KPU welcomes new Indigenous writer in residence

Katłįà (Catherine) Lafferty is an activist from the Yellowknives Dene First Nation in the Northwest Territories. She joins Kwantlen Polytechnic University as its new Indigenous writer in residence.

Lafferty, who holds a law degree in Indigenous legal orders from the University of Victoria, will be working both on campus and virtually, as she is based in Victoria.

During her three-month term at KPU, Lafferty will support students with their writing by brainstorming, drafting, and editing. 

“I really want to help some of the students with … just having somebody talk to about some of their ideas, the craft, and the publishing industry,” she says.

Lafferty joins KPU as a five-time published author — both with smaller publishing companies and larger publishers like HarperCollins. Her latest book, Mother Earth Is Our Elder: A Northern Indigenous Perspective on the Climate Crisis, was released in April with Penguin Random House Canada.

Written from Lafferty’s point of view, The Globe and Mail bestseller carries the stories, prophecies, and perspectives about the climate crisis and caring for the land from the Dene.

She got the inspiration for the book from travelling across the Northwest Territories and speaking to Dene Elders and knowledge carriers.

“[We] also [talked] about how we should be caring for Mother Earth as humans, caring for animals, and for each other,” Lafferty says. “It’s a philosophical manifesto about what the world could look like if the current systems that we live in collapse.”

Lafferty hopes people who read the book learn that there are other ways to live beyond the ones we were told will happen.

“We have other options, and we need to stand up to try to access those options, live within our means, not place so much emphasis on money, and adapt to our new reality as much as possible,” she says.

Lafferty plans to also teach about Indigenous colonization and history, run community workshops and sharing circles, organize spoken-word nights, and host a book club.

She adds that she wants to learn about KPU’s partnerships with the surrounding First Nations and possibly visit those territories, hold workshops, and build community.

“[I’m] just going with the flow and seeing where I fit.”

This position will give Lafferty the opportunity to write and research her own projects, including a non-fiction novel about a crime in her family from the 1980s.

“I’m doing a lot of research, looking through archival evidence in the courthouse and through the RCMP, so [this residency] gives me the opportunity to do that work.”

As Lafferty steps into her role as Indigenous writer in residence, she hopes to help people understand and recognize where they come from.

“Everyone has a culture. Everyone comes from somewhere, and just tap into that and understand that’s actually a large part of your identity — and we need to honour that and uplift where we come from.”