Indigenous peoples / Indigeneity Books

Book SynopsisGrounded in existing understandings of Yup’ik cosmology and worldview, this work is the first to look at how a Yup’ik community uses stories of place in social life. On the Bering coast of southwest Alaska, Cusack-McVeigh accompanied storytellers during their daily activities. Hearing many narratives repeatedly over a span of years, she came to understand how stories reflected interactions of people and places.For the Yup’ik people, places are also social actors that react to human actions and emotions. Stories tell how people learn about each other through encounters on the land, and thereby places also learn about people. Places comment on human behavior through the land's responses to specific actions. Stories variously reveal ideas about human associations and relationships between humans and nonhuman beings. Pointing to a systematic correlation between places and narrative elements that has not been previously explored, this volume makes a unique contribution to the literature on place.

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe sad plight of the Five Civilized Tribes—the Cherokee, Choctaw, Creek (Muscogee), and Seminole—during America’s Civil War is both fascinating and often overlooked in the literature. From 1861-1865, the Indians fought their own bloody civil war on lands surrounded by the Kansas Territory, Arkansas, and Texas. Clint Crowe’s magisterial Caught in the Maelstrom: The Indian Nations in the Civil War reveals the complexity and the importance of this war within a war, and explains how it affected the surrounding states in the Trans-Mississippi West and the course of the broader war engulfing the country. The onset of the Civil War exacerbated the divergent politics of the five tribes and resulted in the Choctaw and Chickasaw contributing men for the Confederacy and the Seminoles contributing men for the Union. The Creeks were divided between the Union and the Confederacy, while the internal war split apart the Cherokee nation mostly between those who followed Stand Watie, a brigadier general in the Confederate Army, and John Ross, who threw his majority support behind the Union cause. Throughout, Union and Confederate authorities played on divisions within the tribes to further their own strategic goals by enlisting men, signing treaties, encouraging bloodshed, and even using the hard hand of war to turn a profit. Crowe’s well-written study is grounded upon a plethora of archival resources, newspapers, diaries, letter collections, and other accounts. Caught in the Maelstrom examines every facet of this complex and fascinating story in a manner sure to please the most demanding reader.

Read more less

Book SynopsisIn the mythic tradition of the Lakota, the bow and arrow were more than just tools—they were symbols of flexibility and strength. In this treasury of teaching stories, history, and piercing cultural insights, storyteller and craftsman Joseph Marshall III considers the metaphor of the bow and arrow as a path to personal growth, better resilience, and a life lived with true integrity.

Read more less

Book SynopsisTwo-Spirit Indigiqueer psychotherapist and cultural theorist Dr. Roger Kuhn illuminates the ways our bodies offer portals to our own liberation.Experience somacultural liberation: A revolutionary ideology to explore how our bodies offer portals to personal and collective freedom.What role does dominant culture play in how we experience the sensations, thoughts, feelings, and deeper existential mysteries of our bodies?Dr. Roger Kuhn, a Poarch Creek Two-Spirit Indigequeer activist, artist, sex therapist, and somacultural theorist, believes that Two-Spirit people hold a unique perspective?and that viewing our bodies through a somacultural lens can help us better understand how dominant culture informs and, all too often, misinforms our relationship to it.Somacultural liberation is an embodied practice that helps people connect with the intersections of their identity. Kuhn?s revolutionary mode of inquiry illuminates the full impact of our cultural reality in shaping both our individual and shared sense of self.The history and experiences of Native American peoples and those who identify as Two-Spirit offer the reader a path to access the full brilliance of their body. Including growth work activities, cultural assessment exercises, mindfulness practices, and nervous system regulation techniques, Somacultural Liberation provides readers with the tools and skills needed to transcend any challenges they may face in their lives.Straddling colonial imposition and tribal significance, Two-Spirit identity offers a powerful decolonizing framework to achieve freedom and navigate the toxic systems of domination that impose upon the precious truth of who we are.

