nēhiyawētān kīkināhk /Speaking Cree in the Home: A Beginner’s Guide for Familiesby Belinda Daniels and Andrea CusterForeword by Solomon Ratt, Illustrations by Lana WhiskeyjackPublished by University of Regina PressReview by Shelley A. Leedahl$89.95 Hardcover, $19.95 Paperback ISBN 980889779037 It’s been said that learning one’s Indigenous language is fundamental to the process of decolonization, of understanding one’s culture, and also of understanding the world, and thus I’m pleased to see this book that helps Indigenous peoples’ learn Cree at home, and “begin their own journey of reclaiming and revitalizing Cree.” nēhiyawētān kīkināhk / Speaking Cree in the Home: A Beginner’s Guide for Families is an attractive manual that “helps re-forge connections between identity, language, family, and community” in a practical way. Authors Belinda Daniels (founder of the not-for-profit language revitalization organization nēhiyawak Language Experience Inc. and an assistant professor at the University of Victoria in Indigenous Education, Daniels hales from Sturgeon lake, SK) and Andrea Custer (a Woodland Cree from Pelican Narrows who earned her MEd from the University of Saskatchewan, taught in numerous schools, writes curriculum, and now works at Regina’s First Nations University as a Cree language lecturer) are equally passionate about language revitalization. Custer says “language shapes our…

Bombs Away!; Hitler, World War II, and Canada’s Response to the Crisisby M. G. BucholtzPublished by Wood Dragon BooksReview by Toby A. Welch$24.99 ISBN 9781990863899 When a non-history buff cracks open a book that examines Canada‘s involvement in the Second World War and can’t put it down until turning the last page, you know it’s a gripping read! Bombs Away covers the years from 1918 to 1944, exploring the aftermath of the First World War, the rise of Adolf Hitler, and the political and military events that ultimately led to the Second World War. As war loomed in September 1939, Bucholtz paints a vivid picture of both global events and Canada’s response. The book is filled with fascinating details I’d never encountered in history class or in documentaries about the era. In 1940, Canada joined the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand in the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan (BCATP). Thousands of young men who had expressed a desire to join the air force effort were called up for service. Those men needed a home base where they could train and fly. Enter Mossbank, Saskatchewan. An area outside the small town was deemed ideal as it had level topography, gravel…