Book Review - Our Voice of Fire

If you don’t believe First Nations are a rising tide between the oceans which border our beloved Canada, you have not read Brandi Morin’s book, “Our Voice Of Fire”. Her book’s cover carries a subtitle of “A Memoir Of A Warrior Rising”.

Having read Morin’s book I can tell you that she is still a warrior rising and so should you be.

When Brandi Morin writes that her life was infused with grief, guilt and gratitude, I know why. By the time you get to those three words – grief, guilt, gratitude – on page 78, you should be rooting for this multi-talented woman who never gave up fighting to educate non-First Nations’ people about the history of Canada’s First Nations. She never gave up on bettering her life situation against seemingly insurmountable odds.

Brandi Morin writes some shocking truths not only about the injustices commited against First Nations, but also about her life as a child, as a teenager and as a young adult. Nobody, anywhere – First Nations or otherwise – should have to go through what this author tells us she experienced at the hands of abusers.

A major turning point in Brandi Morin’s life started when she started writing for a local newspaper in Altona, Manitoba. Her first paycheque was $50.00 as she started her journey in journalism and started to blossom and get a stronger grip on the writing skills of a story-telling warrior. Today, Morin is an accomplished journalist and guest speaker.

“Our Voice Of Fire” doesn’t offer step-by-step instructions about how reconciliation is to be achieved in Canada. That’s why this book is called a memoir. But there are important aspects of Brandi Morin’s writing which should resonate with you as much as they were eye-opening for me.

Morin writes that, according to Canada Census in 2016, First Nations are the fastest-growing population in Canada. She notes that this population is also the youngest population.

“This is the Generation of Fire.” writes Morin adding “we are rising to take our place in this troubled world”.

I was starting to think of the word mutiny until I read further and her next paragraph should get etched into Canadian minds:

“We lead, but we do not do this alone. We are not the only ones in need of healing. Our wounded world cries out for it. Our society calls out for it. If we do not heal the growing divisions between people, we will all be ripped asunder along with our wounded planet,” she writes. Reconciliation isn’t going to happen easily, writes Morin. My take is that understanding isn’t going to happen easily either, but we are getting there albeit slowly. Forgiving is a secret to moving on.

“Our Voice of Fire”, along with “21 Things You May Not Know About The Indian Act” by Bob Joseph, should be immediately installed as required reading at a high-school level in schools across Canada. More communities should have tangible, educational structures which honour First Nations as has been done in Collingwood, Ontario with the Awen’ Gathering Place.

Non-First Nations’ Canadians must do their part to bring about reconciliation. Brandi Morin bravely put her compass of truth into the hands of Canadians with “Our Voice Of Fire”. Now, we should all join her and make the long, reconciliation journey shorter. We are all each other’s brothers and sisters on this planet. We should all be warriors to make our planet and our respective parts of Canada a better place.

George Czerny-Holownia is the author of “Kiss The Ground You Walk On, Canada!” and, more recently, “Our Changing Collingwood”. He is scheduled to be the guest speaker at the Monday, May 1, 2023 meeting of the Collingwood and District Historical Society.