by Brian Maracle
Penguin Books Canada
8/25/2026, paperbook
SKU: 9781037803437
A deeply personal journey of Indigenous reclamation, belonging, and the power of language.
More than thirty years after its original publication, Back on the Rez remains a landmark work in Indigenous storytelling and self-reclamation. Brian Maracle--journalist, broadcaster, and Mohawk of the Six Nations of the Grand River--tells the deeply honest story of his return to the community he left decades earlier. Trading his life in downtown Toronto for a home on the reserve, he confronts the divide between urban survival and traditional connection, between English and the revitalizing power of the Mohawk language.
This edition speaks directly to a new generation navigating similar crossroads--between cities and communities, colonial systems and cultural renewal, burnout and belonging. At a time when language preservation, land stewardship, and Indigenous resurgence are urgent national priorities, Maracle's reflections are more relevant than ever. He writes not as an expert, but as someone walking back into his culture with humility, curiosity, and clarity.
Unflinching and wise, Back on the Rez offers readers a rare glimpse into what it really means to come home--not just geographically, but spiritually and politically. This is a clear-eyed memoir about what it means to belong and a powerful account of returning not just to a place, but to a way of being.
Reviews:
"Sometimes a writer can prove not only that you can go home again but that you can take readers with you. Brian Maracle has done that with this engaging book about his first year 'back on the rez, ' in his case the Six Nations reserve on the Grand River near Brantford, Ontario....the genuinely moving story of one man's slow, layered discovery of a culture he has never personally experienced....highly readable and of extraordinary value...this is a book that casts light and interest in an area where heretofore there has been little but darkness and indifference." -- The Globe and Mail
"A revelation." -- The Edmonton Journal
"Chalk up the name Brian Maracle as an aboriginal writer whose books you should look for....Back on the Rez, his story of his return to a reserve on which he had not lived for 40 years, is distinguished not only by its relentless honesty but by its engaging humor and elegant prose...an excellent read...highly informative and always interesting....Beautifully written, almost painfully honest...opens a window on a world we know little about." -- The Gazette
About the Author:
Brian Maracle is an award-winning journalist and a member of the Mohawk Nation, originally from the Six Nations of the Grand River Territory near Brantford, Ontario. During the 1970s he worked for Indigenous organizations at the local, provincial, and national levels, and since the early 1980s he has worked as a print and broadcast journalist, specializing in Indigenous issues. He is the former host of CBC's Our Native Land and a former reporter for The Globe and Mail.