by Joseph Boyden
Your 2016 Reader’s Choice Selection
The Amnesty International Book Club is pleased to announce our Readers’ Choice winner for 2016, The Orenda. This novel brings its readers to the traditions, tensions and battles of mid-17th century Canada. Boyden alternates between three key perspectives: that of Bird, a respected elder warrior in the Huron nation who is haunted by the loss of his family and a desire for revenge; Snow Falls, a gifted Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) girl who is kidnapped and made to become the daughter of Bird after her family is slaughtered; and Jesuit missionary, Christophe, who has found himself trapped in a war during his mission to lead the Huron to Christ.
Beyond the powerful storytelling, The Orenda links the mismanagement of resources, reckless ambition, and the disregard for Indigenous rights in Canada today. This guide will examine current initiatives to help address rights violations experienced by Indigenous peoples in Canada, and how the novel illustrates these themes.
Click below to download the discussion guide.
About the Author
Joseph Boyden
Joseph Boyden’s first novel, Three Day Road, won numerous awards including the Rogers Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize and the McNally Robinson Aboriginal Book of the Year. His second novel, Through Black Spruce, was awarded the Scotiabank Giller Prize and named the Canadian Booksellers Association Book of the Year; it also earned him the CBA’s Author of the Year Award. The Orenda was a finalist for the Governor General’s English Language Prize and the Scotiabank Giller Award, and won the Libris Book of the Year Award. In 2012, Boyden received the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal for his contributions to Canadian art and culture. Boyden is a member of the creative writing faculty at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada, and at the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe, New Mexico. He divides his time between Northern Ontario and Louisiana.
