PASS THE SAGE: Stories from the Fire, Teachings from the Smoke is a stirring new anthology from Algonquin author Tessa Belanger that gathers powerful Indigenous voices into one luminous collection. Rooted in ceremony, shaped by community, and told with unflinching honesty. PASS THE SAGE invites readers to sit by the fire, burn our medicines and listen deeply while you carry the teachings forward.
Born from workshops, circles, and lived experience, this collection blends memoir, poetry, and reflection to illuminate what many endure and how they heal. The stories move through trauma, loss, addiction, identity, resilience, and cultural reclamation. This book is made from Indigenous, for Indigenous and those allies who stand beside us.
“Our stories carry medicine,” says Belanger.
“When we pass the sage, we’re not just clearing a space, we’re making room for truth, for tears, for laughter, and for community to breathe again.”
What the book holds
Within these pages, readers will encounter true accounts of survival and transformation, Mothers fighting to keep their children, youth reclaiming language and ceremony, families facing the long shadow of residential schools, and Elders handing down teachings that steady the next generations. Throughout the book returns to a simple, steady truth: healing isn’t linear, but it is possible when we are seen, believed, and connected to our roots.
The subtitle, Stories from the Fire, Teachings from the Smoke, reflects the book’s heartbeat. The “fire” is where stories are spoken. The “smoke” is what we carry with us: guidance, memory, and the wisdom to do things differently. Each contributor offers both the lived story and the teaching it left in their hands.
A movement, not just a book
PASS THE SAGE extends beyond the page. Through Belanger’s creative writing circles and community workshops, storytelling becomes a practice of care. Youth and adults are invited to write in any form that feels natural, poetry, journaling, letters, or reflections, honouring that expression is a ceremony too.
The book’s accessible voice, clear structure, and gentle guidance make it ideal for classrooms, healing groups, book clubs, and community organizations. These workshops form the heartbeat of Pass the Sage, the same community spirit that fills the pages of the anthology.
Why this book now
Across the country, people are searching for trauma-informed ways to talk about grief, intergenerational trauma, identity, and healing. Stories from the Fire, Teachings from the Smoke meets this moment with more than 50 contributors, writers, artists, mothers, youth, Elders, and survivors, offering a collective voice instead of a single perspective. The art in the book is medicine in and of itself; it shows that healing is emotional, visual, and strongly connected to culture.
Through PASS THE SAGE, 25% of all revenue from the anthology will be donated to Indigenous-led charities focused on cultural revitalization and frontline healing. This project arrives at a time when these conversations can no longer wait. Reconciliation without healing is incomplete, and healing without shared story and art remains unfinished.
About the author
Tessa Belanger is an Algonquin mother, storyteller, jingle dress dancer, and healing activist from the Kitigan Zibi reserve. She founded Pass the Sage to amplify Indigenous voices and create spaces for cultural and emotional healing through storytelling, art, and ceremony.
Belanger leads
Creative writing workshops nationwide continue to gather voices ready to reclaim their own.
PASS THE SAGE: Stories from the Fire, Teachings from the Smoke is available now.
Amazon:
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Video Link: https://hemingwaypublishers.com/
Media Contact
Company Name: Hemingway Publishers
Contact Person: Tessa Belanger
Email: Send Email
Phone: +18884066480
City: Chicago
State: Illinois
Country: United States
Website: https://hemingwaypublishers.com/