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe conquest and colonisation of the Americas resulted in all kinds of exchanges, including the transmission of diseases and the sharing of medicines to treat them. In this book, Kelly Wisecup examines how European settlers, Native Americans, and New World Africans communicated medical knowledge in early America, and how the colonists represented what they learned in their literatures.Against the prevailing view that colonial texts provide insight only into their writers’ perspectives, Wisecup demonstrates that Europeans, Natives, and Africans held certain medical ideas in common, including a conception of disease as both a spiritual and a physical entity, and a belief in the power of special rituals or prayers to restore health. As a consequence, medical knowledge and practices operated as a shared form of communication on which everyone drew in order to adapt to a world of devastating new maladies and unfamiliar cures.By signaling one’s relation to supernatural forces, to the natural world, and to other people, medicine became an effective means of communicating a variety of messages about power and identity as well as bodies and minds. Native Americans in Virginia and New England, for example, responded to the nearly simultaneous arrival of mysterious epidemics and peoples by incorporating colonists into explanations of disease, while British American colonists emphasised to their audiences back home the value of medical knowledge drawn from cross-cultural encounters in the New World.

Read more less

Book SynopsisFor thousands of years the Washoe people have lived in the shadows of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. At the center of their lands sits beautiful Lake Tahoe, a name derived from the Washoe word Da ow a ga.Perhaps because the Washoe population has always been small or because it has been more peaceful than other tribal communities, its history has never been published. In The Small Shall Be Strong, Matthew S. Makley demonstrates that, in spite of this lack of scholarly attention, Washoe history is replete with broad significance. The Washoes, for example, gained culturally important lands through the 1887 Dawes Act. And during the 1990s, the tribe sought to ban climbing on one of its most sacred sites, Cave Rock, a singular instance of Native sacred concerns leading to restrictions.The Small Shall Be Strong illustrates a history and raises a broad question: How might greater scholarly attention to the numerous lesser-studied tribes in the United States compel a rethinking of larger historical narratives?

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book SynopsisIf you want to know why American Indians have the highest rates of poverty of any racial group, why suicide is the leading cause of death among Indian men, why native women are two and a half times more likely to be raped than the national average and why gang violence affects American Indian youth more than any other group, do not look to history. There is no doubt that white settlers devastated Indian communities in the 19th, and early 20th centuries. But it is our policies today—denying Indians ownership of their land, refusing them access to the free market and failing to provide the police and legal protections due to them as American citizens—that have turned reservations into small third-world countries in the middle of the richest and freest nation on earth. The tragedy of our Indian policies demands reexamination immediately—not only because they make the lives of millions of American citizens harder and more dangerous—but also because they represent a microcosm of everything that has gone wrong with modern liberalism. They are the result of decades of politicians and bureaucrats showering a victimized people with money and cultural sensitivity instead of what they truly need—the education, the legal protections and the autonomy to improve their own situation. If we are really ready to have a conversation about American Indians, it is time to stop bickering about the names of football teams and institute real reforms that will bring to an end this ongoing national shame.Trade Review“The New Trail of Tears is a much-needed revelation of heart-breaking conditions on American Indian reservations—and of the attitudes, incentives, and politics that make the people living on those reservations even worse off than other low-income minorities, including American Indians living elsewhere in American society. The laws and policies behind these human tragedies have wider implications for welfare state assumptions and politically correct decisions, including the grossly misnamed ‘Indian Child Welfare Act.’ This book is an insightful and much-needed introduction to a subject that deserves much more public attention than it gets, both for its own sake and for what it reveals about the political and ideological climate of our time.” —Thomas Sowell “I've grubbed in the data regarding American Indian poverty for years, but none of my numbers will have the effect of Naomi Riley's investigation and prose. Through clear thinking and personal accounts, she articulates why this ignored minority remains in poverty and how they can escape it. The New Trail of Tears is a must read if you care about the plight of poor people, in general, and American Indians, in particular.” —Terry L. Anderson, author of Unlocking the Wealth of Indian Nations and senior fellow of The Hoover Institution at Stanford University “Clear evidence of the tragedy that results when individual property rights are equated with group rights.” —Amity Shlaes, presidential scholar at the Kings College and author of Coolidge and The Forgotten Man “The New Trail of Tears is a powerful antidote to the romantic nonsense about the history of American Indian groups that pervades our school curriculum today, and a stinging indictments of the paternalistic public policies that continue to keep most Indians mired in poverty even now. Written in lively and lucid prose, it is my candidate for the book-of-the-year on racial issues in the United States.” —Stephan Thernstrom, Winthrop Professor of History Emeritus at Harvard University

