Book review: The Inconvenient Indian by Thomas King

History is more than a little confusing. For example, let's try to solve the mystery of who discovered Canada.

I typed that question into a search engine. It spat back: Jacques Cartier in 1534. Huh?

What was that poem...? Oh, yeah, In 1492 Christopher Columbus sailed the ocean blue. But he thought he'd discovered India.

When I typed in what did Leif Eriksson discover I was directed to biography.com

'Leif Eriksson was on his way back home

to Greenland...when he sailed off course

and landed at what is now Nova Scotia,

which he called Vinland. This account

comes from the Icelandic Eriks saga.

Another account, the Groenlendinga saga,

says he learned of Vinland from an Icelandic

trader who had been there 14 years earlier...

By most accounts, Eriksson sailed from

Greenland to Norway in 1000.'

That's 534 years before Jacques Cartier.

I typed in what does Canada mean?

Wikipedia informed me that...

'The name of Canada has been in use since the earliest European settlement in Canada,with the name originating from a Saint-Lawrence Iroquoian word kanada
(or canada) for “settlement”, “village', or “land”.'

Isn't that interesting? Maybe Canada didn't need to be discovered. Maybe it was never lost. A few white people were but not Canada.

So imagine, I'm at home on Mayne Island. It's a sun-filled day and say I'm outside working on the yard. A tourist from Vancouver Island shows up.

“Wow, it's a good thing I came,” he tells me. “You were lost. Here let me help you.” He moves into my house.

I'm forced to move down into the basement.

He tells me, “I like it here. I mean, it's pretty and all that but what do you do about this and this and this.”

So I teach him some tricks to make adjusting to rural life much easier. I think we're friends.

One day, he says, “You know you look really cramped, living in the basement.”

I think how nice of him to notice.

He says, “I'm sure you'll be much happier living in Victoria. We'll teach you how to be a city person. It'll be a much better life than the one you had on Mayne Island.”

With me out of the way, he's free to treat my island any way he wants. He builds fast food restaurants and paves over flowerbeds for parking lots. He pollutes the water and the air.

Now, of course, none of that will happen. I'm just a white woman wondering what it's like to be Aboriginal. All I can do is wonder. But Thomas King knows and he has opened my eyes.

The Inconvenient Indian is not a easy read, but it is a necessary one. And thanks to King's wit, it is doable.

He discusses three types of Indians.

'Dead Indians are dignified, noble, silent, suitably garbed. And dead. Live Indians are invisible, unruly, disappointing. And breathing. One is the romantic reminder of a heroic but fictional past. The other is simply an unpleasant, contemporary surprise.' (p.66)

'Legal Indians are those Indians who are recognized as being Indians by the Canadian and U.S. governments.'(p. 68)

'North America hates the Legal Indian... The Legal Indian was one of those errors in judgment that North America made and has been trying to correct for the last 150 years.' (p. 69)

I like how King answers the question of what do Natives want. It speaks to the diversity of a people. Aboriginals are a diverse people. It was the white man who lumped them all together under one title—Indian. King makes this point through out this book. Whites made the classification. Aboriginals did not.

Some may say the abuses done to Aboriginals is old news and they should just get over it.

King replies to this comment...

'[A]n examination of the past...can be instructive.It shows us that there is little shelter and little gain for Native peoples in doing nothing.' (p. 265)

If Native people want sovereignty and self-determination, they will have to fight for it, King concludes.

Favourite quote: 'The fact of Native existence is that we live modern lives informed by traditional values and contemporary realities and that we wish to live those lives on our terms.' (p. 266)

If you would like to gain better understanding of the Aboriginal experience in North America, I highly recommend...

The Inconvenient Indian

(buy this book)

Next post:  Where's the Head (a short story)

Sharing my author journey...
On Mayne Island, The Inconvenient Indian was not only a book but a challenge. A challenge issued...

