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Becoming Kin: An Indigenous Call to Unforgetting the Past and Reimagining Our Future
We find our way forward by going back. The invented history of the Western world is crumbling fast, Anishinaabe writer Patty Krawec says, but we can still honor the bonds between us. Settlers dominated and divided, but Indigenous peoples won't just send them all "home." Weaving her own story with the story of her ancestors and with the broader themes of creation, replacement, and disappearance, Krawec helps readers see settler colonialism through the eyes of an Indigenous writer. Settler colonialism tried to force us into one particular way of living, but the old ways of kinship can help us imagine a different future. Krawec asks, What would it look like to remember that we are all related? How might we become better relatives to the land, to one another, and to Indigenous movements for solidarity? Braiding together historical, scientific, and cultural analysis, Indigenous ways of knowing, and the vivid threads of communal memory, Krawec crafts a stunning, forceful call to "unforget" our history. This remarkable sojourn through Native and settler history, myth, identity, and spirituality helps us retrace our steps and pick up what was lost along the chances to honor rather than violate treaties, to see the land as a relative rather than a resource, and to unravel the history we have been taught.
240 pages, Hardcover
First published September 27, 2022
334 people are currently reading
12890 people want to read
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September 28, 2022
The way Canadians understand the history of this land is a fairy-tale. It is concocted to either hide the intolerable actions and impacts of the inherent violence of colonialism or present it as something tolerable; something other than what it was. Patty Krawec distills this truth with a tangible brilliance. She is frank about how the future of everyone is fast approaching the point of no return and how we all must face history to have a future worth living. Bravo. Read it!
December 29, 2022
one of the most powerful books i've ever read.
October 9, 2025
In her book, "Becoming Kin: An Indigenous Call to Unforgetting the Past and Reimagining Our Future," Patty Krawec delves into Indigenous history and the settler colonial mindset. The initial five chapters investigate the motivations and justifications behind historical atrocities such as massacres, the horrors of residential schools, and ethnic cleansing. Krawec challenges the idea of the United States as a "nation of immigrants," asserting instead that it is a "nation of settlers." She distinguishes that "Immigrants come to a place and become part of the existing political system… Settler is a way of being here." Settlers perceived the land as unutilized, a view supported by the papal "Doctrine of Discovery," which granted European powers the right to claim newly discovered lands not already owned by Christians.
Indigenous people began to disappear. School teaches about “... brave colonists fighting for freedom” and “Native people who, despite early Thanksgiving friendship, become dangerous and then mysteriously vanish.” Krawec advocates for unforgetting the past, asserting that we chose to forget or bury the harms of settler colonialism. By challenging our assumptions and questioning their origins, collective progress can be achieved.
"Nii'kinaaganaa," an Anishinaabe concept centered on universal kinship, forms the foundational principle of this book: the journey to becoming kin. Each chapter provides a suggested assignment, guiding readers who are looking to bond with the Indigenous community and contribute to reconciliation. The book concludes with Krawec’s call for collective action, suggesting a number of ways to connect with organizations dedicated to social justice.
Thank you to BroadLeaf Books and Edelweiss Plus for providing an advance reader copy in exchange for an honest review. #BecomingKin
Indigenous people began to disappear. School teaches about “... brave colonists fighting for freedom” and “Native people who, despite early Thanksgiving friendship, become dangerous and then mysteriously vanish.” Krawec advocates for unforgetting the past, asserting that we chose to forget or bury the harms of settler colonialism. By challenging our assumptions and questioning their origins, collective progress can be achieved.
"Nii'kinaaganaa," an Anishinaabe concept centered on universal kinship, forms the foundational principle of this book: the journey to becoming kin. Each chapter provides a suggested assignment, guiding readers who are looking to bond with the Indigenous community and contribute to reconciliation. The book concludes with Krawec’s call for collective action, suggesting a number of ways to connect with organizations dedicated to social justice.
Thank you to BroadLeaf Books and Edelweiss Plus for providing an advance reader copy in exchange for an honest review. #BecomingKin
September 27, 2022
I've long appreciated Patty Krawec's work podcasting, writing online, and everywhere else that I see it, so I was deeply excited to learn she had a book coming out. It was an instant preorder for me. I deeply appreciated the book as well. The invitation towards kinship that it offers, weaved through each chapter, is a powerful one.
