Julian Brave NoiseCat gets into the making of his first non-fiction title at a Toronto book launch

By Sorousheh Salman

Julian Brave NoiseCat, journalist and Oscar-nominated filmmaker, released his first book, We Survived the Night, in October. 

NoiseCat sat down with award-winning journalist, author and filmmaker Tanya Talaga for a rare and powerful conversation about the making of his book. The event on Nov. 12, 2025 was hosted by the Canadian Journalism Foundation at the University of Toronto. 

We Survived the Night recounts NoiseCat’s experiences on the night of his father’s death, intertwining his personal loss with broader themes of spiritualism and Indigenous survival from residential schools. The writing of the book paralleled the making of NoiseCat’s 2024 Oscar-nominated documentary, Sugarcane — both works show overlapping events.

“I couldn’t wait to read how [NoiseCat] translated the film into a book,” said Talaga in an interview after the panel. She wrote her novel, The Knowing, on a similar premise as NoiseCat. Talaga was also part of a four-part documentary series during NoiseCat’s writing process.

NoiseCat explained the use of the trickster coyote, a figure in many Indigenous stories. Coyote is a shapeshifter and mischief-maker whose clever yet reckless actions bring both chaos and essential gifts — such as fire and daylight — to humanity. 

“I use the trickster coyote in this book as a sort of main storytelling thread, as I see my father, in a lot of ways, as an echo of the trickster coyote,” said NoiseCat. 

The coyote is captured on the front cover of the book, designed by Jaune Quick-to-See Smith. Initially, the artwork was titled “Coyote Sees the World Clearly.” According to NoiseCat, Smith permitted this artwork to be used for We Survived the Night, as one of her last acts of giving before her passing in January 2025. 

Since the establishment of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) of Canada, major audiences have become more attuned towards Indigenous stories, explained Talaga in the interview. 

“[The TRC] opened their eyes to our books, because our authors have been writing about our stories and what has happened to our people for a hundred years, but people are paying attention now,” she said.

NoiseCat added, “I went to a university where we had to read all 400 pages of The Iliad. Would it have been so hard to give us five pages of a coyote story?”

“The realm of journalism that we have created is so narrow. That’s a rarefied thing that we fabricated. Journalism is so much more than that and should be much more,” said Sarah Lazarovic, an attendee and former journalist.

NoiseCat considers his book an honour song to his father and Talaga added on that it felt like an honour song to his family. She described how We Survived the Night weaves intergenerational love and grief into a single act of storytelling. 

According to Dr. Jo-Ann Archibald of the National Centre for Collaboration in Indigenous Education (NCCIE), Indigenous writing is often embodied through “writing in circles,” a term both Talaga and NoiseCat used to describe their writing processes. It is used to capture generations of stories and honour ancestors, reflecting how many Indigenous worldviews understand time and learning as ongoing, interconnected journeys.

“It terrifies me that so much of my story and my family’s story is in my work, but I think there is no other way to do this kind of work,” explained NoiseCat. “You can tell hard and complicated stories about people and still love them.” 

He said the act of storytelling is an act of love — a way of showing how deeply you understand the person whose story you are telling.

Despite the trauma rehashed in We Survived the Night, NoiseCat explained its humourous parts. 

“Why the coyote stories are so slapstick, why there’s so much humour and why they are so memorable is because if they were forgettable, then our way of life would have died, but they’re not.”

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You can find We Survived the Night at your local bookstore!