Ninan (Tiohtiá:ke, Montreal)

Exiled from his community, a young Innu man finds himself adrift on the streets of Montreal.

Released from prison after ten years spent behind bars for the murder of his violent, alcoholic father, Élie Mestenapeo finds himself out in the world again, but alone. Banished for life from his community, Nutashkuan, he heads south to Montreal, where he becomes part of a new community—Cree, Nakota, Inuit, Innu, Mohawk, and Atikamekw come together in Cabot Square. There, Élie meets Mary and Tracy, Inuuk twin sisters who take him under their wing; Jimmy, a Nakota man who hands out hot meals to those the city has forgotten; and Mafia Doc, an aging, self-proclaimed nurse who refuses to abandon his tent even as winter’s brutal cold descends. When old wounds threaten to reopen, Élie’s loved ones worry what a search for truth might do to him and the community around him.

In this deeply compassionate novel, Michel Jean gives voice to those living on society’s margins. With tenderness and unflinching honesty, he reveals lives scarred by violence and addiction but also sustained by resilience, kinship, and the faint, persistent light of hope.