Today I live in Minnesota, where it's common for people to do land acknowledgements for Dakota and Anishinaabe land without taking any action, and I grew up in North Carolina, where it was common for people to claim Cherokee ancestors without any ties. I think this framing of becoming kin and the tasks in the book – of being shaped by stories that aren't ours without claiming them, of learning to live in relationship to land and water that aren't ours, of discarding colonizing concepts of what safety means, of living as though the land actually does belong to the people we acknowledge and what it means for how we live on the land – is the way for white settlers to move toward solidarity in both cases. Importantly, she weaves through the book stories of Black folks – both those who are Native and those who aren't – and migrants, and doesn't let the reader forget that land and water know these stories as well.
Certainly she's not offering an easy journey and the book doesn't make it seem so, but by weaving Anishinaabe stories and words, through the kind of tasks she's encouraging, I think she makes it seem both possible and lifegiving.
While I think it's valuable for folks with a lot of perspectives, I'm especially hoping to share this one with church folks where I live. I know a lot progressive church folks – of various racial backgrounds – who can use a lens like this one to frame how we individually relate to collective actions of solidarity with Indigenous folks that we can take in our time.
Today I live in Minnesota, where it's common for people to do land acknowledgements for Dakota and Anishinaabe land without taking any action, and I grew up in North Carolina, where it was common for people to claim Cherokee ancestors without any ties. I think this framing of becoming kin and the tasks in the book – of being shaped by stories that aren't ours without claiming them, of learning to live in relationship to land and water that aren't ours, of discarding colonizing concepts of what safety means, of living as though the land actually does belong to the people we acknowledge and what it means for how we live on the land – is the way for white settlers to move toward solidarity in both cases. Importantly, she weaves through the book stories of Black folks – both those who are Native and those who aren't – and migrants, and doesn't let the reader forget that land and water know these stories as well.
Certainly she's not offering an easy journey and the book doesn't make it seem so, but by weaving Anishinaabe stories and words, through the kind of tasks she's encouraging, I think she makes it seem both possible and lifegiving.
While I think it's valuable for folks with a lot of perspectives, I'm especially hoping to share this one with church folks where I live. I know a lot progressive church folks – of various racial backgrounds – who can use a lens like this one to frame how we individually relate to collective actions of solidarity with Indigenous folks that we can take in our time.
June 28, 2023
Finding this book a little difficult to rate. The first 2/3 or so is mostly a summary of settler colonialism. If you are familiar with the issue and some of the source material, it isn't groundbreaking. It is; however, a mostly very readable summary. I say mostly because she often writes with a perspective of reforming christianity and as a non-christian I often felt like this book wasn't meant for me. It is presented a bit like here is how indigenous think and here is how christians think and there is our conflict. Ummmmm. Also, as an adoptee, I feel a bit mixed. She is clear about the loss and separation that adoption signifies for many native ppl and how disconnection is key to colonialism, but she was a social worker who presents adoption as an ambiguous result of one of her cases. Also, like so many others, she focuses a lot on ancestors and claiming kin in a way that I - who know nothing about where I come from - cannot relate to. If you know someone christian, has at least some knowledge of their origins, and who has little knowledge about settler colonialism but might be open to questioning - this might be a good book for them.
February 9, 2023
"Becoming Kin" is not an easy book to wrap one's head around. And it has nothing to do with neither the writing nor the structure, the book is incredibly straight forward on both counts. It's more about the messaging and the author's choice of kin vehicle.
The book sets out to establish "the true" history of America (especially North America), to de-tangle it from the historical narrative preferred by settlers/colonizers and their progeny (arguing in the process that no European immigrated to North America, taking special umbrage with the idea of the U.S. as a "nation of immigrants"). The book also argues for a common future, of becoming kin, for the betterment of humans and the environment both. In broad strikes, both are commendable goals and, I think, utterly necessary. Krawec's arguments though, are a bit of a mixed bag.
Overall, I liked the book. It provides a valuable perspective and a number of really good arguments and observations. As mentioned, the book is also very well written. The religious comparisons of (primarily) Christianity and Judaism with indigenous (mainly Anishinaabe) faith systems and spiritual mythology are interesting too, where she argues that - despite their differences - the two perspectives are similar enough to serve as cultural glue. On a more general level, the book shares a valuable and historically oppressed perspective.