Read more less

Book SynopsisA Michelle Obama Reach Higher Fall 2022 reading list pickA Library Journal "BEST BOOK OF 2022""Aguon’s book is for everyone, but he challenges history by placing indigenous consciousness at the center of his project . . . the most tender polemic I’ve ever read." —Lenika Cruz, The Atlantic "It's clear [Aguon] poured his whole heart into this slim book . . . [his] sense of hope, fierce determination, and love for his people and culture permeates every page."—Laura Sackton, BookRiotPart memoir, part manifesto, Chamorro climate activist Julian Aguon’s No Country for Eight-Spot Butterflies is a collection of essays on resistance, resilience, and collective power in the age of climate disaster; and a call for justice—for everyone, but in particular, for Indigenous peoples.In bracing poetry and compelling prose, Aguon weaves together stories from his childhood in the villages of Guam with searing political commentary about matters ranging from nuclear weapons to global warming. Undertaking the work of bearing witness, wrestling with the most pressing questions of the modern day, and reckoning with the challenge of truth-telling in an era of rampant obfuscation, he culls from his own life experiences—from losing his father to pancreatic cancer to working for Mother Teresa to an edifying chance encounter with Sherman Alexie—to illuminate a collective path out of the darkness.A powerful, bold, new voice writing at the intersection of Indigenous rights and environmental justice, Julian Aguon is entrenched in the struggles of the people of the Pacific to liberate themselves from colonial rule, defend their sacred sites, and obtain justice for generations of harm. In No Country for Eight-Spot Butterflies, Aguon shares his wisdom and reflections on love, grief, joy, and triumph and extends an offer to join him in a hard-earned hope for a better world.Trade ReviewA Library Journal "BEST BOOK OF 2022"A Michelle Obama Reach Higher Fall 2022 reading list pick"Julian Aguon is an astounding writer . . . No Country for Eight-Spot Butterflies is a fierce yet tender lyric essay, one that demands our attention at every page . . . He is a remarkable human being, and his book could not have come at a better time. The world needs this kind of story right now. Julian’s words, his resistance and resilience give us hope. This book is a gift." —Sasha LaPointe, Publishers Weekly"If there’s one book of the year for me, it’s Julian Aguon’s No Country for Eight-Spot Butterflies . . . [Aguon] reminds us of the importance of remarking beauty, storytelling and awareness as medicine. This book will expand your imagination and nourishes the soul of the world." —Joseph Han, The Millions“Aguon is a skilled and heartfelt writer, and his book will most likely be inspiring to readers who share his political analysis and seek out the personal stories hidden by geo-political conflicts.” —Adrienne Ross Scanlan, New York Journal of Books"No Country for Eight-Spot Butterflies . . . inspires activism and celebrates beauty worth preserving . . . [A] varied and heartfelt collection. The author's deep love for Guam's people and nature shines through."—Rebecca Foster, Shelf Awareness"[No Country for Eight-Spot Butterflies is] a moving, invigorating and deeply personal call to action from a man who has been working to combat some of the most important issues facing our world today; a deeply profound collection." —Evan Rosen, Brooklyn Daily Eagle"It's clear [Aguon] poured his whole heart into this slim book . . . [his] sense of hope, fierce determination, and love for his people and culture permeates every page."—Laura Sackton, BookRiot"Skillfully balancing his individual struggles while stressing the importance of community, No Country for Eight-Spot Butterflies is a call for justice and protection for the environment, one that encourages both outrage and hope." —Alejandra Gularte, Vulture "Aguon's clear thinking and bright language illustrate the urgency of fighting global climate injustice . . . [His] clarity of focus and radical empathy are desperately necessary for imagining another world." —Diego Báez, Booklist"It is hard to pin down this book. It is political, in the sense that 'the personal is political,' but it is not a political history of the colonization of Guam by the United States. It is philosophical, but not dense, nor full of moral arguments . . . Perhaps it is easier, then, to call this book a gift: a gift to Indigenous communities everywhere in the world."—Sarah Souli, Teen Vogue“Aguon’s writing is not prescriptive, so much as it is a call to action to reimagine, to reclaim language . . . if colonization fails the imagination, and it kills dreams and self-realization, then self-determination is the cure and Aguon inspires a future of connection and liberatory possibilities.”—Jason Wu, Truthout"Moving and impassioned . . . This collection of essays, personal stories, speeches, and prose shines a light on the struggles of Guam, nuclear warfare, and global warming . . . While there are serious themes in this book, there is also plenty of hope. This short read packs a great deal of heart and promise for readers. Aguon has written both an informational and philosophical book that will please readers interested in environmental and political issues." —Anna Kallemeyn, Library Journal"[An] incandescent debut . . . In eloquent maxims that call forth comparisons to Thoreau, Aguon pits lofty ideals against a backdrop of racism, brutality, and habitat destruction, but optimism prevails . . . This is bound to inspire any activist."—Publisher's Weekly, Starred Review "A slender but meaningful call for justice."—Kirkus Reviews"Aguon’s book is for everyone, but he challenges history by placing indigenous consciousness at the center of his project . . . The result is the most tender polemic I’ve ever read."