NEWFOUNDLAND'S PREMIER PUBLISHER SINCE 1973

    My Indian and Suliewey

    Banner image of detail from front cover of Suliewey, including title text, author names, a callout noting the book is available in accessible ebook and audiobook formats, and the following text: "Rich in oral history, the description of traditional ceremonies and sacred medicines, the use of the Mi'kmaw language and the teachings of two-spirit, place readers on the land and embed them in the strong relationships described throughout the book."

    Cover image of My Indian including commissioned painting by Mi'kmaq artist Jerry Evans, featuring Sylvester Joe at camp with William Cormack.

    Cover features handmade traditional neckpiece with seven pieces of silver, seven eagle talons, and seven red stones.

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    Suliewey Book Club Questions (coming soon)
    In 1822, William Epps Cormack sought the expertise of a guide who could lead him across Newfoundland in search of the last remaining Beothuk camps on the island. In his journals, Cormack refers to his guide only as “My Indian.”


    Now, almost two hundred years later, Mi’sel Joe and Sheila O’Neill reclaim the story of Sylvester Joe, the Mi’kmaw guide engaged by Cormack. In a remarkable feat of historical fiction, My Indian follows Sylvester Joe from his birth (in what is now known as Miawpukek First Nation) and early life in his community to his journey across the island with Cormack.

    But will Sylvester Joe lead Cormack to the Beothuk, or will he protect the Beothuk and lead his colonial explorer away?

    In rewriting the narrative of Cormack’s journey from the perspective of his Mi’kmaw guide, My Indian reclaims Sylvester Joe’s identity.
    Suliewey: The Sequel to My Indian continues the story of Mi’kmaw guide Sylvester Joe, whose traditional name is Suliewey, as he seeks out the last remaining Beothuk community.

    In My Indian, Sylvester was hired by William Cormack in 1822 to guide him across Newfoundland in search of Beothuk encampments. In fact, he followed the advice of his Elders and guided Cormack away from the Beothuk.

    In this sequel, having parted ways with Cormack at St. George’s Bay, Sylvester decides to go out on his own, in search of the winter camp of the last of the remaining Beothuk.

    Written as fiction by two Mi’kmaw authors, Suliewey supports Mi’kmaw oral history of friendly relationships with the Beothuk.The novel reclaims the settler narrative that the Beothuk and the Mi’kmaq of Newfoundland were enemies and represents an existing kinship between the Mi’kmaq and the Beothuk.
      
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