However, it very much remains a perspective, it is not "the true" history as such, and the author's arguments for the future are based on overly simplified versions of both history and today's world. In short, Krawec's arguments too often boil down to a sort of collective indigenous version of the Noble Savage concept (although she, of course, does not call it that, since that's a colonialist expression/idea and would be totally racist), where indigenous is simply better than white colonialist - both then and now. The religious vehicle of reconciliation/becoming kin also comes up a bit short for me, albeit that most religions are compatible to varying degrees - they do, after all, essentially aim to do the same things (the argument could therefore have attempted a more unifying vehicle had she broadened it somewhat - as it is, even in the most generous interpretation, it excludes a whole lot of people).
That said, I think she's totally right in arguing that the world can learn a lot from indigenous people across the world. It's neither as universally applicable nor as black and white as she makes it, but it is inevitably true. The same can be said for her version of American history. Naturally, the national foundational myths beginning with the European conquests are at best selective, at worst pure fabrications - and it's important to be cognizant of this - but to a not insignificant extent, the same is true for Krawec's version of history.
In the end, it's a beautiful book (and not just its cover) and I highly recommend it.
Just, you know, don't swallow it whole.
The book sets out to establish "the true" history of America (especially North America), to de-tangle it from the historical narrative preferred by settlers/colonizers and their progeny (arguing in the process that no European immigrated to North America, taking special umbrage with the idea of the U.S. as a "nation of immigrants"). The book also argues for a common future, of becoming kin, for the betterment of humans and the environment both. In broad strikes, both are commendable goals and, I think, utterly necessary. Krawec's arguments though, are a bit of a mixed bag.
Overall, I liked the book. It provides a valuable perspective and a number of really good arguments and observations. As mentioned, the book is also very well written. The religious comparisons of (primarily) Christianity and Judaism with indigenous (mainly Anishinaabe) faith systems and spiritual mythology are interesting too, where she argues that - despite their differences - the two perspectives are similar enough to serve as cultural glue. On a more general level, the book shares a valuable and historically oppressed perspective.
However, it very much remains a perspective, it is not "the true" history as such, and the author's arguments for the future are based on overly simplified versions of both history and today's world. In short, Krawec's arguments too often boil down to a sort of collective indigenous version of the Noble Savage concept (although she, of course, does not call it that, since that's a colonialist expression/idea and would be totally racist), where indigenous is simply better than white colonialist - both then and now. The religious vehicle of reconciliation/becoming kin also comes up a bit short for me, albeit that most religions are compatible to varying degrees - they do, after all, essentially aim to do the same things (the argument could therefore have attempted a more unifying vehicle had she broadened it somewhat - as it is, even in the most generous interpretation, it excludes a whole lot of people).
That said, I think she's totally right in arguing that the world can learn a lot from indigenous people across the world. It's neither as universally applicable nor as black and white as she makes it, but it is inevitably true. The same can be said for her version of American history. Naturally, the national foundational myths beginning with the European conquests are at best selective, at worst pure fabrications - and it's important to be cognizant of this - but to a not insignificant extent, the same is true for Krawec's version of history.
In the end, it's a beautiful book (and not just its cover) and I highly recommend it.
Just, you know, don't swallow it whole.
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November 20, 2024
“Being confronted with racist ideas or behavior—our own or in the systems we’re part of—is hard, but it is not the worst thing. The worst thing is being unwilling to listen, unwilling to do better.”
Fuck this was such a beautiful book. So many thoughts, meant to be savored and thought on and acted within.
“Settlers are not immigrants. Immigrants come to a place and become part of the existing political system.”
Fuck this was such a beautiful book. So many thoughts, meant to be savored and thought on and acted within.
“Settlers are not immigrants. Immigrants come to a place and become part of the existing political system.”
July 17, 2023
4.5 stars.