—Lenika Cruz, The Atlantic"Julian Aguon connects the global struggles for justice with the local precision and anecdotes of Guam and Oceania. The result is this deeply felt book: Aguon writes so you understand the arguments for change with your mind and feel the urgency in your heart."—José Olivarez, author of Citizen Illegal "No Country for Eight-Spot Butterflies is a masterpiece, a literary talisman shaped by mad beauty and grief, evoking the magic of presence and poetry, warding off cynicism and injustice. I keep it close. You will too."—V (formerly Eve Ensler), author of The Vagina Monologues and The Apology“A powerful, beautiful book. Its fierce love—of the land, the ocean, the elders, and the ancestors—warms the heart and moves the spirit.”—Alice Walker, author of Taking the Arrow Out of the Heart“Powerful with love, and tender about what it needs to be tender about, and direct, even fierce where it means to tell us what we need to be thinking about what we’ve been doing to this world, to Aguon’s people, and to Indigenous people everywhere, to the land and to all its beings . . . as the dying eight-spot butterfly he writes about, strong and luminous as a needed beacon in a fog of disinformation and dismay, Julian Aguon with this small book emerges already a giant.”—Tommy Orange, author of There There“I did not know I needed this book until it had me in its embrace like the oldest and dearest of friends, from the very first page . . . With bottomless love for his people and place, Aguon guides us through a portal to the Pacific, sharing deep insights earned from life on the existential knife’s edge.”—Naomi Klein, author of How to Change Everything: The Young Human’s Guide to Protecting the Planet and Each Other“Inspired spiritual and practical wisdom from a Guam lawyer/poet/seer that transmits ways of knowing, feeling, and acting, which speak directly to the mind and heart of everyone on the planet. If reading this short book doesn’t change your life, nothing will.”—Richard Falk, author of Public Intellectual: The Life of a Citizen Pilgrim“A breathtaking book and I mean it—this book took my breath away . . . alive with passion, wisdom, and heart, you can almost feel its pulse. A call not only for justice but for a brand-new covenant with our world.”—Junot Díaz, author of The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction“Aguon’s pen is a spear. He has the unerring ability to pierce the heart of any matter he writes about, from colonialism to climate change, and he writes in a way that both exposes horrors and expresses love to the young.”—Noenoe K. Silva, author of Aloha Betrayed“This book is a gift—full of beauty, truth telling, and love. This book will enlighten and inspire anyone interested in understanding and doing something about colonialism, capitalism, racism, militarism, war, and violence of all kinds. As importantly, this book will move you emotionally. It will move you to change how you live your life. It will move you to help change the world for the better.”—David Vine, author of Base Nation and The United States of War“Aguon is one of Oceania’s most important thinkers who uses his ability to see through complicated systems to fight for our islands and peoples. With razor-sharp analysis and a ton of heart, he both defends and calls forth our communities. I will regularly return to this book for inspiration—to remind me why I do my own work.”—Kathy Jetnil-Kijiner, author of Iep Jaltok: Poems from a Marshallese Daughter“Aguon’s work transcends all boundaries and centers Indigenous relationships to people and place. Whether drawing on his legal or poetic skills, Aguon reckons with the rage and violence of colonialism while gently unfolding a new vision for justice and healing.”—Holly Barker, author of Bravo for the Marshallese“Aguon gifts us, in shrunken times, the indigenous version of the all-encompassing vision that Aristotle and his disciple Aquinas bequeathed humanity: truth equals beauty equals goodness.”—Maivân Lâm, author of At the Edge of the State“What an incredible gift. This book is a powerful spiritual remix, a multi-scalar tapestry of love, kinship, resistance, and creative survival from Oceania. His tribute to our late elder sister, Teresia, brought tears of grief and joy. Ko bati n rabwa Julian,‘we will live . . . on our own terms.’”—Katerina Martina Teaiwa, author of Consuming Ocean Island“A celebration of Indigenous hope and survival amid the destructive and desecrating forces of militarism, capitalism, and climate change, and a provocation for collective action for just and sustainable futures in the Marianas—a must read for anyone interested in the beauty of Indigenous worlds and struggles for liberation!”—Christine Taitano DeLisle, author of Placental Politics“Reading this collection reminds me of being immersed in our ocean. The sunlight that illuminates the water cannot be held, and yet to behold the ways rays and sea dance together opens the soul . . . Aguon is one of Oceania’s most brilliant advocates and expansive voices—a voice that urgently needs to be heard.”—Noelani Goodyear-Ka‘ōpua, author of The Seeds We Planted“A devastatingly gentle song of resistance.”—Jonathan K. K. Osorio, author of Dismembering Lāhui“Aguon tells the Chamorro story by merging a profound love for our indigenous people and culture with his potent intellect and creative genius.”—Anne Perez Hattori, author of Colonial Dis-EaseTable of ContentsIntroduction by Arundhati Roy The Properties of Perpetual Light Go with the Moon No Country for Eight-Spot Butterflies My Mother’s Bamboo Bracelets: A Handful of Lessons on Saving the World A Handful of Lessons on Saving the World Sherman Alexie Looked Me Dead in the Eye Once More Right Birthday Cakes Mean Birthdays Yugu Means Yoke A Crowbar and a Conch Shell The Gift Anne Gave Me Nirmal Hriday Mugo' The Ocean Within We Have No Need for Scientists | 59 We Reach for You Reflections While Driving Nikki and Me Onion and Garlic Fighting Words Yeye Tere Our Father Gaosåli Curved Sticks and Cowry Shells: A Conversation between Julian Aguon & Desiree Taimanglo-Ventura Afterword

