‘Talk Treaty To Me’ brings Relationality to the forefront of Treaty conversation

CKLB spoke with authors of Talk Treaty To Me, Crystal Fraser and Sara Komarnisky on their recent success, writing process and how in their new publication they give key focus to sharing fundamental principles of Treaty making as humans, to our treaties with the Earth, non-human relations, and our treaty with Creation – with ourselves. 

They shared a bit on the title, which is a cheeky but affective allusion to the invitation this book represents – not a demand, but how a good conversation, hot cup of tea in hand, at your favourite knowledgeable relative’s kitchen table, might feel. Intimate, safe, and wisdom-filled. 

“The title came about after a call we had with our editor” said Komarnisky, “and and our and our agent. We were sharing the outline of the book and talking about, you know, this potential book that was going to be out in the world someday. And I think, you know, we talked about wanting something really evocative, and something that, you know, people might not typically pick up a book about treaties, would feel drawn in by, feel interested in, want to learn more about.” 

Sarah and Crystal had been longtime collaborators, after initially publishing ‘150 Acts of Reconciliation in 2017 which was “not only an initiative to remind Canadians about reconciliation, about truth” said Fraser, but “the fact that the 94 calls to action and the TRC had just wrapped up like 18 months before Canada’s 100 and 50th birthday, but also because we were very frustrated with the level of nationalism and celebration in Canada during that time.”

“Indigenous peoples have known how to to make these mutually beneficial and lasting agreements,” said Kormaninsky. “They’ve known how to do this for for millennia, right? And they brought this knowledge into treaty making with newcomers. It’s the newcomers who didn’t see it that way. Chose not to. And instead, you know, chose to rely on the paper and the court of law. And I think that leads to the second intervention, then, that it is a challenge for all of us to to bring, to bring, to bring knowledge about treaties, and especially like the kind of relationality inherent to it, back into our ways of relating to each other.

“It’s hard to reach everyone,” Fraser said “because when we think about treaty it. It is so personal, and this is kind of where my own story comes in. You know, I moved to treaty six lands about 20 years ago, and prior to that, I actually didn’t have a good working understanding of what treaty is. I mean, growing up in Inuvik and in Tsiigehtchic and tree River, our fish camp, we didn’t necessarily center relationality or governance in in the concept of treaty, at least not using that word. When thinking about treaty, I mean, we do really have to have a broad, a broad concept, and it is going to mean something different to everyone. Now, this is where it gets a little bit complicated, because we also can’t dilute the concept of treaty to just anything. I mean it, it is. You know, we’ve heard so many words over the last six weeks talking to people.”

CRYSTAL GAIL FRASER is Gwichyà Gwich’in (and of English-Scottish ancestry), originally from Inuvik, Northwest Territories. She holds a PhD in Canadian history and is an associate professor in history and Indigenous studies at the University of Alberta. Crystal is a community-engaged scholar of Indian residential schooling histories and recently published By Strength, We Are Still Here: Indigenous Peoples and Indian Residential Schooling in Inuvik, Northwest Territories, winner of many awards, notably the prestigious Canadian Historical Association’s Best Scholarly Book in Canadian History Prize and the 2025 Governor-General’s Award for Excellence in Scholarly Research.

SARA KOMARNISKY is a settler of Ukrainian, Irish, and Italian ancestry who grew up in Holden, Alberta. She holds a PhD in anthropology from the University of British Columbia, where she was a Vanier Scholar. Sara is a researcher and public scholar based in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories. She is author of Mexicans in Alaska: An Ethnography of Mobility, Place, and Transnational Life.

Together, Crystal Gail Fraser and Sara Komarnisky authored “150 Acts of Reconciliation” in 2017. Many of these are small, everyday acts that average Canadians can undertake, while others are more provocative and intended to encourage people to think about Indigenous–settler relationships in new ways. Their new book, Talk Treaty to Me: Understanding the Basics of Treaties and Land in Canada (2026), expands this public-facing work by offering an accessible and grounded guide to understanding treaties and land in Canada. Since its release, Talk Treaty to Me has become a national bestseller in Canadian non-fiction.