Episode 009 – Aboriginal, Indigenous, and First Nations Books

In our ongoing quest to become better librarians by reading every genre (regardless of our actual interest) we tackle Aboriginal, Indigenous, and First Nations Books.  

This episode we’re looking at another thematic genre/non-genre, so join us as we discuss the problems of reading aboriginal or indigenous characters written by non-indigenous authors, how we really didn’t get enough education in First Nations/Native Americans in school, and why it’s hard to find Australian Aboriginal or Sami books in Vancouver libraries.

Your Hosts This Episode

 Anna Ferri | Meghan Whyte | Matthew Murray | Amanda Wanner

 Recommended

• A Short History of Indians in Canada: Stories by Thomas King (Cherokee)
• The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven by Sherman Alexie (Spokane/Coeur d’Alene)
• Two Old Women: An Alaska Legend of Betrayal, Courage and Survival by Velma Wallis (Gwich’in Athabascan)

Read

• The Interrogation of Ashala Wolf (The Tribe #1) by Ambelin Kwaymullina (Aboriginal Australian – Palyku)
• Sweat by Lesley Belleau (Anishinaabe)
• Three Feathers by Richard Van Camp (Dogrib [Tlicho] Dene) (Comic)
• Walking the Clouds: An Anthology of Indigenous Science Fiction edited by Grace L. Dillon (contributors include Native American, First Nations, Aboriginal Australian, and Maori)
• War Dances by Sherman Alexie (Spokane/Coeur d’Alene)

Children’s Picture Books 

• The Giant Bear: An Inuit Folktale by Jose Angutingunrik, illustrated by Eva Widermann (Inuit folktale – not certain how the author identifies)
• Missing Nimama by Melanie Florence (Cree), illustrated by François Thisdale (Québécois)
• The Son of the Sun and the Daughter of the Moon by Holly Young Huth, Illustrated by Anna Vojtech (Sami folktale by non-Sami author & illustrator)
• The Reindeer People by Ted Lewin (American writing about Lapland)

Did Not Finish

• Forty Days Without Shadow by Olivier Truc (French author writing about Sami)
• Bearheart: The Heirship Chronicles by Gerald Vizenor (Anishinaabe)
• Born with a Tooth by Joseph Boyden (Métis) (worth returning to)

Other titles mentioned

• Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech
• Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O’Dell (our youthful memories recommend this one)
• • Recently featured on the Overdue podcast
• Morning Girl by Michael Dorris
• The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie (totally recommended)
• Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George
• Talking Earth by Jean Craighead George
• Monkey Beach by Eden Robinson (highly recommended by a non-podcasting group member)
• Servant of the Underworld (Obsidian and Blood, #1) by Aliette de Bodard (French-American of French-Vietnamese descent writing historical fantasy about Aztecs) (recommended)
• I, Rigoberta Menchú: An Indian Woman in Guatemala by Rigoberta Menchú, edited by Elisabeth Burgos-Debray
• Tilly, a Story of Hope and Resilience by Monique Gray Smith (recommended)
• My Name Is Seepeetza by Shirley Sterling
• Red Spider White Web by Misha Nogha
• • Neither Hero nor Anti-hero: Misha’s Red Spider White Web
  • Review of Red Spider, White Web
  • Interview: Misha Nogha and the Weird
• The Inconvenient Indian: A Curious Account of Native People in North America and Green Grass, Running Water by Thomas King
• Skin Room by Sara Tilley
• The Orenda and Three Day Road by Joseph Boyden

Comics

• The Ballad of Nancy April: Shawnadithit by David Alexander Robertson and Scott B. Henderson
• Little Plum, a problematic old UK comic strip
• Scalped by Jason Aaron, R.M. Guera, and others (recommended)
• Tintin in America shows First Nations people being kicked off their land

Links/Other

• American Indians in Children’s Literature (AICL)
• Canadian First Nations and Inuit reads from The 49th Shelf
• The Sixties scoop is vastly more complicated than described in our podcast so PLEASE take the time to get better facts on this subject from more knowledgeable sources. Maybe start with:
• • This article by Indigenous Foundations – an information resource on Aboriginal peoples in Canada from the University of British Columbia
  • This article on the legacy of the child welfare system on Canadian Aboriginal Communities from the First Nations newspaper, First Nations Drum
  • The plain ol’ Wikipedia entry on the Sixties Scoop
• Remaining Aztec Codices
• JK Rowling under fire via CBC and The Guardian
• El Supremo Dictador, who forced racially integrated marriage in Paraguay
• • “In order to destroy the colonial racial hierarchy which had also discriminated against him because of his mixed blood, Francia forbade Europeans from marrying other Europeans, thus forcing the élite to choose spouses from among the local population.”
  • Originally discovered via this comic
• The Super Shamou comic and a rather scrambled safety video!
• Matthew Henson, the first African-American explorer in the arctic, and the review of the (problematic) comic recently written about him
• That moon landing was sooooooooo fake!

Podcasts

• Métis in Space podcast from Indian and Cowboy podcasting
• Ryan McMahon (who pretty much is Indian and Cowboy podcasting) is also doing some amazing podcasting on Truth and Reconciliation in Canada in the Red Man Laughing podcast and just generally has a lot of stuff to say that’s worth hearing
• SS Librarianship and guest Michael Wynne on cataloguing First Nations and Aboriginal materials

Questions

• Are there any First Nations mysteries?
• Are there Indigenous/Aboriginal specific genres?
• Does your library have an Aboriginal/Indigenous/First Nations section, sticker, or other method of bringing attention to these titles?
• Is there anything that we missed, misunderstood, or misspoke on?

Check out our Pinterest board and Tumblr posts for all the Aboriginal, Indigenous, and First Nations Books people in our club read (or tried to read), and follow us on Twitter!