Read more less

Book SynopsisFor Lakota, Dakota, and Nakota people, historical trauma, chronically underfunded federal programs, and broken promises on the part of the US government have resulted in gaping health, educational, and economic disparities compared to the general population. Crazy Horse Weeps, offers a thorough historical overview of how South Dakota reservations have wound up in these tragic circumstances, showing how discrimination, a disorganized tribal government, and a devastating dissolution of Lakota culture by the US government have transformed the landscape of Native life. Yet these extraordinary challenges, Marshall argues, can be overcome. Focusing on issues of identity and authenticity, he uses his extensive experience in traditional Lakota wisdom to propose a return to traditional tribal values and to outline a plan for a hopeful future.

Read more less

Book SynopsisExperimenta la fascinante y poderosa historia del movimiento de derechos civiles de los nativos americanos y su lucha por la identidad contada a través de la carrera de los pioneros del rock and roll de la costa oeste de Redbone.Ya has escuchado la exitosa canción "Come and Get Your Love" en la película Guardianes de la Galaxia, pero la historia de la banda detrás de la canción es de gran importancia cultural, política y social.Los hermanos Pat y Lolly Vegas fueron talentosos músicos de rock nativos americanos que tomaron por sorpresa el Sunset Strip de la década de 1960. Influyeron a The Doors y se toparon con Jimmy Hendrix antes de que fuera "Jimi", y la idea de una banda compuesta de miembros nativos americanos pronto se hizo realidad. Dedicados a controlar su visión creativa y mantener su identidad cultural, firmaron un acuerdo con Epic Records en 1969. Pero a medida que el Movimiento Indígena Americano cobró impulso, la banda tomó una posición, eligiendo el orgullo de su linaje en lugar de la recompensa comercial.Creado en cooperación con la familia Vegas, los autores Christian Staebler y Sonia Paolini con el artista Thibault Balahy toman medidas cuidadosas para garantizar la precisión histórica de este importante momento del pasado de los Estados Unidos que a menudo se ignora. Parte una biografía y parte una investigación, Redbone ofrece una voz a un grupo descuidado en la historia estadounidense.La historia detrás de Redbone es de importancia cultural, política y social. Proporciona una voz a un grupo descuidado en la historia estadounidense. Los hermanos Pat y Lolly Vegas fueron talentosos músicos de rock nativos americanos que tomaron el Sunset Strip y la radio de los años sesenta por sorpresa, pero a medida que el Movimiento Indígena Americano cobró impulso, la banda tomó una posición, eligiendo el orgullo de su linaje en lugar de la recompensa comercial.

