When My Son Died

Parents should not have to bury their children. A father’s life is devastated as he fights to heal with Aboriginal language and ceremony. A lifetime of good works comes into question. Secrets are disclosed.

“Raw, honest, and unafraid, When My Son Died is the story of a man’s deepest loss, written in the tongue of his own cultural grief. It is a visceral look into a man’s pain and his fight to thrive.”
—E.D.E. Bell, author of the Shkode trilogy

Kenn Pitawanakwat, B.A., M.A., is a professor of an endangered language. A Graduate of York University and Northern Michigan University, Kenn steps forward as people’s confidant and Algonquian language etymologist. Kenn has been featured in film, social media, and academe. Kenn currently lives, with his wife, Lorraine, in northern Ontario, Canada, where his personal search for meaning in tragedy led to the writing of this book.