Search Results: Returned 3 Results, Displaying Titles 1 - 3
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2018., Adult, Douglas and McIntyre (2013) Ltd. Connect to this eBook title Summary Note: Growing up in the tiny village of Smith, Alberta, Darrel J. McLeod was surrounded by his Cree family's history. In shifting and unpredictable stories, his mother, Bertha, shared narratives of their culture, their family and the cruelty that she and her sisters endured in residential school. McLeod was comforted by her presence and that of his many siblings and cousins, the smells of moose stew and wild peppermint tea, and his deep love of the landscape. Bertha taught him to be fiercely proud of his heritage and to listen to the birds that would return to watch over and guide him at key junctures of his life. However, in a spiral of events, Darrel's mother turned wild and unstable, and their home life became chaotic. Sweet and innocent by nature, Darrel struggled to maintain his grades and pursue an interest in music while changing homes many times, witnessing violence, caring for his younger siblings and suffering abuse at the hands of his surrogate father. Meanwhile, his sibling's gender transition provoked Darrel to deeply question his own sexual identity. The fractured narrative of Mamaskatch mirrors Bertha's attempts to reckon with the trauma and abuse she faced in her own life, and captures an intensely moving portrait of a family of strong personalities, deep ties and the shared history that both binds and haunts them. Beautifully written, honest and thought-provoking, Mamaskatch—named for the Cree word used as a response to dreams shared—is ultimately an uplifting account of overcoming personal and societal obstacles. In spite of the traumas of Darrel's childhood, deep and mysterious forces handed down by his mother helped him survive and thrive: her love and strength stayed with him to build the foundation of what would come to be a very fulfilling and adventurous life.
![Mamaskatch [eBook] : a Cree coming of age](/Library/images/~imageCT100172.JPG "Mamaskatch [eBook] : a Cree coming of age")
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2004., Canadian Plains Research Center Call No: IND 971.27 S881s Availability:1 of 1 At Your Library Series Title: Canadian plains studies, Volume: 45.
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By Wente, Jesse2021., Adult, Allen Lane Canada Call No: NEW IND Bio W477u Availability:1 of 1 At Your Library Summary Note: One of Canada's most prominent Indigenous voices uncovers the lies Canada tells itself and the power of narrative to prioritize truth over comfort. Jesse Wente remembers the exact moment he realized that he was a certain kind of Indian. Not Anishinaabe or Ojibwe, but seen as a stereotypical cartoon Indian. He was playing softball as a child when the opposing team began to war-whoop when he was at bat. It was just one of many incidents that formed Wente's understanding of what it means to be a modern Indigenous person in a society still overwhelmingly colonial in its attitudes and institutions. As the child of an American father and an Anishinaabe mother, Wente grew up in Toronto with frequent visits to the Serpent River reserve. By exploring his family's history, including his grandmother's experience in residential school, and citing his own frequent incidents of racial profiling by police who'd stop him on the streets, Wente unpacks the discrepancies between his personal identity and how non-Indigenous people view him. He also describes his discomfort at becoming a designated spokesperson for Indigenous people's concerns, even as he struggles with not feeling Ojibwe enough. In his work as a CBC Radio columnist, film critic and programmer, and as the founding director of the Indigenous Screen Office, Wente has analyzed and given voice to the differences between Hollywood portrayals of Indigenous people and lived culture. Through the lens of art, pop culture commentary, and personal stories, and with disarming humour, he links his love of baseball and movies to such issues as cultural appropriation, Indigenous representation and identity, and Indigenous narrative sovereignty. Indeed, he argues that storytelling in all its forms is one of Indigenous peoples' best weapons in the fight to reclaim their rightful place. Wente explores and exposes the lies that Canada tells itself, unravels "the two founding nations" myth, and insists that the notion of "reconciliation" is not a realistic path forward. There is not a state of peace between First Nations and the state of Canada that can be recovered through reconciliation--because no such relationship ever existed. Part memoir and part manifesto, Unreconciled is a stirring call to arms to put truth over the flawed concept of reconciliation, and to build a new, respectful relationship between the nation of Canada and Indigenous peoples.