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe phone rang unexpectedly, late one night. 'Guess who our white ancestors were?' chuckled Uncle Gerry. 'They were slave traders! A couple of generations of slave traders!'After this startling revelation, Shauna wanted to find out more. She discovered her ancestor Robert Bostock arrived in Sydney in 1815 after being convicted of slave trading in Africa, and his grandson Augustus John married Bundjalung woman One My. Battling restrictions on access to government archives, Shauna gradually pieced together her family's stories of dispossession and frontier violence; life on reserves under the harsh regime of the Aborigines Protection Board; a cricket match with Bradman; activism and arts in Redfern; and a surprising reconciliation. Reaching Through Time reveals the cataclysmic impact of colonisation on Aboriginal families, and how this ripples through to the present. It also shows how family research can bring a deeper understanding and healing of the wounds in our history. Shauna writes, 'I am a proud Aboriginal woman who has always wanted to make a stronger connection to my cultural heritage. I experienced an inner yearning to find out about my ancestors and what they experienced in life. This is the story of my journey.''Compelling and courageous truth-telling.' -DrJackie Huggins AM, historian and author'This brilliantly researched, difficult-to- put-down history demonstrates how five generations of a multi-talented Aboriginal family made their worlds anew.' -Professor Ann McGrath AM'Children stolen, homes resumed, authorities spying, ASIO snooping. Bostock's family has it all - yet she can still see the funny side. This is why we need family histories. This is why we need truth-telling.' -Professor Peter Read AM'Erased from history, dispossessed, forgotten - her ancestors came alive in the archives as if they had been waiting for someone to find them there, to tell their stories.' - The Guardian'Reaching Through Time is the epitome of Indigenous family life writing...Bostock's storytelling is engaging and compassionate. She has invited us into her family's conversations and into the kitchens and loungerooms of her family's homes.' - Australian Book ReviewTable of ContentsIntroduction1 Sins of the ancestors2 Wollumbin onslaught3 My father's side of the family4 My mother's side of the family5 Reserves and whitefellas6 The Destruction Board7 Control of Aboriginal lives8 Redfern was a powerhouse9 Embracing the arts10 Truth is a healerEpilogueNotes

Read more less

Book SynopsisFinalist for the 2019 A.M. Klein Prize for PoetryEdited, with an introduction by multiple award-winning writer, elder, and activist Lee Maracle.If poetry is a place to question, I Am a Body of Land by Shannon Webb-Campbell is an attempt to explore a relationship to poetic responsibility and accountability, and frame poetry as a form of re-visioning.Here Webb-Campbell revisits the text of her earlier work Who Took My Sister? to examine her self, her place and her own poetic strategies. These poems are efforts to decolonize, unlearn, and undo harm.Reconsidering individual poems and letters, Webb-Campbell's confessional writing circles back, and challenges what it means to ask questions of her own settler-Indigenous identity, belonging, and attempts to cry out for community, and call in with love.Praise for I Am a Body of Land:"Poetry awake with the winds from the Four Directions, poetry that crosses borders, margins, treaties, yellow tape warning Police Line: Do Not Cross. Poetry whose traditional territory, through colonization, has become trauma and shame. Unceded poetry. Read. Respect. Weep." —Susan Musgrave, author of Origami Dove"Shannon Webb-Campbell's work forces readers out of polite conversation and into a realm where despair and hard truths are being told, being heard and finding the emotion strength to learn from it, find out way out and embrace our beauty as Indigenous women." —Carol Rose Daniels, author of Hiraeth and Bearskin Diary, winner of the First Nations Communities READ Award and the Aboriginal Literature Award.Trade Review"Poetry awake with the winds from the Four Directions, poetry that crosses borders, margins, treaties, yellow tape warning Police Line: Do Not Cross. Poetry whose traditional territory, through colonization, has become trauma and shame. Unceded poetry. Read. Respect. Weep." -- Susan Musgrave, author of Origami Dove"Shannon Webb-Campbell's work forces readers out of polite conversation and into a realm where despair and hard truths are being told, being heard and finding the emotion strength to learn from it, find out way out and embrace our beauty as Indigenous women." -- Carol Rose Daniels, author of Hiraeth and Bearskin Diary, winner of the First Nations Communities READ Award and the Aboriginal Literature Award

