Translated from the French into English by Phyllis Aronoff.

This bilingual work (English and Innu-aimun) is an invitation to dialogue. Message sticks are the signs that allow the nomadic Innu to orient themselves inland and find their way. The poetry brings the language of the nutshimit (the back country) to life again, recalling the sound of the drum. Simple and beautiful, Joséphine Bacon’s poetry is an homage to the land, the ancestors, and the Innu-aimun language. Charting unwritten history, it provides a vision into the intensity of the elders’ words.

“Joséphine Bacon has written a moving and necessary collection of poems.”
–Tristan Malavoy-Racine, Voir

“Bâtons à message / Tshissinuatshitakana, Joséphine Bacon’s first collection of poetry, is one of those books you want to give to a friend, saying, “Here, drink in this light.'”
–Denise Brassard, Inter, art actuel

“It is rare that one reads a poet as refined and precise as Bacon, a poet with an authentic and personal voice who truly has something to say, a message to transmit and share.”
–Jean-Sébastien Ménard, Terra Nova

“On the brink of catastrophe, the poet always finds the way of beauty.”
–Jade Bérubé, La Presse