The Reason You Walk
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The Reason You Walk
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Narrated by:
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Wab Kinew
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Written by:
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Wab Kinew
About this listen
A moving father-son reconciliation told by a charismatic First Nations broadcaster, musician, and activist.
When his father was given a diagnosis of terminal cancer, Winnipeg broadcaster and musician Wab Kinew decided to spend a year reconnecting with the accomplished but distant aboriginal man who'd raised him. The Reason You Walk spans the year 2012, chronicling painful moments in the past and celebrating renewed hopes and dreams for the future. As Kinew revisits his own childhood in Winnipeg and on a reserve in Northern Ontario, he learns more about his father's traumatic childhood at residential school.
An intriguing doubleness marks The Reason You Walk, a reference to an Anishinaabe ceremonial song. Born to an Anishinaabe father and a non-native mother, he has a foot in both cultures. He is a Sundancer, an academic, a former rapper, a hereditary chief, and an urban activist. His father, Tobasonakwut, was both a beloved traditional chief and a respected elected leader who engaged directly with Ottawa. Internally divided, his father embraced both traditional native religion and Catholicism, the religion that was inculcated into him at the residential school where he was physically and sexually abused.
In a grand gesture of reconciliation, Kinew's father invited the Roman Catholic bishop of Winnipeg to a Sundance ceremony in which he adopted him as his brother. Kinew writes affectingly of his own struggles in his 20s to find the right path, eventually giving up a self-destructive lifestyle to passionately pursue music and martial arts. From his unique vantage point, he offers an inside view of what it means to be an educated aboriginal living in a country that is just beginning to wake up to its aboriginal history and living presence.
Invoking hope, healing and forgiveness, The Reason You Walk is a poignant story of a towering but damaged father and his son as they embark on a journey to repair their family bond. By turns lighthearted and solemn, Kinew gives us an inspiring vision for family and cross-cultural reconciliation, and a wider conversation about the future of aboriginal peoples.
Number-one Globe and Mail nonfiction best seller
A Toronto Star nonfiction best seller
Finalist for the RBC Taylor Prize
Shortlisted for the Ontario Library Service North 2017 Louise de Kiriline Award for Nonfiction
©2015 Wab Kinew (P)2017 Penguin CanadaWhat the critics say
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Kelly
- 2022-09-03
Author read is the best!
This book has helped me to better understand what I already know. Definitely a must read that can help build up Indigenous fluidity, for the people and their future!
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Mekhala Sarkar
- 2023-10-01
Please listen to this book
Thank you, Wab Kinew, for your honesty and your powerful insights. Your words will stay with me for a long time. The quest for self-knowledge is never-ending, and we all need examples we can look up to as we walk that path. Yours is one that I think many readers and listeners can learn from. Meegwetch.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- JCooper
- 2022-04-08
must read for everyone
Wab Kinew narrates this incredible, insightful book about his reason for walking, inviting us to do the same. It is full of wisdom and teachings that he shares openly to us all. I am a non-native Sundancer and first generation settler of european parents and have children whose father is Dene. This book has helped in understanding their father who was put in residential school in Alberta and has suffered greatly with the trauma from those experiences and the racism and oppression that has continued throughout his life.
With much gratitude - Pilamyayelo
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Andrea Cardinal
- 2025-04-13
The Characters Stand Out
I loved the characters and how they were developed. I thought this book would bore me, but I couldn't put it down. I went from cover to cover, which is rare for me. The author kept me entertained with how the story and ita characters developed. I loved it. Danielle Steel, you did it again 👏
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- P Bevans
- 2023-10-19
An invitation to walk the path of reconciliation
Engaging, enlightening, uplifting! I was moved to tears more than once, as Wab recounted his experiences, reminded of my privilege, and our shared humanity!
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Kelly Sheret
- 2025-04-03
Honesty Love Wisdom Hope
Thank you Wab for sharing your life, your journey, your innermost workings in your book. I love your honesty your wisdom your hope. I am so proud of you as the Premiere of Manitoba. You are a beautiful soul and have written your history so eloquently thank you again.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Sarah Langford
- 2021-12-09
Beautiful story told by the author
What a beautiful story of love, family and learning about the pain of residential schools and how brave the victims were. It’s also about family, tradition, healing and courage. It’s lovely hearing the language spoken and sung by the author as well. Highly recommend this book to every Canadian. I hope we all can learn about honouring our loved ones from this book.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Richard Wesley
- 2021-05-06
excellent listen
easy to listen and follow along. kept myself captivated throughout the whole story. 💯loved it
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Jeanette M.
- 2020-10-03
Powerful Story
A really beautiful walk through the evolution of both Wab and his father. I feel like I learned a lot about Canada and the Anishnaabe people as well as the bit of Ontario I lived in for almost a decade, all while being carried in the personal, yet universal stories of family.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Christina C.
- 2023-01-02
Excellent storytelling!!
I found listening to this audiobook. It was easy to stay, focussed and engage with the character.
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