A poetic memoir as intricately woven as a dreamcatcher about overcoming the pain of generational trauma with the power of traditional healing
In candid, incisive, and delicate prose, Chyana Marie Sage shares the pain of growing up with her father, a crack dealer who went to prison for molesting her older sister. In revisiting her family’s history, Chyana examines the legacy of generational abuse, which began with her father’s father, who was forcibly removed from his family by the residential schools and Sixties Scoop programs. Yet hers is also a story of hope, as it was the traditions of her people that saved her life, healing one small piece in the mosaic that makes up the dark past of colonialism shared by Indigenous people throughout Turtle Island.
A poetic memoir as intricately woven as a dreamcatcher about overcoming the pain of generational trauma with the power of traditional healing
In candid, incisive, and delicate prose, Chyana Marie Sage shares the pain of growing up with her father, a crack dealer who went to prison for molesting her older sister. In revisiting her family’s history, Chyana examines the legacy of generational abuse, which began with her father’s father, who was forcibly removed from his family by the residential schools and Sixties Scoop programs. Yet hers is also a story of hope, as it was the traditions of her people that saved her life, healing one small piece in the mosaic that makes up the dark past of colonialism shared by Indigenous people throughout Turtle Island.
| Published By | House of Anansi Press Inc — May 27, 2025 |
| Specifications | 296 pages | 5.5 in x 8.5 in |
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Supporting Resources
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Excerpt |
| Written By |
CHYANA MARIE SAGE is a Cree, Métis, and Salish writer from Edmonton, Alberta. She has an MFA in creative nonfiction from Columbia University and lives in New York City. Chyana loves to travel and be with nature. |
| Written By |
|
CHYANA MARIE SAGE is a Cree, Métis, and Salish writer from Edmonton, Alberta. She has an MFA in creative nonfiction from Columbia University and lives in New York City. Chyana loves to travel and be with nature. |
“Gritty yet lyrical … Soft as Bones is a startling, powerful memoir about surviving family trauma and First Nations perseverance.” — Foreword, STARRED review
” —“[Sage] toggles effortlessly between the roles of diarist, poet, and journalist, linking her personal history to a pattern of intergenerational violence, all without snuffing out hope for healing. Readers will be as inspired as they are horrified.” — Publisher’s Weekly
” —“Chyana Marie Sage’s writing is a gift that gleams with all of its teeth and skin and soft parts of the earth … A stunning new voice that pushes the boundaries of form, whose stories swirl across time like sweetgrass braids, like tendrils of smoke.” — Kinsale Drake, author of The Sky Was Once a Dark Blanket
”“A searing, poetic memoir filled with resilience and strength … for anyone on a journey of reconciling the pain of the past with the hopes for the next generations.” — Dallas Goldtooth, writer, actor, and community organizer
”“Chyana Marie Sage writes with an unflinching emotional clarity, lyrical prose, and a wisdom well beyond her years.” — Tanya Talaga, author of The Knowing
”“Soft as Bones moves like a river across vast territories of recovery and reckoning: it moves powerfully and runs deep, with prose that carries many worlds on its shoulders … Chyana Marie Sage is a truth-teller, and she has given us an incredible gift.” — Leslie Jamison, author of Splinters
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