Indigenous Women Writers and Decolonial Literature
In conversations at ap_racism and debunkingwhite, I detected that there are more than a few folks who are unaware that there is a whole realm of decolonizing literature written by Indigenous Peoples that reach much farther than Sherman Alexie, specifically there are many Indigenous women writing poetry, novels, short stories and critical theory and philosophy.
This is a decent site for listings. LeAnne Howe's work is phenomenal and she just one the Oklahoma Book Award for poetry; her novel ShellShaker is in my top five best novels of all time. I would also recommend the works of Gloria Bird, Rayna Green, Lucy Tapahonso, Lee Maracle, Dawn Martin-Hill, Elizabeth Cook-Lynn, Quo-Li Driskill, and Andrea Smith.
You can get a taste of Smith's book, Conquest, here and here.
The rationale for this post is that I see people turning to literature and theories written about ndnz and not BY ndnz as sources on the ndn experience, i.e. Barbara Kingsolver, Tony Hillerman. Sherman Alexie has said that these are colonial tales, and I agree. No matter how kind-hearted and engaging of the Indigenous experience they seem to be, they ultimately tell a colonial tale because that is how PWOC know ndnz. Obviously, this is problematic on myriad levels, but I would argue that it also goes to further a colonial agenda even within an anti-racist dialogue (as cited here and by Smith in Conquest - specifically chapter 2). I could go on about stereotypes and lining the pockets of white folks who think they are ndn experts, but I think recapitulation of those topics can go unsaid here.
I would also argue (and have argued) that because Kingsolver and her ilk are putting forth a colonial tale that does little (and hinders) to further the liberation of Indigenous Peoples that these stories are not so different from the Cassie Edwards novels that are so popular with the exotifing set. More subtle perhaps, but colonial all the same. These colonial tales also normalize a colonial existence (stereotypes among the issues) for Indigenous Peoples that people, including ndnz!, begin to believe, and, well, that just further the cultural genocide that USA and Canada has been engaged in for the last 100+ years. Fortunately, we have our women (and men) fighting back, writing and publishing engaging, exciting books, but get shunned for the more digestible.
This is a decent site for listings. LeAnne Howe's work is phenomenal and she just one the Oklahoma Book Award for poetry; her novel ShellShaker is in my top five best novels of all time. I would also recommend the works of Gloria Bird, Rayna Green, Lucy Tapahonso, Lee Maracle, Dawn Martin-Hill, Elizabeth Cook-Lynn, Quo-Li Driskill, and Andrea Smith.
You can get a taste of Smith's book, Conquest, here and here.
The rationale for this post is that I see people turning to literature and theories written about ndnz and not BY ndnz as sources on the ndn experience, i.e. Barbara Kingsolver, Tony Hillerman. Sherman Alexie has said that these are colonial tales, and I agree. No matter how kind-hearted and engaging of the Indigenous experience they seem to be, they ultimately tell a colonial tale because that is how PWOC know ndnz. Obviously, this is problematic on myriad levels, but I would argue that it also goes to further a colonial agenda even within an anti-racist dialogue (as cited here and by Smith in Conquest - specifically chapter 2). I could go on about stereotypes and lining the pockets of white folks who think they are ndn experts, but I think recapitulation of those topics can go unsaid here.
I would also argue (and have argued) that because Kingsolver and her ilk are putting forth a colonial tale that does little (and hinders) to further the liberation of Indigenous Peoples that these stories are not so different from the Cassie Edwards novels that are so popular with the exotifing set. More subtle perhaps, but colonial all the same. These colonial tales also normalize a colonial existence (stereotypes among the issues) for Indigenous Peoples that people, including ndnz!, begin to believe, and, well, that just further the cultural genocide that USA and Canada has been engaged in for the last 100+ years. Fortunately, we have our women (and men) fighting back, writing and publishing engaging, exciting books, but get shunned for the more digestible.