Read more less

Book SynopsisBefore the Davie Crockets, the Daniel Boones and Jim Bridgers, the French had pushed far west and north establishing trade and kin networks across the continent. They founded settlements that would become great cities such as Detroit, Saint Louis, and New Orleans, but their history has been largely buried or relegated to local lore or confined to Quebec. In this seminal work, Foxcurran, Bouchard, and Malette Scrutinize primary sources and uncover the alliances, organic links and métissage, or mixing, between early French settlers and voyageurs and the indigenous nations. It began with the founding of New France by Samuel de Champlain in the early 1600s and continued well into the 19th century long after France was no longer a force in North America. The authors' keen and accessible story telling, combined with vintage maps, forgotten documents (such as the little known writings of Alexis de Tocqueville), and old photos or paintings propel the account of the peoples engendered and still thriving, their French lingua franca, and their ways of life back into the heart of the narrative of North American history where they belong. Songs Upon the Rivers also challenges historical orthodoxies regarding the Canadien Métis. These descendants of the French with mixed ancestry developed a hybrid culture with close kinship ties with indigenous peoples across the continent. They kept their French songs and language, which effectively made French the lingua franca of the American and Canadian West well into the 19th century.Trade ReviewThis new work explores a fascinating and under-explored area of North American civilization: the history of the French 'Canadiens' and Métis . . . not overly 'jargony' . . . it will appeal to anyone with a strong interest in French North America but uncomfortable with academic terminology . . . refreshing scholarship that adds value, Highly Recommended." —James LaForest, Voyageur Heritage"Songs Upon the Rivers continues to break through the barriers of sugar-coated and watered down standard depictions of early Canadian history ensuring that even the most sinister stories of our past will finally be told. With each copy that is sold readers are rejecting the rosy veneer of revisionism and demanding factual honesty as the basis of Canada's national identity . . . The book boasts a rich array of unearthed photographs and archived maps giving the reader a vivid visual perspective of the history unfolding on the page." —Regan Treewater, Alberta Native News"Foxcurran, Bouchard, and Malette are serious researchers; they consulted published primary sources (from the Internet) and secondary publications written in both French and English. French traders, the authors argue, were not only indefatigable explorers, they were also brokers of a hybrid culture with indigenous people, which became so strong that it remained dominant on the Pacific Northwest frontier until the middle of the 19th century . . . the writing, maps, historic images, and excellent index happily extend our understanding of the Canadien and Métis cultures." —Robert C. Carriker, Columbia: The Magazine of Northwest History"This book is a major undertaking from three authors who are diverse in their interests and experience . . . . Songs Upon the Rivers is a valuable contribution, illuminating areas of North American Canadien and Métis history that have lingered too long in the shadows of larger national narratives." —Jennifer S.H. Brown, Canada's History

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book Synopsis“Jean-Yves Soucy’s story and encounter with my Dad provides a charming glimpse into a changing world, for us all.”- Romeo Saganash.It’s 1963, Jean-Yves Soucy is 18 and dreams of being a fire warden scanning the boreal forest from a fire tower. But he ends up at an equipment depot between Val-d’Or and Chibougamau. To his delight, he is located near the Cree community of Wawanipi. With two Cree guides, including a man named William Saganash, he will be canoeing through the lakes and rivers of the region.On each encounter with the Crees, Jean-Yves expects to see a new world. Instead, he meets a different civilization, as different from his own as Chinese civilization. Yet he knows nothing about it.He wrote Waswanipi because Romeo Saganash, son of William, insisted: “You have to write that, Jean-Yves. About your relationship with my father and the others, how you saw the village. You got to see the end of an era.”Provides a Cree-English glossary.Trade Review“A book that feels like a movie.”- Mathieu Lavigne, Radio Ville-Marie;“an appeal to generosity and openness… This beautifully written- and witty- story becomes particularly significant through the encounter of two cultures, the overcoming of ignorance or distrust that separates them…”- Nuit Blanche;“like a summer gift, to be savoured, slowly.”- Yvon Paré Litterature du Québec

Read more less

Book SynopsisTraditional midwifery, culture, customs, understandings, and meanings surrounding pregnancy and birth are grounded in distinct epistemologies and worldviews that have sustained Indigenous women and their families since time immemorial. Years of colonization, however, have impacted the degree to which women have choice in the place and ways they carry and deliver their babies. As nations such as Canada became colonized, traditional gender roles were seen as an impediment. The forced rearrangement of these gender roles was highly disruptive to family structures. Indigenous women quickly lost their social and legal status as being dependent on fathers and then husbands. The traditional structures of communities became replaced with colonially informed governance, which reinforced patriarchy and paternalism. The authors in this book carefully consider these historic interactions and their impacts on Indigenous women’s experiences. As the first section of the book describes, pregnancy is a time when women reflect on their bodies as a space for the development of life. Foods prepared and consumed, ceremony and other activities engaged in are no longer a focus solely for the mother, but also for the child she is carrying. Authors from a variety of places and perspectives thoughtfully express the historical along with contemporary forces positively and negatively impacting prenatal behaviours and traditional practices. Place and culture in relation to birth are explored in the second half of the book from locations in Canada such as Manitoba, Ontario, British Columbia, the Northwest Territories, and Aotearoa. The reclaiming and revitalization of birthing practices along with rejuvenating forms of traditional knowledge form the foundation for exploration into these experiences from a political perspective. It is an important part of decolonization to acknowledge policies such as birth evacuation as being grounded in systemic racism. The act of returning birth to communities and revitalizing Indigenous prenatal practices are affirmation of sustained resilience and strength, instead of a one-sided process of reconciliation.

