Skins: Contemporary Indigenous Writing

by Kateri Akiwenzie-Damm (Editor)

Book by

Genres: Indigenous, Short Stories, Native American, Nonfiction, Australia

177 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2000

About the author

Kateri Akiwenzie-Damm (she/her/hers) is a writer, poet, spoken-word performer, librettist, and activist from the Saugeen Ojibway Nation, as well as an Assistant Professor of Creative Writing, Indigenous Literatures and Oral Traditions at the University of Toronto. She is the founder and Managing Editor of Kegedonce Press which was established in 1993 to publish the work of Indigenous creators. Kateri has written two books of poetry, was a contributor to the graphic novel anthology This Place: 150 Years Retold, was editor of the award-winning Skins: Contemporary Indigenous Writing, and has also released two poetry and music CDs. Kateri's work has been published internationally, and she has performed and spoken around the world. (Re)Generation: The Poetry of Kateri Akiwenzie-Damm, a book of collected poems, edited by Dallas Hunt, will be released this year by Wilfrid Laurier Press.

Reviews

[leftiesmudge · Rating 4 out of 5]

solid collection

[Leeny · Rating 5 out of 5]

Powerful voices that are less heard.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a collection of stories by indigenous authors of American Indian, Inuit, First Nations, Aboriginal and Maori descent. In includes a variety of stories based on a variety of different indigenous issues. Some stories are based around personal stories such as ‘The Letter’ written by Sally Morgan. It is a story of an Aboriginal woman trying to make contact with her sister’s daughter who was taken away by the Aborigines Protection Board and adopted out to a white family. In contrast other stories/poem are based on traditional folktales. The Abenaki tale written by Joseph Bruchac ‘The Hungry One’ is a folktale about how a greedy and lazy uncle tries to eat his entire family.

The story which I most enjoyed and found very moving was the story ‘Borders’ written by Thomas King which is told from the perspective of a child. The story is centred around a child and his mother being stuck between the borders of Canada and America. The reason for this being that the child’s mother will only identify herself as Blackfoot and will not claim Canadian or American citizenship when asked to. The story’s strength comes from the charm of the naivety and innocence of it’s protagonist who does not understand the gravity of the situation.

This collection of short stories are thoughtful, interesting and a great read. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes to read stories that focus on the frailty of human nature or anyone interested in indigenous history and culture.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a collection of stories by indigenous authors of American Indian, Inuit, First Nations, Aboriginal and Maori descent. In includes a variety of stories based on a variety of different indigenous issues. Some stories are based around personal stories such as ‘The Letter’ written by Sally Morgan. It is a story of an Aboriginal woman trying to make contact with her sister’s daughter who was taken away by the Aborigines Protection Board and adopted out to a white family. In contrast other stories/poem are based on traditional folktales. The Abenaki tale written by Joseph Bruchac ‘The Hungry One’ is a folktale about how a greedy and lazy uncle tries to eat his entire family.
The story which I most enjoyed and found very moving was the story ‘Borders’ written by Thomas King which is told from the perspective of a child. The story is centred around a child and his mother being stuck between the borders of Canada and America. The reason for this being that the child’s mother will only identify herself as Blackfoot and will not claim Canadian or American citizenship when asked to. The story’s strength comes from the charm of the naivety and innocence of it’s protagonist who does not understand the gravity of the situation.
This collection of short stories are thoughtful, interesting and a great read. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes to read stories that focus on the frailty of human nature or anyone interested in indigenous history and culture.

[JME · Rating 5 out of 5]

Had to buy this anthology for my Aboriginal Literature class. No regrets in getting it. This is a fantastic collection of writing by a great mix of Aboriginal, First Nations, Aborigine, Maori etc. nations.