Today is Indigenous Peoples' Day and a day to once again recommend this astounding Young Adult novel soon to be turned into a movie by the Obamas.
Ever since I was a child, I've been fascinated by Native American culture. Being a mixed race (Coloured) kid from and growing up in Zimbabwe, finding my slippery culture and identity in books seemed impossible, so this could be why I so resonated with Indigenous stories.
As an adult I've come to realise how stereotyped and racist so many depictions of Native Americans were. When I found out about this book written by Ojibwe author Angeline Boulley last year from @weneeddiversebooks I knew this was what I was seeking.
The Firekeeper's Daughter
Trigger Warning: meth drug use, sexual assault, murder, racism
Angeline is an incredible, contemporary storyteller. She has written a YA crime drama set in a real place and told from the perspective of a character that straddles two identities. Yet, her main character is so certain and strong in her connection to her tribe that as an outsider, I am welcomed right in, with no undue ceremony, to become emmersed in a culture, language and community that she is proud of. So many characters, yet I felt I knew and could hear all of them - the whole town of Sault St. Marie and Sugar Island!
The language! Anishinaabemowin is interlaced so simply in the story that I understood it so easily. What a gift!
This Indigenous Nancy Drew, as Angeline calls her, is so riveting a character, so capable at every point in the twisty depths of what she uncovers, that she is able to deal with important issues of the complicated policing and justice that Indigenous people face amidst complicated family dynamics.
Eighteen year old Daunis is the friend we all wish would have our back. She navigates heavy situations with such intelligence and grace. I have never rooted for a heroine more.
T/W Indigenous women going missing, sexually assaulted & murdered.
The state of children returned after being kidnapped and raised in boarding schools.