Interesting for anyone who would appreciate an accessible overview of colonialism on Turtle Island from the perspective of an Anishinaabeg writer who also identifies as a Christian. Early in the book, Krawec writes:
“…what I know of the worldview of the Anishinaabe is not completely inconsistent with what Christianity could be. I see other possibilities: the original instructions of connection, relation- ship with land and people. The original instructions as recorded in the Bible are frequently disregarded or redefined in service to settler-colonial ideas about how a society ought to be organized. I think Christianity has the potential to liberate, to actually help us reject those colonial ideas. Throughout the book, I offer Anishinaabe stories and Indigenous knowledge not so that you can claim them as your own but so that they can provide a lens through which you can see your own stories differently. That is part of what I hope to explore in these pages: how we can read these histories differently and find a way to live together in peace, honesty, and respect. How can we find a way to live in the knowledge that we are all related? How can we become better kin?”
Krawec doesn’t discuss leftist politics a lot in this book, but the introduction is written by Nick Estes who is an Oceti Sakowin (Sioux) communist. Krawec does suggest the colonial civilizing project and forced removal of Indigenous peoples had to do with a certain settler-colonial disdain for socialism:
“When Senator Henry Dawes visited the Cherokee Nation in Oklahoma decades after their removal, he found them to be thriving. This surprised him. They had a school, hospital, and bicameral system of governance. Nobody did without. According to Dawes, this was socialism. There was, he said, “no incentive to make your home better than that of your neighbor. There is no selfishness, which is at the bottom of civilization.” This propensity for collective owner- ship confounded settlers, who understood the buying and selling of land as the basis of wealth and civilization. The Dawes Act was their solution. It broke up reservations and divided Indian Country—that land west of the Mississippi to which Andrew Jackson had marched dozens of tribes—into allotments. Those allotments were then distributed to tribal citizens as individuals rather than as tribal groups.”
Also there were a few interesting reflections on Krawec’s activism in Ontario, including one time she spoke at a Palestinian solidarity vigil:
“You can find ways to connect your community with ours. Churches, synagogues, mosques, and civic groups can offer support for protests and vigils by showing up, bringing water, paying for the rental of sound equipment, or covering parking fees. In early 2018 when verdicts in the deaths of Colten Boushie and Tina Fontaine came down within a week of each other, Black Lives Matter Toronto arranged to organize the second vigil so the Indigenous community in Toronto wouldn’t have to. That same year, I was invited to speak at the one-year memorial for the victims of the 2017 mosque shooting in Quebec City. And in the summer of 2021, when vigils seemed to happen every week, an imam spoke words of comfort and peace at one of our vigils, and I spoke of solidarity at one for Palestine.”
There’s also some discussion of Alexis Shotwell’s work in here, which was a pleasant surprise. I hope to read Shotwell sometime soon.
Overall I think this is the sort of book that could be quite easily read in church reading groups, and helpful for moving liberals into projects more explicitly engaged in decolonization. I feel most people I know involved in political organizing, already have a sense of this book’s main arguments and themes, but the book is helpful still as a way of observing how to simplify those arguments into something you could share with almost anyone.
Interesting for anyone who would appreciate an accessible overview of colonialism on Turtle Island from the perspective of an Anishinaabeg writer who also identifies as a Christian. Early in the book, Krawec writes:
“…what I know of the worldview of the Anishinaabe is not completely inconsistent with what Christianity could be. I see other possibilities: the original instructions of connection, relation- ship with land and people. The original instructions as recorded in the Bible are frequently disregarded or redefined in service to settler-colonial ideas about how a society ought to be organized. I think Christianity has the potential to liberate, to actually help us reject those colonial ideas. Throughout the book, I offer Anishinaabe stories and Indigenous knowledge not so that you can claim them as your own but so that they can provide a lens through which you can see your own stories differently. That is part of what I hope to explore in these pages: how we can read these histories differently and find a way to live together in peace, honesty, and respect. How can we find a way to live in the knowledge that we are all related? How can we become better kin?”
Krawec doesn’t discuss leftist politics a lot in this book, but the introduction is written by Nick Estes who is an Oceti Sakowin (Sioux) communist. Krawec does suggest the colonial civilizing project and forced removal of Indigenous peoples had to do with a certain settler-colonial disdain for socialism:
“When Senator Henry Dawes visited the Cherokee Nation in Oklahoma decades after their removal, he found them to be thriving. This surprised him. They had a school, hospital, and bicameral system of governance. Nobody did without. According to Dawes, this was socialism. There was, he said, “no incentive to make your home better than that of your neighbor. There is no selfishness, which is at the bottom of civilization.” This propensity for collective owner- ship confounded settlers, who understood the buying and selling of land as the basis of wealth and civilization. The Dawes Act was their solution. It broke up reservations and divided Indian Country—that land west of the Mississippi to which Andrew Jackson had marched dozens of tribes—into allotments. Those allotments were then distributed to tribal citizens as individuals rather than as tribal groups.”
