Suzanne Methot

Suzanne works as an editor, content reviewer, and sensitivity reader for book publishers and post-secondary institutions.

LATEST BOOK

Legacy: Trauma, Story, and Indigenous Healing

A provocative and empathetic exploration of intergenerational trauma and strategies for healing, for Indigenous and non-Indigenous readers.

Healing from intergenerational trauma looks different for each person and each community, but it begins with story — because stories make the world. What we tell and how we tell it shapes who we are and what we hope to become. But healing from colonial trauma is not just work for Indigenous people. Non-Indigenous people must also re-write the narrative of genocide and oppression, working with Indigenous peoples to create another, better way of living.

In this book, author and educator Suzanne Methot shares her own and others’ stories to trace the roots of colonial trauma and the mechanisms by which trauma has become intergenerational. She also explores Indigenous ways of knowing and being that can lead us toward change. more...less...

“Important background reading in a time of Canada-First Nations clashes.” Margaret Atwood, via Twitter

“This book is accessible, relatable, and full of storytelling about real people. It deeply resonates with me as a traditional counsellor, educator, and Indigenous person. Suzanne Methot, a brave Nehiyaw writer and community helper, takes up the challenges of logically explaining a child’s traumatized brain and body and how these impacts continue into adulthood. Methot also explores Indigenous health-care models, proving that Indigenous values provide solutions. This book uncovers the critical need for legislation that moves from creating ‘a renewed relationship’ with Indigenous peoples to creating real structural change.” Dr. Cyndy Baskin, Mi’kmaq Nation, Associate Professor, School of Social Work, Toronto Metropolitan University

“In her powerful first book, Nehiyaw writer and educator Methot … shows how colonialism set in motion a self-perpetuating cycle of trauma by destroying the support systems inherent to Indigenous societies, thus robbing members of their agency and identities as well as the ability to form the healthy relationships needed for personal development and growth. The helplessness engendered by the disruption of these communities and traditions, Methot argues, leads to anger that finds expression in lateral violence, further weakening community bonds. The application of Indigenous concepts such as the medicine wheel … provides a method for Indigenous peoples to reclaim their stories. A deeply empathetic and inspiring work with insights of value to anyone struggling to overcome personal or communal trauma.” School Library Journal

“Legacy is sure to be found on classroom syllabuses in years to come. It offers Indigenous readers testimony and some tools, and provides non-Indigenous readers depth of scope for understanding the relationships that exist between Indigenous peoples, their nations, and Canada.” Quill & Quire

“This is a really important book, especially for the non-Indigenous, settler population. This book helped me finally understand what reconciliation will take.” Goodreads

“An important addition to the Indigenous library shelf.” Booklist

“This beautifully written book … discusses damaging, toxic patterns of behaviour, thought, and physical illness as a direct result of unresolved grief and loss from colonialism and genocide. In crystal-clear prose, Methot has written a book that is both easy to follow and crucial to read.” Book Marks

“Storytelling often gets us into trouble by creating a limiting narrative of our life, one that can avoid responsibility for our own lack of respect and reciprocity for others in our community. [Methot] cautions readers about getting stuck in old stories of anger, blaming, shaming, projection, righteousness, emotional insulation, vengeance, and rightness. She explains the hazards of binary thinking in a victim versus perpetrator world that misses the continuum so many of us reside on, moving from helplessness to power over. Restorying, or the crafting of a more realistic and positive story of suffering and redemption, can provide a coherent narrative while injecting meaning to past events that eventually can make sense of the craziness we may have endured. The author, in writing this book, restories her life in front of us all. If you are a victim, or a victim who has perpetrated, I recommend you read this book. If you are a therapist it is must reading. This is more than a good read. It is an essential way of knowing, not only about trauma, but an aid to understanding ourselves more deeply.” Geral T. Blanchard, author of Transcending Trauma: Post-Traumatic Growth Following Physical, Sexual, and Emotional Abuse and Ancient Ways: Indigenous Healing Innovations for the 21st Century