Benjamin and I sat in the middle of one of the large canoes with our grandmother in the stern, directing us past shoals and through rapids and into magnificent stretches of water. One day the clouds hung low and light rain freckled the slate-Grey water that peeled across our bow. The pellets of rain were warm and Benjamin and I caught them on our tongues as our grandmother laughed behind us. Our canoes skimmed along and as I watched the shoreline it seemed the land itself was in motion. The rocks lay lodged like hymns in the breast of it, and the trees bent upward in praise like crooked fingers. It was glorious. Ben felt it too. He looked at me with tears in his eyes, and I held his look a long time, drinking in the face of my brother.

— Richard Wagamese

I discovered that being someone you are not is often easier than living with the person you are.

— Richard Wagamese

The head has no answers, and the heart has no questions, Jack would say." Quoting his teacher and good friend Jack Breakaway

— Richard Wagamese

There was a feeling in him like waiting for a punishment.

— Richard Wagamese

They scooped out our insides, Saul. We're not responsible for that. We're not responsible for what happened to us. None of us are. Fred said. But our healing--that's up to us. That's what saved me. Knowing it was my game.

— Richard Wagamese

We need mystery. Creator in her wisdom knew this. Mystery fills us with awe and wonder. They are the foundations of humility, and humility is the foundation of all learning. So we do not seek to unravel this. We honor it by letting it be that way forever.” The quote of a grandmother explaining The Great Mystery of the universe to her grandson.

— Richard Wagamese