As the days get shorter and fall weather sets in, we are excited to share another round of recommendations and new releases from Indigenous writers, artists and filmmakers. This season’s choices offer reflections on storytelling, relationships, and spaces of resistance and healing. Here are a few of our team’s current favourites.
This post is part of our “What We’re Watching” series, which highlights books, films, shows, and music by Indigenous writers and artists across the country. Check out our last edition here.
Do you have any recommendations? Let us know!
BOOK
We Survived the Night: An Indigenous Reckoning | Julian Brave NoiseCat
To live a life in an Indigenous way is a kind of profound thing, and it has been really beautiful to get to make art and tell stories from that position.
Image credit: Penguin Random House
Cover Artist: Jaune Quick-to-See-Smith
In his debut novel, Secwépemc author Julian Brave NoiseCat writes about history, survival, and his relationship with his father. The novel is at once a memoir and an exploration in storytelling, incorporating Coyote trickster oral histories by using what NoiseCat describes as a Secwépemc story structure. In an interview with NPR’s Fresh Air podcast, he talks about the inspiration behind the book and his decision to move in with his father for two years while writing it.
NoiseCat is also a filmmaker and is known for co-directing the Oscar-nominated 2024 documentary, Sugarcane.
We Survived the Night was published on October 14. Find it at your local independent bookstore.
DOCUMENTARY
Nechako: It Will Be a Big River Again | Directed by Lyana Patrick
Within the stories of the people is a story that resonates with many other communities, particularly Indigenous Nations who have had their lands colonized and destroyed by industry, and yet who have continued to survive, and to speak their language, and to pass on what they know to future generations.
Image credit: Sean Stiller (photography), National Film Board, Lantern Films, and Experimental Forest Films
This feature documentary recounts the Stellat’en and Saik’uz Nations’ decades-long efforts to protect and restore the Nechako River from the impacts of a major dam and reservoir. Drawing on community interviews and footage spanning several years, Stellat’en director Lyana Patrick traces the Nations’ legal action against Rio Tinto Alcan through the relationships and personal experiences of families and community members.
Nechako was co-produced by Lantern Films, Experimental Forest Films, and the National Film Board (NFB) of Canada. The film was recognized with an Honourable Mention at its premiere at the DOXA Documentary Film Festival in May of this year.
Upcoming screenings are being held in several cities this month and Nechako will be available to watch on NFB starting November 17. The NFB is also offering free bookable screenings for organizations or communities here.
MUSIC
Further from the Country | William Prince
That’s what I’m always in pursuit of — keeping up with my heroes in that sense — but at the same time being unafraid to be my authentic self.
Image credit: Six Shooter Records
Country folk singer William Prince is back with his newly released fifth album, Further from the Country. The album, which came out October 17, leans into folk rock, with lyrics that explore personal life transitions, family, and navigating grief and loss. Prince is a two-time Juno award-winning artist from Peguis First Nation.
Listen to an interview with Prince for excerpts from the album’s tracks and reflections on how his music is shaped by his experiences growing up at Peguis.
Prince starts a Canada-wide tour for his new album on February 28, 2026. Buy tickets or a copy of his new album on his website.
For more reading and watching recommendations about Indigenous rights, check out First Peoples Law’s reading lists.
First Peoples Law is a law firm dedicated to defending and advancing the rights of Indigenous Peoples in Canada. We work closely with First Nations to defend their Aboriginal title, rights and Treaty rights, uphold their Indigenous laws and governance and ensure economic prosperity for their members.
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