Simply, a Book Recommendation

For my final post I wanted to write something simple, and hopefully helpful to my fellow 4th year education students. This semester we’ve wandered through a few novels, finally hearing the voices of Indigenous authors and hearing stories straight from the source… the way it should be… the stories and perspectives we’ve been wanting to hear since we’ve begun to understand the importance of Indigenous issues in education. I have a hunch that I can speak for most of us in this class when I say we have laughed (King), cried (Orange), and pondered (Erdrich) over these stories, and are grateful for the exposure and the outlet to do some serious deep thinking about who is telling Indigenous stories and at what cost. I hope I can keep the ball rolling with a recommendation of another excellent novel.

Last year I had the pleasure of taking Children’s Literature with Anah-Jayne Markland. Of course, her reading list also had me laughing, crying, and pondering. However, one stood out. The Barren Grounds by David Robertson is a fictional tale of two adopted siblings, Morgan and Eli, who both feel lost and disconnected from not only their families, but also their Indigenous culture. But when they discover a portal to Aski they meet a number of characters who walk them through an adventure that reconnects the children to each other and to the Indigenous blood within them. Robertson suggests a type of sickness within the Canadian foster care system, a lack of cultural connection for Indigenous children. However, Robertson also suggests a solution. Through learning about the land, language, and traditional cultural practice, Morgan and Eli gain a sense of identity and are able to begin to heal the wounds of intergenerational trauma that they've inherited through colonization. What strikes me about this novel is how it tells a story for the 48% Indigenous population of children in the foster care system within Canada. Robertson is an Indigenous author that organically integrates these issues into his writing, and he gives a story to so many Indigenous children who do not have the chance to share theirs.

In a classroom this book could be integrated as a novel study to examine a number of curricular topics such as: loss of Indigenous culture, intergenerational trauma (Orange Shirt Day), Canada’s regions, and cultural identity/heritage. I would recommend this book for grades 4 and up! I hope you give it a shot and I hope this book offers you and your future students another way to hear Indigenous stories!

https://www.chapters.indigo.ca/en-ca/books/the-barren-grounds-the-misewa/9780735266100-item.html?scampaign=goo-DSABooks&gclid=CjwKCAiA4veMBhAMEiwAU4XRrxzGPusdQtDWNhhgfv8DV6AJHcevT3RHbGTH4f7TxxbpQFPYi6SgxoC7c8QAvDBwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

I love a good book recommendation thread, so I decided to add a couple of recommendations here as well.

For anyone who hasn't read Jesse Thistle's From the Ashes, it is a must-read. It is a poignant memoir and touching reminder to never give up on people. Thistle expertly offfers the reader anecdotal snippets of his life from childhood through adulthood. Readers learn about all the pain, trauma, struggles and successes (small and large) he experienced along the way. I saw a connection to Tommy Orange's There, There. Orange offers readers examples of authentic Indigenous experiences/stories, and Thistle offers his own authentic story. Both address issues of contemporary Indigenous identity, and both seemed brutally honest in their depictions of authentic Indigenous experiences. In the spirit of recognizing the importance of telling one's own story (as both Orange and Thomas King alluded to), Thistle's story stands as an example of the empowerment that comes from telling one's own story, adn the importance of hearing an authentic Indigenous voice.

Another great book I came across was Napi: The Trickster, written by historian and Blackfoot ally, Hugh Dempsey. This is a book I could see being used in the classroom, mainly for older students (junior high, high school). It is a collection of oral stories about Napi (gathered and used with permission by Blackfoot elders), in a graphic novel form. Napi is a character that ressembles the character Iktomi in the stories we read by Zitkala-Sa. A teacher could use a few of the stories in the classroom, as they are very engaging stories that offer insights and extra information at the end of each section. I'd just recommend screening them first, as there are a couple of the stories that depict graphic violence and rape, so use your discretion.

I would love to hear other book recommendations!