Rita Joe National Song Project
In her autobiography, Rita Joe challenges indigenous youth to find their voices, share their stories, and celebrate their talents. Inspired by this idea, the National Arts Centre asked the teachers and students in five communities across Canada to create a song based on what “I Lost My Talk” means to them and their community.
Rita Joe | Author Bio
Biography posted by Tepi’ketuek Mi’kmaw Archives.
Rita Joe, 1932 — 2007 | Nova Scotia Museum
Vanguard: 150 years of Remarkable Nova Scotians – Women and Men who Changed and Inspired Nova Scotia, 1867—2017.
I Lost My Talk | Lesson Plan
Lesson Plan from Poetry In Voice/Les voix de la poésie, a registered charity that wants all Canadians to speak poetry.
Rita Joe - Beaton Institute Digital Archives
Source material held at the Beaton Institute that is related to Rita Joe.
Rita Joe Scholarship Fund
Scholarship fund to support Mi’kmaw students pursuing education, Community Foundation of Nova Scotia.
Tribute to Mi’kmaq poet highlights key role arts play in reconciliation - APTN News (Video)
Respect for Rita Joe: Former Halifax poet laureate pens companion piece to famous poem | The Star
I Lost my Talk | Global News (Video)
Residential school took her language away... so Rita Joe used poetry to get her ‘talk’ back.
Public Library Resources
Find these resources and more at your local public library. Contact your library for more information.
The blind man's eyes: new and selected poetry / Rita Joe; edited by Ronald Caplan. Wreck Cove, Nova Scotia: Breton Books, [2015].
For the children / Rita Joe; with woodcuts by Burland Murphy. Wreck Cove, N.S.: Breton Books, c2008. <children>
I lost my talk / Rita Joe. Toronto: Nimbus Publishing, Limited, 2020. <children>
I'm finding my talk / words by Rebecca Thomas; art by Pauline Young. Halifax, NS: Nimbus Publishing, 2019. <children>
A companion poem to Rita Joe’s famous poem, responded by Rebecca Thomas, along with another set of paintings.
Lnu and Indians we're called / Rita Joe. Charlottetown, P.E.I.: Ragweed, 1991.
The Mi'kmaq anthology / editors, Rita Joe and Lesley Choyce. Porters Lake, N.S.: Pottersfield Press, 1997.
The Mi'kmaq anthology. Volume 2: in celebration of the life of Rita Joe / edited by Theresa Meuse, Lesley Choyce, Julia Swan. East Lawrencetown, N.S.: Pottersfield Press, 2011.
Poems of Rita Joe / Rita Joe. Halifax, N.S.: Abanaki Press, c1978.
Song of Eskasoni: more poems of Rita Joe / Charlottetown, P.E.I.: Ragweed Press, 1989.
Song of Rita Joe: autobiography of a Mi'kmaq poet / Rita Joe. Wreck Cove, NS: Breton Books, 2011.
We are the dreamers: recent and early poetry / Rita Joe. Wreck Cove, N.S.: Breton Books, 1999.