Thunder Through My Veins: Memories of a Métis Childhood

Fritz Pannekoek is an associate professor of heritage studies and
director of information resources at the University of Calgary. He is
also the author of A Snug Little Flock: The Social Origins of the Riel
Resistance of 1869–70.

Thunder Through My Veins is a powerful exploration of the author’s
troubled childhood and adolescence. His mother’s denial of his Métis
heritage and growing up in an environment of drugs and alcohol are among
the challenges recounted in the book. Scofield finally discovers his
heritage at Batoche. “Back to Batoche Days,” the annual celebration
of Métisness and the National Historic Park’s interpretation of the
Métis and their leadership in 1885, instils in the author an incredible
sense of pride and destiny. He is led there by Métis and Cree women who
have kept the proud flame of Métis culture alive. This important book
reveals more than the soul of the author as he journeys to
self-discovery; it also exposes the bigotry and crushing insensitivity
of the Canadian bureaucracy.