

Lorraine Weir came to oral history from Irish studies early in her career and Indigenous Studies more recently via a bridge from the Law and Society field and papers on the concepts of ""time immemorial"" and ""oral tradition"" in the Tilhqot'in case. She worked as an expert witness in touchstone Canadian censorship court cases and has published on censorship, James Joyce and semiotics, and such Canadian writers as Margaret Atwood and Nicole Brossard. A fifth-generation descendant of Irish Famine survivors, she grew up in Montral and holds a Ph.D. in Irish literature from Ollscoil na hireann (National University of Ireland). Weir is an Emeritus Professor of Indigenous Studies, Department of English Language and Literatures, University of British Columbia, Vancouver.

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