Surviving the City Series

by Angélique Roy

Surviving the City is a three-volume young adult graphic novel series set in Winnipeg, Manitoba. It is written by Tasha Spillett, an Afro-Indigenous educator, public speaker, and scholar of Cree and Trinidadian descent, whose passion is to advocate for Indigenous women and women of colour and to create supportive, joyful worlds for children within her work. All three volumes are illustrated by Natasha Donovan, a Métis and white illustrator from Vancouver known for her work in children’s literature and graphic novels. The series follows two teenage best friends, Miikwan, who is Anishinaabe, and Dez, who is Inninew (or Cree in English), as they move through grief, identity, and community across the three volumes. The series engages with complex topics in an approachable way and highlights the beauty of Indigenous culture and language.

Volume 1 introduces readers to Miikwan and Dez as they navigate adolescence and the challenges of growing up together. Dez’s grandmother, her kokum in Cree, is ill and she faces the possibility of being placed in a group home. Miikwan is coping with the absence of her mother, who is implied to be among the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls, and Two-Spirit People (MMIWG2S). Volume 2: From the Roots Up, takes place after the death of Dez’s kokum. She is now living in a group home and discovering her identity as a Two-Spirit person, while Miikwan works to understand how to support her. Volume 3: We Are the Medicine, broadens the story’s scope to include the legacy of residential schools set against the context of the 2021 discovery of the remains of 215 children at the former Kamloops Indian Residential School. The teens grapple with collective grief and begin to find avenues for healing through community.

Surviving the City addresses mental health and well‑being through the lived experiences of present-day teenagers. Grief and trauma are central to the series and are conveyed through the characters’ everyday lives rather than clinical language or settings. The central public health concern in Vol. 1 is the crisis MMIWG2S. A 2023 report by Statistics Canada indicates that First Nations, Métis, and Inuit women and girls experience homicide at a rate six times higher than that of non‑Indigenous women and girls. Indigenous women accounted for 24% of all female homicide victims in Canada between 2015 and 2020, while comprising roughly 5% of the female population. The Final Report of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls issued 231 Calls for Justice aimed at transforming government, social service, and institutional responses nationwide. Although the Surviving the City series does not directly present these statistics within the narrative, the backmatter in this volume offers helpful context through the inclusion of an author’s note, data from a variety of sources, and a selected bibliography for readers seeking additional information. One theme that is implied but not explicitly discussed in the first volume is the in Canada; that is, in the Canadian child welfare system.

Vol. 2, From the Roots Up, introduces Two-Spirit identity, an Indigenous term that describes people who carry both feminine and masculine spirits or who hold a distinct gender identity within their cultural traditions. As Dez begins to explore her own gender and sexuality, Miikwan initially struggles to understand what her friend is experiencing but grows in understanding through the events that take place over course of the book. After her grandmother’s death, Dez is living in a group home and struggles to accept a reality she had feared in the previous volume. We are introduced to two new characters who become significant to Miikwan and Dez: Kacey, a fellow group home resident who will enter a relationship with Dez, and Riel, a new student whose brother was killed by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and who becomes a love interest for Miikwan. Riel challenges authority both in the classroom and the after‑school program by confronting practices that exclude Indigenous perspectives and Two‑Spirit people. His refusal to stand for O Canada and his encouragement for Dez to join the boys and men at the big drum reveals differing reactions from teachers and Elders, prompting the others to reconsider established norms. Guided by the teachings of Riel’s Two‑Spirit aunt, the four central characters deepen their relationships as friends and allies during a Spring solstice Powwow. This volume weaves together themes of identity, customs, and acceptance for both children and adults, as the latter reflect on and reconsider their assumptions about cultural teachings. It also addresses racism and the historical and ongoing treatment of Indigenous peoples by law enforcement and institutions. Across the volume, the four central characters navigate these issues together, strengthening their relationships as friends and allies during a Spring solstice Powwow.

 We Are the Medicine, the third and final volume of the series, centres on the collective grief that follows the discovery of unmarked graves of hundreds of children at a former residential school in British Columbia. As Dez and her girlfriend Kacey, along with Miikwan and her boyfriend, Riel, move through their final year of high school, they face feelings of helplessness, anger, and the need for connection to their culture through community and ceremony. Riel’s Afro‑Indigenous cousin, Ginebig, visits to support the group as they honour residential school victims, but tensions rise when he and Riel join a protest against government inaction on the day of their Powwow. Their subsequent arrest reinforces the series’ exploration of prejudice. Despite the painful realities it addresses, the story concludes with hope as the teens recognize their strength and ability to support one another and their community.

Natasha Donovan’s colour illustrations are integral to the storytelling in each book. One of the most visually striking elements across the first two volumes is the contrast of pale blue guardian figures against hollow‑eyed ill-intentioned creatures. The guardian figures, which appear in the backgrounds of many panels, function as protectors and symbolize the spirits of missing and murdered women and girls, as well as deceased loved ones. In contrast, the creatures represent both the individuals who intend harm and the enduring impacts of colonialism.

Surviving the City Vol. 1, pages 30 and 49; Images from https://www.natashadonovan.com/surviving-the-city

The guardian figures appear throughout the three books while the creatures have all but disappeared by the final volume. The colour palette shifts throughout the series, moving from cooler, more anxious tones that convey the weight and effects of trauma to warmer hues that emphasize moments of community, connection, and healing. Anishinaabemowin (Ojibway) terms are interspersed throughout with captions that translate the terms into English which helps to support reader understanding while integrating Indigenous language within the narrative.

Content considerations: The series addresses MMIWG2S violence, the child welfare system and its links to residential schools, gender identity, racism toward Indigenous youth, and collective grief. Violence is not represented visually, but its impact is felt throughout. As Vol. 3 responds directly to a recent event in Canadian history, its impact may be felt more strongly by readers with personal or familial connections to residential schools.

The series is intended for readers in grades 8–12 (ages 13–18) and is appropriate for that audience as much of the heavier subject matter is implied and not directly presented. The series is relevant for adult readers seeking to understand the effects of colonial structures and intergenerational trauma on Indigenous life in Canada. As a settler Canadian, I found the series accessible and educational, with its themes clearly situated within Canadian history and policy. Readers of all ages may benefit from consulting the author’s backmatter alongside publicly available resources such as the National Inquiry’s final report and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada’s Calls to Action for further context. Teacher Guide for Surviving the City, a companion resource designed by Anishinaabe curriculum developer Christine M’Lot, is available for classroom use covering all three volumes.

 Surviving the City Vol. 1 won the Indigenous Voices Award for Work in an Alternative Format (2019) and was named co-winner of the Eileen McTavish Sykes Award for Best First Book by a Manitoba Author. It was also selected for the American Library Association’s 2020 Rise: A Feminist Book Project List for grades 8 and up and was selected an American Indian Youth Literature Award (AIYLA) 2020 Young Adult Honor Book. The three volumes are published as part of the Debwe Series (debwe meaning to speak the truth) recognizing excellence in Canadian Indigenous writing.

Angélique Roy is a Health Sciences Librarian at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. With a background in art history, she is passionate about linking science with the arts. She developed the small-but-mighty Graphic Medicine collection at the Bracken Health Sciences Library.