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kisiskâciwan

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This ambitious anthology presents a collection of writings (and written versions of oral traditions) from the First Nations and Métis people of Saskatchewan, Canada. The book is organized chronologically and includes a variety of works, touching on mythology, poetry, drama, literary fiction, and memoir. A valuable resource for those wishing to enrich their understanding of the everlasting effects of European encounters on the First Nations.

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When I went to my daughter’s graduation, from Emily Carr Unviersity, the procession was lead by a First Nations representative of the peoples that the land of the school had lived on. They had First Nations people speak at the commencement. It was an amazing thing to see and hear.

And that is why it is not that amazing that this book, kisiskâciwan, has come out, to chronically the writings of the First Nations people of the Saskatchewan area. The  Cree, Saulteaux, Nakoda, Dakota, Dene, and Metis cultures.

This is quite an ambitious tome, with so many voices, streatching form the 1800, and the time of the treaties, to present day.  There are so many things said, so many quotes, that I want to include them all, but I also want you, to know why you should read this as well.

Let us start start with Atakawinin (The Gambler), with a speech he made to the Hudson Bay Company about the wrongs that had been done to him.
<blockquote>When one Indian takes anything from  another, we call it staling, and when we wee the present we say pay us. It is the Company, I mean.

Lieut-Gov. Morris asks “What did the COmpany steal from you?

The earth, trees, grass, stones, all which I see with my eyes.</blockquote>
Atahkakohp (Star Blanket) has this to say about Tready Six, in a speech he gave:
<blockquote>Can we stop the power of the white man from spreading over the land like the grasshoppers that a loud the sky and then fall to consume very blade of grass and every leaf on the trees in their path? I think not.</blockquote>
Or this quote from Payipwat, when asked by Father Hugonard to be baptized:
<blockquote>Oh, no. I am only going to accept half of your religion. I will belong half to the Christian religion and half to the Indian, because you may turn out to be wrong after all, and the Indian Regligion might happen to be right, and then I would have nothing to fall back upon.</blockquote>
And I can’t leave out this quote from Tatiana Iyotake (Sitting Bull)
<blockquote>I will remain what I am until I die, a hunter. And when there is no buffalo or other game, I will send my children to hunt prairie mice, for when an Indian is shut up in one place, his body becomes weak.</blockquote>
But this book is not just early quotes of First Nations peoples. There are quotes from the 20th and 21st century in as well.  There are folk tales, and legends retold. And there are excerpts from the likes of Maria Campbell, whose book Halfbreed, which was published in 1973, is considered the begging of modern Indigenous literature.

There is sadness, with stories of the Residency Schools, as well as children of First Nations peoples given to white parents, when the “60’s scoop happened”.

There is so much here, so much to read, and ponder, and then move on to the next selection. And since I have given early quotes, let me include some of the later quotes

Priscilla Sette has a wonderful  piece called The Strength of women: Ahkameyimowak.
<blockquote>Ahkameyimowak is a Cree word and embodies the strength the drives women’s o survive, flourish and work for change within their communities.</blockquote>
And then there is the journalist Merelda Fiddler, who writes in an essay called “Powerful Women, Powerful Stories: How I became Métis and a Journalist.

In this section of the essay she is trying to find out about a missing Indiginous woman, and her family.
<blockquote>“Why?” She asked. “Why would you want to tell that story? What do you hope to complain?” My answer not only convinced her, but also Boanniej’s most her and myself, that telling this story not only made sense, but was also desperately needed. The sad truth is Indigenous women’s re expect to go missing. They are expected to be victims of violence.</blockquote>
There are so many stories in this book. Each one a unique voice for their time. What the Universtiy of Regina has put together is simply amazing, and should be read by all, if for no other reason to see what colonization has done the Indiginous peoples.

Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.

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Beautifully curated collection of oral and written works from the kisiskâciwan . The pieces and excerpts range from elder stories to speechs and reflections of Louis Riel and Buffy Sainte-Marie. As a non-Indigenous reader, I feel this is an exciting and educational collection of work . My eyes have been opened in terms of the kisiskâciwan cultures and also indigenous literature in general. I've been making notes and hope to explore more works by these people in future. I respect University of Regina Press and their recent decisions concerning this publication. I feel this is an important anthology and hope to see it in library and bookstores.

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kisiskâciwan - Indigenous Voices from Where the River Flows Swiftly by Jesse Rae Archibald-Barber is an anthology of indigenous voices from the territory now known as Saskatchewan in Canada. The collection contains plays, poems, transcribed oral narratives, written narratives, stories, essays, traditions, and more from Cree, Saulteaux, Nakoda, Dakota, Dene, and Métis cultures native to the land. Containing content from the 19th century until today, kisiskâciwan takes us through times before the First Nations treaties and the times afterwards, and absolutely breaks your heart over and over again.

kisiskâciwan is a hard book to review: there is so much content in just one book. Recollections of Cree leaders during the treaties and the rebellion, traditional stories were passed along through oral history and that have been put in writing at some point during the last century or so, essays on the importance of preservation of indigenous culture and language, personal stories on everyday life on the reservation, folklore, battles, stories of warriors and stories of death, recounts of the absolute crushing machine of colonialization, narratives of the horrors of residential schools, of being ripped away from your family and forced to be someone you are not, and poems of swimming back through the horrors, the loss, and the changes to understand where one comes from. Amongst so much more.

kisiskâciwan contains work from writers such as Abel Watetch, Edward Ahenakew, Gloria Mehlmann, Priscilla Settee, Howard Adams, Big Bear, Thunderchild, Louis Riel, Gabriel Dumont, Rita Bouvier, Harold Johnson, Louise Halfe, and my own personal heroine Buffy Sainte-Marie, and so many more. I have discovered so many artists that I now need to read, hear, and watch, and I can’t wait to do more research on them.

There is so much importance in the creation and reading and passing along of these types of anthologies, not just for preservation and continuation, but also for education. Because honestly with our whitewashed education there is no way we are going to learn real history unless we step outside of our own comfort zones and read and listen and soak in the voices of those who lived through the reality of history.

I have to purchase this book as soon as it is published because I will need to revisit parts of it over and over again, and reread some of the stories. It’s not a book you can really read in one setting, it needs to be absorbed, thought about, understood. I don’t know how I can really do it justice to be honest in this review, so I will just say that it’s a must have. You may prefer certain narratives to others, be more interested in certain stories over others, but each word needs to be read and digested properly. A must have. (I know I said that twice).

kisiskâciwan - Indigenous Voices from Where the River Flows will be published by University of Regina Press on April 24th, 2018. Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the advance copy!

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