Description
Cheryl Parisien is a Red River Métis writer who lives in Winnipeg, Manitoba, in Treaty 1 territory. Her ancestors lived on the river lots of St. Norbert and her roots stretch back to the beginning of the Métis homeland. Loosely based on her family’s history, The Unweaving is her first novel.
Threatened by encroaching colonialism, one Métis family struggles to protect their way of life.
In 1869, the arrival of surveyors from the new Dominion of Canada sends ripples of anxiety through the people of Red River. As the Métis Nation begins negotiating terms for joining Confederation, each member of the Rougeau family adapts in their own way: Clément looks outward, trying to maintain his livelihood as a carter, while his wife, Marienne, looks inward, determined to hold their fracturing family together. Julien, the eldest son, joins Louis Riel to confront the same intruders that so impress his sister, Charlotte. As the Red River Resistance unfolds, the consequences of each choice become heartbreakingly clear.