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Julian Brave NoiseCat’s childhood was rich with culture and contradictions. When his Secwépemc and St’at’imc father, an artist haunted by a turbulent past, abandoned the family, he and his non-Native mother were embraced by the urban Native community in Oakland, California, as well as by family on the Canim Lake Indian Reserve in British Columbia. In his father’s absence, NoiseCat immersed himself in Native history and culture to understand the man he seldom saw—his past, his story, where he came from—and, by extension, himself.

Drawing from five years of on-the-ground reporting, We Survived the Night paints a profound and unforgettable portrait of contemporary Indigenous life, alongside an intimate and deeply powerful reckoning between a father and a son.

The CJF hosted the Canadian launch of We Survived the Night, the debut book from writer, journalist, Oscar-nominated filmmaker, champion powwow dancer, and student of Salish art and history Julian Brave NoiseCat, published by Penguin Random House Canada. NoiseCat opened his box of treasures, sharing the stories and memories that shape his work, then sat down with award-winning journalist, author, and filmmaker Tanya Talaga for a rare and powerful conversation—an evening of storytelling, reflection, and connection.

Through this dialogue, two of the most influential Indigenous voices in contemporary storytelling explored the intersections of memory, identity, and truth-telling — and how these threads shape both personal narrative and community understanding.

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