Also there were a few interesting reflections on Krawec’s activism in Ontario, including one time she spoke at a Palestinian solidarity vigil:
“You can find ways to connect your community with ours. Churches, synagogues, mosques, and civic groups can offer support for protests and vigils by showing up, bringing water, paying for the rental of sound equipment, or covering parking fees. In early 2018 when verdicts in the deaths of Colten Boushie and Tina Fontaine came down within a week of each other, Black Lives Matter Toronto arranged to organize the second vigil so the Indigenous community in Toronto wouldn’t have to. That same year, I was invited to speak at the one-year memorial for the victims of the 2017 mosque shooting in Quebec City. And in the summer of 2021, when vigils seemed to happen every week, an imam spoke words of comfort and peace at one of our vigils, and I spoke of solidarity at one for Palestine.”
There’s also some discussion of Alexis Shotwell’s work in here, which was a pleasant surprise. I hope to read Shotwell sometime soon.
Overall I think this is the sort of book that could be quite easily read in church reading groups, and helpful for moving liberals into projects more explicitly engaged in decolonization. I feel most people I know involved in political organizing, already have a sense of this book’s main arguments and themes, but the book is helpful still as a way of observing how to simplify those arguments into something you could share with almost anyone.
April 12, 2024
i loved the way patty krawec wrote this book filled with knowledge and history with stories woven throughout it. i loved how the book felt like i was in dialogue with it and all of the calls to action it asks of the reader. this was a great primer on settler colonialism and i could see it be super beneficial for educators to use in their curriculum for younger students as well! happy to pick this up and excited to read all the recommendations next!
June 20, 2023
I really liked the perspective in this book. It's perspective was kinder than some books I've read, which maybe indicates my lack of knowledge and need to change. But I also feel like there is space for the angry and confrontational and the kind and confrontational books.
But then again, how does a 4 star scale rank experience, learning and community building. It does not.
But then again, how does a 4 star scale rank experience, learning and community building. It does not.
April 20, 2023
Perhaps my #1 recommendation for learning about Indigenous-settler histories & current realities in Canada, and for taking next steps as settlers. Rooted in Anishinaabeg stories and teachings, and also valuable for me because Patty writes with a Christian perspective. I especially appreciate how she coaches settlers to embrace the tensions of our many histories and relationships, while providing those next steps.
August 25, 2023
This recapped a lot of things I was already aware of and packaged them in a very accessible format; I also thought Krawec's perspective as someone who previously worked in child welfare added to the conversation surrounding Indigenous (and other racialized) children still being removed from their families.
I particularly enjoyed the specific calls to action at the end of each chapter which give the reader something to do – and the overall emphasis on actually doing something. As invited to by the author, I'm buddy reading this book with a friend and discussing it with them :)
I particularly enjoyed the specific calls to action at the end of each chapter which give the reader something to do – and the overall emphasis on actually doing something. As invited to by the author, I'm buddy reading this book with a friend and discussing it with them :)
May 21, 2024
Everything I hoped it would be. I devoured this book and have since recommended it any chance I get. A balance of storytelling, cultural critique and actionable steps. Love love loved it.
November 23, 2024
There’s so much to learn within this book i actually have a hard time knowing where to start. I love its wisdom, I love its voyages into linguistics, I love the intersectional language and approach the author adopts. But perhaps most of all I love its homework - how each chapter ends with something you can do to help and to think. I can’t wait to read this in book club
December 11, 2023
One of my favorite quotes that truly captures the essence of this book: "The story of colonization is one of displacement, of disruption, of ghosts left behind and those who make flutes with their bones".
October 24, 2022
I love her book, because at the end, she (& and many awesome others who helped collaborate-guide) the book, offered an excellent solution(s). Robin Wall Kimmerer’s BRAIDING SWEETGRASS part 2.
May 16, 2025
Patty Krawec seeks to bridge a gap between indigenous ways of living together and the inheritors of the settler-colonial project. The focus is specifically on the North American context as Krawec's people are the original inhabitants of much of modern-day Canada and the northern U.S. Still, I think the perspective is applicable globally in broad strokes.
