Kevin Brownlee’s new book has been 4,000 years in the making. 

The work of historical fiction — titled Dibaajimindww Geteyaag: Ogiiyose, Noojigiigoo’iwe gaye Dibinawaag Nibiing Onji or, translated in English, Stories of the Old Ones: Hunter and Fisher from Sheltered Water — explores the life of a 25-year-old man who was buried on the banks of the Lee River thousands of years before European settlers arrived on Canadian soil. 

Brownlee lives in Wolseley and is the curator of archeology at the Manitoba Museum. 

In 1997, he was part of the team that worked with the province and the Sagkeeng Anicinabe government to recover, study and rebury the Indigenous ancestor’s remains in a respectful way.

"Today it would be considered reconciliation, at the time it was just the right way to do things," he said. "Working in collaboration is the foundation of trust." 

Brownlee’s book is the second instalment in the Stories of the Old Ones series published by the Manitoba Museum. The first was penned by his mentor Leigh Syms and focused on the use of science in archeology and gave a broad cultural history of southeastern Manitoba. 

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