Andrew Stobo Sniderman and Douglas Sanderson recognized by Quebec Writers Federation, High Plain Awards

Andrew Stobo Sniderman and Douglas Sanderson (Amo Binashii) have been recognized by the Quebec Writers Federation (QWF) and High Plains Book Awards for their co-authored book, Valley of the Birdtail: An Indian Reserve, a White Town, and the Road to Reconciliation.

Sanderson is Swampy Cree, Beaver clan, of the Opaskwayak Cree Nation and is a professor, Prichard Wilson Chair in Law and Public Policy and decanal adviser on Indigenous issues at the University of Toronto's Faculty of Law. Sniderman is a Faculty of Law alumnus who is a writer, lawyer, and Rhodes Scholar from Montreal. 

Their book garnered QWF’s 2023 Concordia University First Book Prize and 2023 Mavis Gallant Prize for Non-Fiction. “Down-to-earth, colloquially vibrant, seamlessly and impressively structured, Valley of the Birdtail welcomes the reader inside the history, realities, and emotions of people we have likely never met [but] are very happy to know,” QWF jurors wrote in a press release.

Valley of the Birdtail also won in the Indigenous writer category at the 2023 High Plains Awards. Organized by the Billings Public Library in Montana, the awards recognize works that reflect life on the High Plains of the U.S. and Canada.

The book previously picked up the Stubbendieck Great Plains Distinguished Book Prize and a J.W. Dafoe Book Prize.