One Native Life intertwines the author’s personal journey as an Indigenous Canadian with the broader sociohistorical context of Indigenous peoples in Canada. The book delves into the legacy of the Sixties Scoop, a period during which Canadian child welfare policies enabled the forceful removal of Indigenous children from their families to place them in non-Indigenous households. This policy has had a profound and lasting impact on Indigenous communities, severing many individuals’ ties to their heritage, language, and identity. Wagamese’s memoir is largely about the resilience and strength necessary to navigate and heal from such historical trauma. His memoir is a means for understanding the depth of cultural loss and the struggle of Indigenous individuals to reclaim their identity in the face of systemic oppression. The Sixties Scoop is a relevant example of such policies, but it is by no means isolated. In addition, the memoir touches on the broader effects of colonization, including the imposition of residential schools, which aimed to assimilate Indigenous children by eradicating their languages and cultures.

The author’s personal experiences took place within the larger context of colonization in Canada, a process marked by systematic attempts to assimilate Indigenous populations into Euro-Canadian culture.