There were incredibly complex societies already existing in North America long before Europeans arrived. So many people think that before European contact it was just Natives huddling around a fire, waiting for civilization to come save them. But that was not the case.

I believe truly that Canada is a living history and we're going through some of the most important time in this country's short 150 years.

I'm fascinated by the magic realism used by many writers. I think it goes hand-in-hand with the Indian experience. It's a very different way of viewing the world.

From a craft standpoint, telling a story in the first-person present tense over the course of 500 pages is a daunting challenge.

We all fight on two fronts, the one facing the enemy, the one facing what we do to the enemy.

Canada and America are very, very different. It's true that we share a language and many customs. But Americans have a very different view of the world.

When I die, nieces, I want to be cremated, my ashes taken up in a bush plane and sprinkled onto the people in town below. Let them think my body is snowflakes, sticking in their hair and on their shoulders like dandruff.