I bought David A. Robertson’s 52 Ways to Reconcile: How to Walk With Indigenous Peoples on the Path to Healing at the airport in Winnipeg, which is a) appropriate, since he lives here, and b) good news, because it’s an important book that deserves a wide distribution (it’s published by an imprint that used to be Canadian-owned and is now part of Penguin Random House, which no doubt makes it easier to get airport shops to stock it).

52 Ways is intended for settler descendants who want to do something to advance reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples but don’t know where to start. Robertson doesn’t like the term “reconciliation”—he argues that there’s never been a good relationship we can return to—but he says that doing something is more useful than arguing about semantics, which might be surprising, coming from a writer, but which also makes a lot of sense.

You’re not supposed to read the book as I did, in one sitting, although Robertson’s friendly, even breezy tone makes that pretty easy. Instead, each short chapter makes a suggestion about things one can do, from starting an Indigenous book club, reading Indigenous comics, or wearing an orange shirt on Orange Shirt Day (all relatively easy to accomplish), to tasks that are more difficult: learning the difference between cultural appropriation and cultural appreciation, reading the mammoth Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada’s Final Report, and understanding one’s privilege. Easy or hard, simple or complicated, Robertson approaches every topic with generosity and openness. “We gave to allow ourselves to make mistakes,” he writes; “it’s the only way to improve and grow.” I’ve seen similar openness in other Indigenous writers—Louise Halfe, Willie Ermine, Dwayne Donald—and it always impresses me.

Robertson recently published an op-ed in The Globe and Mail which was in part (I think: I haven’t compared them side by side) taken from this book’s introduction. The response: racist abuse. He posted on social media about that reaction. Honestly, it makes me wonder what is wrong with people. With my people, that is. People who can’t see how they’ve benefited from this country’s ongoing colonial abuse of Indigenous Peoples, who refuse to acknowledge our history here. I suppose they can’t accept the truth.

The book’s last chapter invites readers to pass it along to others. That’s how I’ll use it. When non-Indigenous students feel shamed and overwhelmed by Indigenous texts, especially ones about residential schools, I’ll recommend 52 Ways. “Pick one thing,” I’ll suggest. “You don’t need to try to do all 52. Just pick one.” The antidote to that kind of shame, I think, is action. Robertson has set out a smorgasbord of possibilities. Which one will I take on next?