Some thoughts:
- Much of the historical information outlined in the book is relatively introductory, and I was fortunate to already be familiar with it through other indigenous authors and scholars like Robin Wall Kimmerer, Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz, Dina Gilio-Whitaker, and Pekka Hämäläinen. I appreciate that this may be many folks first foray into indigenous history, though, so it wasn't a problem for me - but I wouldn't go into this expecting some deep historical analysis or layered insight into Anishinaabe kinship patterns.
- I valued the calls to action that close off each chapter. While some felt overly simplistic to me (calls to "start a book club" or "think about who used to live where you live" feel like such small steps to me that they run the risk of deflecting folks from doing the harder work of reparation), I do have to acknowledge that, again, people have to start small. As the book progresses, there were more "advanced" calls to action and ways to get connected that I appreciated.
- The final chapter elevated this book a whole star for its unique perspective on how to structure restorative justice. Krawec draws on Anishinaabe storytelling and real life application to point out how perpetrators of violence are quick to apologize and leap to absolving themselves of guilt. We see this in the way governments and churches have been quick to offer apology without real restitution, as though that solves the problem. Apology without listening and understanding is a by-product of a mindset that is uncomfortable with being in the wrong. In the hegemonic frame, if you do wrong, you are wrong in a fundamental way. This contributes to the desire to either deny harm was ever committed or leap to "fixing" it in order to excise the guilt.
Instead, Krawec notes that both parties need time to sit with the ways they have been harmed and why actions were taken, so that victims are not pressured to accept stipulations made in the heat of emotion and perpetrators are not so quick to leave mistakes in the past before they've had the chance to analyze them. We can learn much from the Anishinaabe, whose language de-essentializes all things: one is not a criminal, a core identity of person, but rather a person who has committed a crime. Because a person's actions in one place or time does not define them forever, they can admit the wrongdoing and do the work they need in order to ensure they no longer harm those affected.
- Lastly, I love the way she takes the de-essentializing nature of the Anishinaabe worldview and extends it to the dichotomies of "settler" and "native". She writes, "I have used the language of 'settler' and 'native', 'colonizer' and 'colonized'. Sometimes people hear these words and get defensive: I'm not a colonizer, I didn't colonize anything... Binaries are rarely accurate. They are useful containers to think about collective processes... Being a settler or a colonizer is not something you are. It is something you do. It describes your relationship to this land and the people in it... If you are going to stop being a settler and start being kin, that's where you start: with what you do." Fantastic clarity. Solidarity is not symbolic, and it is not about freeing yourself of guilt or shame. It is actions we take to stand on the side of the disenfranchised against the oppressor, doing the every day work needed to show up in humility and in community with one another.
4 stars.
Some thoughts:
- Much of the historical information outlined in the book is relatively introductory, and I was fortunate to already be familiar with it through other indigenous authors and scholars like Robin Wall Kimmerer, Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz, Dina Gilio-Whitaker, and Pekka Hämäläinen. I appreciate that this may be many folks first foray into indigenous history, though, so it wasn't a problem for me - but I wouldn't go into this expecting some deep historical analysis or layered insight into Anishinaabe kinship patterns.
- I valued the calls to action that close off each chapter. While some felt overly simplistic to me (calls to "start a book club" or "think about who used to live where you live" feel like such small steps to me that they run the risk of deflecting folks from doing the harder work of reparation), I do have to acknowledge that, again, people have to start small. As the book progresses, there were more "advanced" calls to action and ways to get connected that I appreciated.
- The final chapter elevated this book a whole star for its unique perspective on how to structure restorative justice. Krawec draws on Anishinaabe storytelling and real life application to point out how perpetrators of violence are quick to apologize and leap to absolving themselves of guilt. We see this in the way governments and churches have been quick to offer apology without real restitution, as though that solves the problem. Apology without listening and understanding is a by-product of a mindset that is uncomfortable with being in the wrong. In the hegemonic frame, if you do wrong, you are wrong in a fundamental way. This contributes to the desire to either deny harm was ever committed or leap to "fixing" it in order to excise the guilt.