Book Review Beyond Knit and Purl

The first things that attracted me to this book were the soothing colours and the conversational writing style. I know knitters will enjoy the projects that range from small to larger items. However, I would also recommend Beyond Knit & Purl to knitwear designers because the information Kate has included would help in the development of patterns. Thank you, Kate Atherley, for this fun and informative book.

Author/knitwear designer Kate Atherley has visited this blog.

Book Review: Mayne Island Skeletons by Amber Harvey

Mayne Island Skeletons is not only a fun read for children 9 to 12 years of age but it also teaches many valuable lessons—such as how to be a good friend.

Mary Magdalene Sommers’ mother is attentive and reliable; whereas, Brent Green is the son of a neglectful parent. Despite these differences, Magda values Brent’s friendship. She continues to believe in his good character even in the face of negative public opinion. In fact, she works tirelessly to prove his innocence and to secure his safety.

Through Magda’s example children are empowered to solve their own mysteries and resolve their own problems.

Thank you Amber Harvey for this uplifting read.

Author links

Amber's website:  Tree with Roots

Book review: Scammed by Ron Chudley

My review:  Scammed had me on the edge of my seat, to the last page.
My questions:  Guilt over the death of his parents drives otherwise level-headed Greg down a path of self-destruction. Why? Was it the bond to his mother? Or guilt over the estrangement to his father? Did he feel that he was a living an ineffectual life? Was seeking justice his opportunity to proof his usefulness?
My thoughts: Instead of action, when my mom died I became paralyzed.
While she was alive I worked to further my career--caring for children in a day care centre, studying to complete a social work degree, and volunteering as a co-facilitator with a group of parents who were at risk of abusing their children. She died and my world dissolved into tears, sleep and thoughts of suicide. I didn't know how to escape my pain.
My mom and I had always been close. Even though, I'd moved two provinces away years before her death, Mom continued to help me navigate through life right up until she died.
Without her, I was lost. My faith, my husband, and counseling eventually enabled me to collect the shattered pieces of my broken life.
For me, a complete change was the only answer. My husband and I moved from a city--Coquitlam--to a rural island--Mayne Island. I abandoned my career; I stopped volunteering. All my jobs, all my training had been in the social services. So I was forced to find a new path.
Although it was difficult, I persevered and now my life soars with possibilities.
Regardless of your age or the quality of your relationship, your parents' death will have a profound effect on your life.
There is help; you're not alone; reach out -- someone will be there to support you.

I recently found this book:  The Orphaned Adult:  Understanding and Coping with Grief and Change After the Death of Our Parents

From Library Journal

The death of one's parents is "the ultimate equal-opportunity" experience; becoming an orphan as an adult happens to nearly everybody. Yet despite the flood of self-help books on death and the grieving process, very little (with the exception of Hope Edleman's Motherless Daughters) has been written on parental loss. Incorporating how own personal experience with the accounts of others who have lost their parents, psychologist Levy examines this profound life-changing event with compassion and understanding. Since our parents "project an illusion of permanence," writes Levy, their death forces us to confront our own mortality (we are next in line to die) and to adjust to our new identities as orphaned adults. Indeed, he argues that this stripping of our childish beliefs is the first step toward true adulthood:  "Perhaps only after parents have died can people find out what they are going to be when they grow up." This wise and caring book is recommended for all collections. AWilda Williams, "Library Journal"

blurb:  When Greg Lothian's mother and famous artist father are scammed of their life savings by cruel con men, his orderly life is torn apart. When the same criminals steal Greg's own identity, the normally law-abiding accountant turns his analytical mind to plotting revenge. This uncharacteristic decision plunges him into the strange and horrifying underworld that lurks everywhere--even on peaceful Vancouver Island. As Greg prepares to find the perpetrators of the debilitating crime, he sets up a clever plan of entrapment and descends into a whirlpool of evil that puts others and Greg's very existence at risk.

The magnificent panorama of the Pacific coast, with its mountains, dense forest, fog-shrouded shores and swift, cold rivers, provides the moody setting for this tale of crime and punishment--and bravery.