Calling Down the Sky is a poetry collection that describes deep personal experiences and post-generational effects of the Canadian Aboriginal Residential School confinements in the 1960’s when thousands of First Nations, Métis, and Inuit children were placed in these schools against their parents’ wishes. Many were forbidden to speak their language and practice their own culture. Rosanna Deerchild exposes how the Residential Schools systematically undermined Aboriginal culture across Canada and disrupted families for generations, severing the ties through which Aboriginal culture is taught and sustained, and contributing to a general loss of language and culture. The devastating effects of the residential schools are far-reaching and continue to have significant impact on Aboriginal communities. Calling Down the Sky was shortlisted for the League of Canadian Poets’ Pat Lowther Memorial Award, the Manitoba Book Award – Lansdowne Prize for Poetry, and the McNally Robinson Book of the Year Award.

A Cree edition of this book titled î-nitotamahk kîsik (translated by Solomon Ratt) is also available.

“Rosanna Deerchild’s poems roll off the tongue as easy as old country songs. With her deft hand, Deerchild finely tunes every word and weaves them together as intimately as she braids her girls’ hair. Together, these poems create a story that sings with beautiful tension, amazing resilience, and love as big as the sky.”

                                                                        ~ KATHERENA VERMETTE, MÉTIS WRITER

                                                                           WINNER OF THE 2013 GOVERNOR GENERAL’S AWARD FOR POETRY

"The poetry collection, called calling down the sky, describes personal experiences with the residential school system in the 1950s and the generational effects it had."

                                                                        ~ CBC

"Rosanna Deerchild’s second book of poetry, calling down the sky, is a poetically and narratively powerful collection in which Deerchild bears witness to her mother’s experience in residential school, the long-term impacts of that trauma, and both women's resiliency."

                                                                       ~ PRAIRIE FIRE

"It is a moving, lyrical document of suffering, survival, aftermath, and love."

                                                                       ~ PRAIRIE BOOKS NOW

"This poetry collection is fierce, raw and candid. It is also visceral, intricate and, above all, illuminating. By recounting her mother’s residential school experience in a powerfully poetic narrative, Deerchild expertly illustrates the heartbreaking trauma of that tragic saga and how it complicates relationships over generations. By beautifully and elaborately exploring those relationships and that devastating history, she finds and celebrates the resilient and hopeful spirit that many residential school survivors, like her mother, have managed to retain in the face of horror and torment. As a result, calling down the sky is an essential read in understanding the true modern history of this land and in honouring the people who survived it.”

                                                                       ~ WAUBGESHIG RICE, ANISHINAABE WRITER

                                                                          AUTHOR OF LEGACY AND MIDNIGHT SWEATLODGE                   

“Calling Down the Sky is a collection of poetic confessions shared within the sacred relationship known as mother-daughter. Rosanna bravely travels down personal roads full of emotional time-bombs, surprise road-blocks, good ol’ jukebox songs and bittersweet memories. This is more than thumbing our way through her family photo album, this is rich cinema in verse, a true tribute to a heroine and a love letter to her ‘mama’. Only with this bond can the writer ingest and interpret a loved one’s pain to say ‘See, I survived with you, and the proof is right here.’ Perhaps the word hasn’t been invented yet to describe the kind of compassion and empathy Rosanna Deerchild evoked to present this collection, but most high spiritual experiences reside outside ordinary understanding. Be prepared to have your vibration raised.”

                                                                      ~ JANET ROGERS, MOHAWK/TUSCARORA WRITER

                                                                         CITY OF VICTORIA POET LAUREATE