[3] Passing down oral tradition takes great care on the part of the storyteller, as the moral of the tale and its underlying truth must be retold accurately.
[3] Oral tradition may take the form of songs, prayers, spiritual teachings and stories, shaping the everyday life of the community and the individual's sense of identity.
[5] Today, many Indigenous societies rely on oral tradition as a tool for expression and knowledge transmission, despite having adopted written literature.
A trickster figure who outsmarts many self-serving characters, Glooscap appears in the Creation Story and "Muin, the Bear's Child".
[1] She writes about the loss and resilience of her culture, themes which appear poems such as "I lost my talk" and "Wen net ki’l - Who are you?".
[8] Mohawk traditions, beliefs and worldview are founded upon the Creation Story, the Great Law of Peace, the concept of the Seventh Generation, the Two Row Wampum Treaty and the Confederacy.
[1] Cloud's "Weaver’s Spider’s Web" features the Coyote, a trickster figure, and a powerful woman, an important symbol in Longhouse cultures.
[1] A century-old oral tradition has been documented in collections by Basil Johnston such as Ojibway Heritage, Tales the Elders Told, and Sacred Legends.
[1] Author George Copway (1818–69) wrote an autobiography titled The Life, History, and Travels of Kah-ge-gah-bowh (1847) telling a story of an Indigenous person having been converted to Christianity.
[1] Drew Hayden Taylor addresses Indigenous identity and other topics in his plays such as Toronto at Dreamers’ Rock, and essays like "Pretty Like a White Boy: The Adventures of a Blue Eyed Ojibway".
The program recommends literature that encourages family literacy as well as storytelling and information sharing that affects several generations.
[9][10] Darrell Dennis, in his book Peace, Pipe Dreams, won the Periodical Marketers of Canada Aboriginal Literature Award for 2015–2016.
Wagamese's book showcases the terrors of residential schools and illuminates ice hockey, a popular sport in Canada, in a positive light.
[13] In 2014, Thomas King's book, The Inconvient Indian: a Curious Account of Native People in North America, won the Burt Award.
[15] Bev Sellar’s popular book They Called Me Number One: Secrets and Survival at an Indian Residential School, has won many awards.
Katherena Vermette won the Governor General’s Literary Award in 2013 for her poetry book, "North End Love Songs".
The Indigenous Voices Awards were created in 2017, in response to a controversy that arose a group of Canadian writers were criticized for campaigning on Twitter in favour of a prize supporting cultural appropriation.
[19] In response, Toronto lawyer Robin Parker launched a crowdfunding campaign to create a new prize for First Nations, Métis and Inuit writers in Canada.
[21] In 2000, The Shaman's Nephew: A Life in the Far North, written by Sheldon Oberman and illustrated by Inuit artist Simon Tookoome, won the Norma Fleck Award for Canadian Children's Non Fiction.
The four chapter picture book recounts Loyie's childhood in Northern Alberta and addresses themes such as Cree culture and residential schools.