NATIONAL BESTSELLER: A Globe and Mail and Toronto Star Bestseller

A finalist for the Governor General’s Literary Award and the Writers’ Trust Hilary Weston Prize for Nonfiction.

"A remarkable life story. . . Angela Sterritt is a formidable storyteller and a passionate advocate."—Cherie Dimaline, author of The Marrow Thieves

"Sterritt's story is living proof of how courageous Indigenous women are."—Tanya Talaga, author of Seven Fallen Feathers and All Our Relations

Unbroken is an extraordinary work of memoir and investigative journalism focusing on missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls, written by an award-winning Gitxsan journalist who survived life on the streets against all odds.

As a Gitxsan teenager navigating life on the streets, Angela Sterritt wrote in her journal to help her survive and find her place in the world. Now an acclaimed journalist, she writes for major news outlets to push for justice and to light a path for Indigenous women, girls, and survivors. In her brilliant debut, Sterritt shares her memoir alongside investigative reporting into cases of missing and murdered Indigenous women in Canada, showing how colonialism and racism led to a society where Sterritt struggled to survive as a young person, and where the lives of Indigenous women and girls are ignored and devalued.

Growing up, Sterritt was steeped in the stories of her ancestors: grandparents who carried bentwood boxes of berries, hunted and trapped, and later fought for rights and title to that land. But as a vulnerable young woman, kicked out of the family home and living on the street, Sterritt inhabited places that, today, are infamous for being communities where women have gone missing or been murdered: Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside, and, later on, Northern BC’s Highway of Tears. Sterritt faced darkness: she experienced violence from partners and strangers and saw friends and community members die or go missing. But she navigated the street, group homes, and SROs to finally find her place in journalism and academic excellence at university, relying entirely on her own strength, resilience, and creativity along with the support of her ancestors and community to find her way.

“She could have been me,” Sterritt acknowledges today, and her empathy for victims, survivors, and families drives her present-day investigations into the lives of missing and murdered Indigenous women. In the end, Sterritt steps into a place of power, demanding accountability from the media and the public, exposing racism, and showing that there is much work to do on the path towards understanding the truth. But most importantly, she proves that the strength and brilliance of Indigenous women is unbroken, and that together, they can build lives of joy and abundance.

In Memoriam

Preface: Waiy woh, it is time
A Movement Rises

1 | Adaawk, oral history
Before It Was the Highway of Tears

2 | Nee dii sgithl ts’ixts’ik loo’y, I don’t have a vehicle
She Could Have Been Me

3 | K’emk’emeláy, the place of many maple trees
Fear on the Streets

4 | Nilhchuk-un, those who take us away
Those Who Take Us Away

5 | Nucwstimu, quiet
A Conspiracy of Silence

6 | Gidi guutxwdiit seegidit, caught a killer
To Catch a Serial Killer

7 | ’Et’doonekh, it might happen
Hope

8 | Nin’chím’s, to question someone
The Inquiries

9 | ’Mnsaksit gilelix, going on top
Rising Above

10 | Hilak̄anthl ayookhl lixs gyat,breaker of laws of others
Breaking the Rules

Afterword: A Letter to My Son

Acknowledgements
Notes
Index

Shortlisted for the Writers’ Trust Hilary Weston Prize for Nonfiction

“[A] breathtaking debut...Exposing racism and demanding accountability from the media and the public, Sterritt demonstrates the enduring strength of Indigenous women healing from the trauma of the past.”
—Electric Lit

"Sterritt's story is living proof of how courageous Indigenous women are. Listen to her voice and hear the sound of the land, hear the sound of our women weeping but also raging—refusing to be neglected or ignored any longer."
—Tanya Talaga, author of Seven Fallen Feathers and All Our Relations

"A fierce, necessary, deeply moving book. Sterritt uses her difficult personal journey to frame the terrible history of missing and murdered Indigenous women in Canada. Haunting and illuminating."
—Eden Robinson, author of Son of a Trickster

"Angela Sterritt takes on Canada's deeply flawed justice system, deftly exposing systemic racism and the continuing impacts of colonialism. This book is a compelling read and a well-researched and powerful heart-centered memoir."
—Lorimer Shenher, author of That Lonely Section of Hell

"With facts and humanity, Angela Sterritt effortlessly draws us into this emotional and important read. A courageous Indigenous voice who uses her personal journey to educate all of us about critical and urgent issues we must address, including Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls."
—Jody Wilson-Raybould

"A new clear, compelling, and urgent voice illuminates a critical topic of our times with the passion and profound caring of a devoted sister. A tour de force."
—Darrel McLeod, author of Mamaskatch and Peyakow

"A remarkable life story. . . Angela Sterritt is a formidable storyteller and a passionate advocate."
—Cherie Dimaline, author of The Marrow Thieves

"[A] thought-provoking memoir. . . Beginning with a haunting list of names of Indigenous women and girls who were either murdered or missing along the Highway of Tears, the book tells the stories of such ignored and abused victims. . . The final product is eyeopening, making use of tragic firsthand accounts from grieving families and Sterritt's personal memories, all raw and rich with detail. . . [P]owerful."
—Foreword Reviews