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis beautifully illustrated volume examines American Indian rock art across an expansive region of eastern North America during the Mississippian Period (post AD 900). Unlike portable cultural material, rock art provides in situ evidence of ritual activity that links ideology and place. The focus is on the widespread use of cosmograms depicted in Mississippian rock art imagery. This approach anchors broad distributional patterns of motifs and themes within a powerful framework for cultural interpretation, yielding new insights on ancient concepts of landscape, ceremonialism, and religion. It also provides a unified, comprehensive perspective on Mississippian symbolism. A selection of landscape cosmograms from various parts of North America and Europe taken from the ethnographic records are examined and an overview of American Indian cosmographic landscapes provided to illustrate their centrality to indigenous religious traditions across North America. Authors discuss what a cosmogram-based approach can teach us about people, places, and past environments and what it may reveal that more conventional approaches overlook. Geographical variations across the landscape, regional similarities, and derived meaning found in these data are described. The authors also consider the difficult subject of how to develop a more detailed chronology for eastern rock art.Trade ReviewOrganised into seven thought-provoking chapters, each accompanied by high-quality images, this book will be an important contribution into understanding regional rock-art trends in a continent that has a complex, dynamic and distinct range in its rock-art assemblages. * Current World Archaeology *I commend the editors for their daring vision and timely contribution to American rock art scholarship. * Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society *...this is a thought-provoking and informative book on the fascinating subject of rock art in the southeastern United States. * Time & Mind: the Journal of Archaeology, Consciousness and Culture. *...challenge[s] archaeologists to think beyond customarily considered relationships among people, portable objects, and architecture and to consider rock art as one of many contexts through which native peoples of eastern North America expressed their understandings of animate landscapes. * American Antiquity *Table of ContentsList of Illustration and Tables Preface Materiality and Cultural Landscapes in Native America George Sabo and Jan Simek Missouri: West Mississippi River Valley 2. The Big Five Petroglyph Sites: Their Place on the Landscape and Relation to Their Creators James R. Duncan and Carol Diaz-Granados 3. Landscape, Cosmology, and the Old Woman: A Strong Feminine Presence James R. Duncan and Carol Diaz-Granados Arkansas: Ozark Escarpment West of the Mississippi River 4. Petroglyphs, Portals, and People: Along the Eastern Ozark Escarpment, Arkansas George Sabo III, Jerry E. Hilliard, Jami J. Lockhart, and Leslie C. Walker Illinois: East Mississippi River Valley 5. Transformed Spaces: A Landscape Approach to the Rock Art of Illinois Mark J. Wagner, Kayeleigh Sharp, and Jonathan Remo Appalachian Plateau 6. Prehistoric Rock Art, Social Boundaries, and Cultural Landscapes on the Cumberland Plateau of Southeast North America Jan F. Simek, Alan Cressler, and B. Bart Henson Appalachian Mountains 7. Betwixt And Between: The Occurrence of Petroglyphs Between Townhouses of the Living and Townhouses of Spirit Beings in Northern Georgia and Western North Carolina Johannes Loubser, Scott Ashcraft, James Wettstaed References Index

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book SynopsisFocusing on Tai Tokerau, the northern region of New Zealand, as a case study but with conclusions applicable across the country, the leading M?ori scholars and elders in Maranga Mai! call for their people to wake up to the challenges they face. Through stories and statistics, demography and policy, they identify the key issues and pose potential solutions.

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis stunning book presents a photographic survey that traverses the concepts and values of traditional M?ori weaving and innovative, contemporary weaving practice. The evocative photos and text reveal the spiritual significance of weaving within M?ori culture. A number of the works in the book are featured in the international touring exhibition of M?ori weaving. ""Toi M?ori: The Eternal Thread.""

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less