A poetic memoir as intricately woven as a dreamcatcher about overcoming the pain of generational trauma with the power of traditional healing.
In her deeply affecting memoir, Soft as Bones, Chyana Marie Sage shares the pain of growing up with her father: a crack dealer who went to prison for molesting her older sister. She details the shame and guilt she carried for years after her family’s trauma as she went from one dysfunctional relationship to another, from one illegal drug to another. In revisiting her family’s history and weaving in the perspectives of her mother and sisters, 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 Scoops programs.
Yet hers is also a story of hope, as it was the traditions of her people that saved her life. In candid, incisive, and delicate prose, Chyana braids personal narrative with Cree stories and ceremonies, all as a means of healing one small piece of 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 her deeply affecting memoir, Soft as Bones, Chyana Marie Sage shares the pain of growing up with her father: a crack dealer who went to prison for molesting her older sister. She details the shame and guilt she carried for years after her family’s trauma as she went from one dysfunctional relationship to another, from one illegal drug to another. In revisiting her family’s history and weaving in the perspectives of her mother and sisters, 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 Scoops programs.
Yet hers is also a story of hope, as it was the traditions of her people that saved her life. In candid, incisive, and delicate prose, Chyana braids personal narrative with Cree stories and ceremonies, all as a means of healing one small piece of 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 | 320 pages | 5.5 in x 8.5 in |
Written By |
CHYANA MARIE SAGE is a Cree, Métis, and Salish writer from Edmonton, Alberta. Her essay “Soar” won first place in the Edna Staebler Essay Contest, then won Silver in the National Magazine Awards. She graduated with an MFA in creative nonfiction from Columbia University, where she is now an adjunct professor. She publishes regularly with HuffPost, has strong ties with NDN Girls Book Club, and is a healing writer facilitator with the Daklaweidi Clan in the Yukon. She lives in New York City. |
Written By |
CHYANA MARIE SAGE is a Cree, Métis, and Salish writer from Edmonton, Alberta. Her essay “Soar” won first place in the Edna Staebler Essay Contest, then won Silver in the National Magazine Awards. She graduated with an MFA in creative nonfiction from Columbia University, where she is now an adjunct professor. She publishes regularly with HuffPost, has strong ties with NDN Girls Book Club, and is a healing writer facilitator with the Daklaweidi Clan in the Yukon. She lives in New York City. |