Description
Book SynopsisThe Black Prairie Archives: An Anthology recovers a new regional archive of ""black prairie"" literature, and includes writing that ranges from work by nineteenth-century black fur traders and pioneers, all of it published here for the first time, to contemporary writing of the twenty-first century. This anthology establishes a new black prairie literary tradition and transforms inherited understandings of what prairie literature looks and sounds like. It collects varied and unique work by writers who were both conscious and unconscious of themselves as black writers or as ""prairie"" people. Their letters, recipes, oral literature, autobiographies, rap, and poetry- provide vivid glimpses into the reality of their lived experiences and give meaning to them.
The book includes introductory notes for each writer in non-specialist language, and notes to assist readers in their engagement with the literature. This archive and its supporting text offer new scholarly and pedagogical possibilities by expanding the nation's and the region's archives. They enrich our understanding of black Canada by bringing to light the prairies' black histories, cultures, and presences.
Table of Contents
- Introduction
-
Daniel T. Williams [date unknown -1880]
- ""Notebook 1872-1875."" Letter to Hudson's Bay Company Factor, George Kennedy, April 12, 1873
- Dr. Alfred Schmitz Shadd [1870-1915]
- ""To the Electorate of the District of Kinistino,"" 1905 Letters to The Melfort Moon
-
Mildred Lewis Ware [1871-1905]
- Three Letters
-
William Sylvester Alpheus Beal [1874-1968]
- from Memoir of the Swan River Valley, Manitoba
- 3 Glass-plate photographs
-
Alice Ethel Lewis [1886-1960]
- ""In Loving Memory of Alberta""
-
Jefferson Davis Edwards [1888-1979]
- ""There Was a Cloud Over Amber Valley,"" from The Window of Our Memories
-
John Bell Bowden [1888-1982]
- ""Always Be a Factor in the Community!""
-
Sylvester Long [1890-1932]
- ""My Trail Upward,"" from Long Lance: The Autobiography of a Blackfoot Indian Chief
- ""Canoe Song""
- ""Death Song of Long Lance""
Rosa Shannon [c.1880-1931]""We Gave Our Lives to This Part of the Country,"" from The Window of Our Memories
Martha Edwards [1890-1977]""That Is What Pioneers Had to Go Through,"" from The Window of Our Memories
Amanda Janet (Nettie) Ware [1893-1989]""John Ware""
E. A. Cobbs [dates unknown]""This Bias Was Good, for It Caused the Black People to Fight""
Ellis Hooks [1907-1979]""The Way I Felt, I Wanted to Plead Guilty: I Wanted the World to Know,"" from the Provincial Archives of Alberta Oral History Project
Luther Gerard [1914-2004]""Community Spirit""
Lloyd Mayes [1916-1972?]""Homebrew,"" from North of the Gully
Goldie Gordon [dates unknown]""Even the Bad Was Good,"" from North of the Gully
Gwen Hooks [1918-]from The Keystone Legacy: Recollections of a Black Settler
Willa R. Dallard [1898-1988]""Memories of My Father: The Late Willis Bowen of Amber Valley""
Woody Strode [1914-1994]""Mixed Breed""""A Hero in Dogtown""
Clinton Murphy [1926-2004]""Ode to the Amber Valley Baseball Team""
Fil Fraser [1932-]from Alberta's Camelot: Culture & the Arts in the Lougheed Years
Claire Harris [1937-]""Backstage at the Glenbow Museum, Calgary,"" from She
Addena Sumter-Freitag [1944-]from Stay Black & Die
Linus Tongwo Asong [1947-2012]from No Way to Die
Archie Crail [1948-]""An Election""
Nigel Darbasie [1950-]""Our Subdivision""Pan Man""""New Terra""
Tololwa M. Mollel [1952-]""Feasting on Words""The Orphan Boy
F. B. André [1955-]""Is There Someone You Can Call?""
Cheryl Foggo [1956-]""The Kind of Black People That We Are,"" from Pourin' Down Rain
from John Ware Reimagined
Margaret Robinson-Gudmundson [1957-]""The Severance""
George Bwanika Seremba [1958-]from Come Good Rain
Suzette Mayr [1967-]""His Own Ending,"" from Monoceros
""I Am the Architect of My Life,"" from Dr. Edith Vane and the Hares of Crawley Hall
Minister Faust [1969-]from The Coyote Kings of the Space-Age Bachelor Pad
from The Alchemists of Kush
Troy Burle Bailey [c.1960s-]from The Pierre Bonga Loops
Sheila Addiscott [1965-]""Coloured""
Dawn Carter [1968-]""Restoration""A Monumental Love"" ""Get into My Car""
Bertrand Bickersteth [1969-]""I Look at My Hand""""What We Used to Call It"" ""We, Too""
Deanna Bowen [1969-]""sum of the parts: what can be named""
Valerie Mason-John [1969-]from Borrowed Body
Wakefield Brewster [1973-]""Human""""In Short""
Ian Samuels [1975-]from The Ubiquitous Big
Various writersfrom Black Pioneer Centennial: A Little Taste of Soul (2005)Kaie Kellough [1975-]""boy hood dub II""""night gallery""from Creole Continuum
from Accordéon
Esi Edugyan [1977-]""Encountering Aster,"" from The Second Life of Samuel Tyne
from Half Blood Blues
Nehal El Hadi [1978-]""La Puerta""
Nestor Wynrush (Elliott Walsh) [1978-]""Winnipeg South Blues""""Ole Mine Town""
Kevan Anthony Cameron (""Scruffmouth"") [1979-]""I Am a Claim""
Lisa Codrington [1982-]""The Red Woman""
Michelle Jean-Paul [1985-]""Learning to Love Me""
Ahmed Ali (""Knowmadic"") [1984-]""Child Soldier""
Titilope Sonuga [1985-]from Down to Earth
Marika Schwandt [1985?-]""Mulatto Nation""
Cadence Weapon (Rollie Pemberton) [1986-]""Oliver Square""""House Music""""How Black?""
Khodi Dill [1987-]""Atikameksheng ""Grey""""Ghost of Billie Holiday""
Young Kidd (Frankie Fontaine) [1988-]""Wonderful Winnipeg""""Hometown""
Hot Dogg (Mijok Lang [birth date unknown]""Letter to God""
Miranda Martini [1990-]""The Drinking Gourd: Three Tales""
