One of the most exciting and engaging ways that Indigenous writing has been a tool for healing is in language revitalization. The first story in Moccasin Square Gardens opens with the lines, “I wanna tell you a beautiful story, and I’ve been waiting for someone very special to tell it to.” It’s hard not to see the meta-cue here. In his new short-story collection, Moccasin Square Gardens, Van Camp lets the light of these people shine out, beautifully detailing their inner and outer worlds: the dirt and barriers they face alongside the love and community that have made them resilient warriors and survivors ripe with stories to tell. Van Camp is a consummate storyteller of the Dene nation, in Denendeh, the land north of the 60th parallel, known by its colonial epithet “The Northwest Territories.” His stories, then, focus on these people, the Tłįcho (or “Dogrib”) living in and around the fictional Fort Simmer, his hometown of Fort Smith and the areas in orbit of these towns. However, one would be remiss to end the story there. Richard Van Camp, the celebrated Tłįcho storyteller, may be best known for his novel, The Lesser Blessed, or his involvement with the CBC program, North of 60.
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