Rewriting History

For decades, Tanya Talaga has told overlooked, underreported stories about Indigenous people. But in her latest project, the Anishinaabe journalist is telling her own.

- Jolene Banning

TANYA TALAGA walks through the doors of Charlie's Pizza, a small restaurant within Bannon's Gas Bar in Fort William First Nation, wearing a huge smile. The mood is light, and when we meet, she greets me with a warm hug. That's because today is a homecoming of sorts for the journalist, author and documentarian: She's back in her home nation, where I live, for the community premiere of her docuseries The Knowing.

This initial screening-ahead of its major showing at the Toronto International Film Festival some weeks later-is symbolic. Talaga's roots in this area span decades: Her mom was born in Thunder Bay, Ont., and raised in Graham, Ont., in the traditional territory of Treaty Nine.

While Talaga herself was born and raised in Toronto, she spent her childhood summers in Raith, Ont., near Thunder Bay, fishing, snaring rabbits, picking berries, foot-loose and fancy-free on her homelands. In many ways, The Knowing-both the documentary and Talaga's acclaimed third book by the same name, which was released in August-blends her history on this First Nation and her future in Toronto. From her early days as a newspaper reporter and through the authoring of her first two books, Talaga has spent her career covering overlooked communities and holding people with power to account. Now, with the Knowing, Talaga turns her reportage inward, searching for the lost history of her great-great grandmother, Annie Carpenter. It takes the award-winning writer full circle, from her home reserve to her home in Toronto. This is Talaga at her best: telling First Nations stories the way they ought to be told.