A darkly funny, deeply human portrait of life, love, and survival on a northern reserve where hope and hardship walk hand in hand.
In linked tales set on the Rabbit-Skin River Indian Reserve, a remote northern community of 500, we follow Jimmy Whiskey-Jack—an unscrupulous but lovable schemer—and his cheerful sidekick, Chubby Larue, as they stumble from absurd escapades like inheriting a hearse into the heart of life on the rez. Around Jimmy orbit unforgettable figures: Auntie Gertie, the tough, tender matriarch; Father Binette, the well-meaning priest; Isaac Rat-Skin, the last medicine man; Ida Scow, the no-nonsense band manager; and Chief Truman Two-Faces, whose antics skewer colonial bureaucracy. At Effie’s Café—the community’s beating heart—gossip flows, love endures, and resilience reigns. Both humorous and haunting, Indian Medicine captures the spirit, struggle, and enduring strength of life on the Rabbit-Skin River Reserve.
A darkly funny, deeply human portrait of life, love, and survival on a northern reserve where hope and hardship walk hand in hand.
In linked tales set on the Rabbit-Skin River Indian Reserve, a remote northern community of 500, we follow Jimmy Whiskey-Jack—an unscrupulous but lovable schemer—and his cheerful sidekick, Chubby Larue, as they stumble from absurd escapades like inheriting a hearse into the heart of life on the rez. Around Jimmy orbit unforgettable figures: Auntie Gertie, the tough, tender matriarch; Father Binette, the well-meaning priest; Isaac Rat-Skin, the last medicine man; Ida Scow, the no-nonsense band manager; and Chief Truman Two-Faces, whose antics skewer colonial bureaucracy. At Effie’s Café—the community’s beating heart—gossip flows, love endures, and resilience reigns. Both humorous and haunting, Indian Medicine captures the spirit, struggle, and enduring strength of life on the Rabbit-Skin River Reserve.
| Published By | House of Anansi Press Inc — Oct 27, 2026 |
| Specifications | 368 pages | 5.5 in x 7 in |
| Written By |
DENNIS ALLEN is a writer, filmmaker, and songwriter, with two albums of original music, Wayward Son and Sonny Crow. He was longlisted twice for the CBC Short Story Prize, a finalist in the 2019 Writer’s Union of Canada Short Prose Competition, winner of the 2023 Edmonton Story Slam, and winner of the 2017 Sally Manning Award for Creative Non-Fiction. As a filmmaker, Allen won the 2009 ImaginNative Film and Video Festival’s Alanis Obomsawin Best Documentary, Best Canadian Documentary 2014 at Available Light Film Festival and Honorable Mention 2007 at Columbus International Film and Video Festival for My Father, My Teacher. From a long line of ancient Inuvialuit and Gwich'in storytellers, Allen lives in Inuvik, Northwest Territories. |
| Written By |
|
DENNIS ALLEN is a writer, filmmaker, and songwriter, with two albums of original music, Wayward Son and Sonny Crow. He was longlisted twice for the CBC Short Story Prize, a finalist in the 2019 Writer’s Union of Canada Short Prose Competition, winner of the 2023 Edmonton Story Slam, and winner of the 2017 Sally Manning Award for Creative Non-Fiction. As a filmmaker, Allen won the 2009 ImaginNative Film and Video Festival’s Alanis Obomsawin Best Documentary, Best Canadian Documentary 2014 at Available Light Film Festival and Honorable Mention 2007 at Columbus International Film and Video Festival for My Father, My Teacher. From a long line of ancient Inuvialuit and Gwich'in storytellers, Allen lives in Inuvik, Northwest Territories. |
“Dennis Allen writes with passion and compassion, a journalist's power of observation with the gift of storytelling. I look forward to reading more from Dennis Allen.” —Shelagh Rogers