brenda fontaine

Kate Wasko, a Cree woman, lives in Robertson Lake and is experiencing difficulty fitting into the community, even after living there for two years. She develops a friendship with another single young mother who faces the same trial of finding acceptance for herself and her children. But soon their encounters put them face to face with discrimination—and it turns ugly.

Friction stemming from the choice Kate’s family made to move away for a number of years has complicated her relationship with the neighbours. They feel like she abandoned their community. The neighbours vandalize her house and start rumours that undermine her integrity at work. Her sister, Noelle, also experiences rejection because of her son’s involvement in a gang.

In a low point in her life, Kate begins to experience divine intervention. Visions emerge which support her speech against abortion, an issue she is passionate about. In Tyranny in Our Times, the tyranny of rejection is shown through people who are outcasts of their community—and the unborn, who are outcasts of the womb.

About the Author:

Brenda Fontaine is a recently retired schoolteacher in northern Manitoba. She taught in The Pas, Cross Lake, and Norway House, where she now resides. She has written many children’s books, including the Babs Adventures: The Stranger at the Creek, The Storm on the Lake, and Christmas on the Trapline. She has also written articles for the magazine Northroots, the Urban NDN newspaper, and Maranatha. She has written poems and short stories for Northern Writers, Volumes 15. Her poem “Tidewater” won a prize in Urban NDN.