Instead, Krawec notes that both parties need time to sit with the ways they have been harmed and why actions were taken, so that victims are not pressured to accept stipulations made in the heat of emotion and perpetrators are not so quick to leave mistakes in the past before they've had the chance to analyze them. We can learn much from the Anishinaabe, whose language de-essentializes all things: one is not a criminal, a core identity of person, but rather a person who has committed a crime. Because a person's actions in one place or time does not define them forever, they can admit the wrongdoing and do the work they need in order to ensure they no longer harm those affected.
- Lastly, I love the way she takes the de-essentializing nature of the Anishinaabe worldview and extends it to the dichotomies of "settler" and "native". She writes, "I have used the language of 'settler' and 'native', 'colonizer' and 'colonized'. Sometimes people hear these words and get defensive: I'm not a colonizer, I didn't colonize anything... Binaries are rarely accurate. They are useful containers to think about collective processes... Being a settler or a colonizer is not something you are. It is something you do. It describes your relationship to this land and the people in it... If you are going to stop being a settler and start being kin, that's where you start: with what you do." Fantastic clarity. Solidarity is not symbolic, and it is not about freeing yourself of guilt or shame. It is actions we take to stand on the side of the disenfranchised against the oppressor, doing the every day work needed to show up in humility and in community with one another.
4 stars.
May 9, 2025
The Canadian and American states were founded on centuries of genocide. Now what? This is the question Krawec explores in Becoming Kin. Reconciliation requires understanding the harm done and proactive righting of wrongs. Appropriately, this essay collection starts with telling the story of the wrongs of settler colonialism (Chapters 1-5). To do so, Krawec weaves together personal stories, linguistics, history and myth — Anishnaabe and Christian peoples both come to understand themselves and their values through their myths. With these stories imparted, Krawec shifts towards the future, towards becoming kin — a relationship that comes with reciprocal responsibilities to each other. She explores kinship with the land (Chapter 6), the interrelatedness of people (Chapter 7), and practical considerations for rebuilding kinship (Chapter 8).
Krawec’s essays come with homework: each finishes in an aambe, an Anishnaabe term meaning “let’s go!” These sections ask the reader to participate by learning about the treaties that govern the relationships with the Indigenous peoples they share a home with, observing the absence of Indigenous stories in the media they consume, or finding a way to insist on Indigenous representation in your community in whatever form that might be. As the book progresses, her homework problems increasingly involve community building and outreach.
At the outset, Krawec insists the reader read her book with a friend. Learning and doing are best done in community: “Reading books in solitude may alter our individual relationship with the world around us. But like our histories, our lives do not unfold in isolation. We exist collectively: as neighbours and community groups, as workplaces and sports teams, as book groups and families.” It is from this community that your ability to change the world grows: “Organizing is a scary word. We hear it, and we think about large-scale events and mass mobilizations, but it begins with finding one person you can disrupt with.”
It is this emphasis on practical steps via community and education that makes this book special. Indigenous history is told more completely elsewhere (see, for example, works by Dunbar-Ortiz or Nick Estes). Indigenous philosophy is told more compellingly for a popular audience in Braiding Sweetgrass. Krawec’s writing meanders, and sometimes takes on a lecturing tone. Her perspective is more spiritual than what resonates with me. But her book, particularly Chapter 8, is forward-looking and community-oriented. It urges you to act and also makes you realize those first few steps aren’t so hard after all. That’s rarely found in a book.
March 24, 2025
Audio.
A summarized history of North American colonialism and the lingering effects that violence and distrust have on indigenous people today. An interesting sociological overview of native people that leads into rebuilding community and not just performative acknowledgement of land.
A question she comes back to throughout this book is “What would you take if you had to flee?” She makes the point that it is likely something that connects you to people you love and a sense of ‘home’. That is where we can begin to honor our kinship in relationship to the past and future.
“Grief is the persistence of love.”
A summarized history of North American colonialism and the lingering effects that violence and distrust have on indigenous people today. An interesting sociological overview of native people that leads into rebuilding community and not just performative acknowledgement of land.
A question she comes back to throughout this book is “What would you take if you had to flee?” She makes the point that it is likely something that connects you to people you love and a sense of ‘home’. That is where we can begin to honor our kinship in relationship to the past and future.
“Grief is the persistence of love.”
