Strong Hearts, Native Lands

“Anna J. Willow has done an outstanding job of giving her readers a close-up view of the Anishnaabe community and how they were able to stand up to industrial logging companies determined to extract their profits from the tracts of timber that once dominated the landscape.”

– John Copley, Alberta Native News

“Strong Hearts, Native Lands is an intriguing study of the meaning of both the land and the protest as identity-shaping forces. Situated in a longer historical context and theoretically informed, it sheds light on the complex nature of twenty-first-century indigenous activism and engages in a number of historical and anthropological debates. This study should be of interest to any scholar considering research in a First Nations setting because of the ethical and methodological musings that inform her work. Finally, and most important, this work records an important achievement through nonviolent means by activists at Grassy Narrows while offering a hopeful vision for the youth of Grassy for whom Willow endeavored to write this work.”

– Seth Adema, Wilfrid Laurier University, H-Net Canada

“Rather than treat the members of the Indigenous community of Grassy Narrows First Nation as victims of the industrial exploitation of forests in their territory, Anna Willow has written a book that attempts to understand the motivation and role of the people who were instrumental in establishing Canada’s longest-lasting blockade, as well as those affected by it.”

– Peggy Smith, Lakehead University, AlterNative