Edited by Activist-Educator Leanne Simpson (Nishnaabekwe), Lighting the Eighth Fire is a radical collection of new writing by First Nations scholars that focuses on reclaiming the "physical, political and psychic spaces of freedom". These brilliant essays cover a wide range of issues touching on the current resurgence of Indigenist principles, culture and tradition; the protection of the land and earth-based knowledge; and the decolonization of Indigenous Nations and the Canadian state. As Simpson says in her introduction, "It is about following our own intellectual traditions that are strongly rooted in ancestral values, knowledge and philosophies, and to work with traditional governments and Knowledge Holders." The authors explore ways to honor cultural and political values, and to uphold Indigenous integrity in daily life with the practice of language, ceremony and teachings. The community-based style of writing found here is not often recognized by academia, but the voices in the collection will resonate with Canadians who have an interest in justice and learning about Indigenous solutions to the problems caused by an ongoing Colonial system. We have all been deeply affected by colonization, which seeks to commodify resources and annihilate the land, to separate us from our spiritual connection to the natural world, and to lose the love and trust of each other in the process. In his moving "Opening Words" Taiaiake Alfred (Kahnawake Mohawk) prefaces the anthology with this: "In offering us strong words about ways to reconnect to our lands, cultures and communities, these good minds are teaching us more than how to recover; they are teaching us how to survive and be Indigenous. It is immensely gratifying to witness the regeneration of ancestral wisdom and the rebirth of the warrior spirit that the words in this book represent."