August 4, 2023
What a beautiful book. This would be an excellent primer for anyone who wants to start the journey towards learning about settler colonialism, healing past harms, and working towards a future together. Krawec uses accessible language, speaks from her own experience, brings in plenty of material from diverse sources, and lays out pathways to solidarity with the land and with others. I especially appreciated that she gently calls out Christians and the church, showing how harmful Christian belief and doctrine has been, but that it also doesn't have to continue to be that way.
November 10, 2023
The fact that I was one line away from a full 2 paragraph review when Goodreads glitches out on me and deleted the review makes me want to scream. I loved this. I said Way more in my lost review but I’m mad now and don’t want to start it again.
I highly recommend this as a good place to stay if you’re working on being a better ally to indigenous folks. As all as it references a lot of spectacular books inside. Ones I’ve read and others I added to my immediate TBR.
I highly recommend this as a good place to stay if you’re working on being a better ally to indigenous folks. As all as it references a lot of spectacular books inside. Ones I’ve read and others I added to my immediate TBR.
May 26, 2025
The weaving of storytelling, conversations, and information kept my interest for the entire book. And I appreciated the writing as much as the calls/suggestions to action. It’s a great first step to “passively” unlearn settler views/historical tellings, it’s a greater step to actively assist in change or guide others towards unlearning these histories as well.
August 22, 2025
I would happily recommend this book to anyone looking for an introduction to the Canadian Indigenous experience. Krawec shares some of her perspective and introduces key themes and worldviews that have been impacted throughout the history of colonization in Canada. There is also a consideration of Christian ideas, though Indigenous frameworks are the central component. It is well written and organized, with an accessible call to action at the end of each chapter. Please read!
December 14, 2023
Please read this book.
April 28, 2024
Lovely writing quick easy read, reflections and history paired with practical suggestions for living life in community.
November 3, 2025
2.5 rounded up… I found the bulk of this book dishing out info classroom style about race, place, color, colonialism etc… if you’ve never read about these topics it’s presented in an explanatory way. I listened to this and the narration was grating. My biggest disconnect with this was so much use of the Bible as comparison and explanation.. for me the Bible is fiction so her points didn’t hit. This is not one I would recommend.
December 8, 2024
Read it.
May 22, 2024
A really good, painful and heartening read. There’s so much to acknowledge. I’m so sorry. Words fail me.
I’ve learned a lot from this book. I feel all the more inspired to pick up my bundle, to talk about this with others, see where I can build relations, to notice absence and convert that to presence, find where and how I can support…
I’m from a colonialist country and it is so painful that even that fact alone wasn’t dealt with in detail during history lessons in school. Let alone all that it implies, what it did to other Peoples, to the land… and that we have a responsibility, a lot of work to do, in fully understanding what we have done and unfortunately still do, in acknowledging, apologising, restoring and building relations, sitting with what our ancestors, my ancestors, have done. Yet I do realise we all have our own bundles to pick up. Which is good: we all have a place to start and we all have different parts to play. I dearly hope many more people will pick up their bundles and start doing their work.
Highly recommend this book. I’m humbled by Krawec’s work and words.
I’ve learned a lot from this book. I feel all the more inspired to pick up my bundle, to talk about this with others, see where I can build relations, to notice absence and convert that to presence, find where and how I can support…
I’m from a colonialist country and it is so painful that even that fact alone wasn’t dealt with in detail during history lessons in school. Let alone all that it implies, what it did to other Peoples, to the land… and that we have a responsibility, a lot of work to do, in fully understanding what we have done and unfortunately still do, in acknowledging, apologising, restoring and building relations, sitting with what our ancestors, my ancestors, have done. Yet I do realise we all have our own bundles to pick up. Which is good: we all have a place to start and we all have different parts to play. I dearly hope many more people will pick up their bundles and start doing their work.
Highly recommend this book. I’m humbled by Krawec’s work and words.
February 15, 2023
In less than two hundred pages, Patty Krawac packs a mighty perspective-shifting power that I did not anticipate in the slightest, but now deeply appreciate. As I write this, I'm still very much processing her thoughts on identity, relationships, and the forces of settler colonialism. But as busy as my mind currently is, I do have the mental bandwidth to say this with confidence - this feels like the kind of book that should be widespread reading in high school or college classes. In the meantime though, I'm going to at least do my part to try and get copies of Becoming Kin on the shelves of both my local public library, and the academic library where I work.
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