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Tainna: The Unseen Ones
Winner of Canada's Governor General's Literary Award for Fiction
Drawing on both lived experience and cultural memory, Norma Dunning brings together six powerful new short stories centred on modern-day Inuk characters in Tainna. Ranging from homeless to extravagantly wealthy, from spiritual to jaded, young to elderly, and even from alive to deceased, Dunning’s characters are united by shared feelings of alienation, displacement and loneliness resulting from their experiences in southern Canada.
In Tainna—meaning “the unseen ones” and pronounced Da‑e‑nn‑a—a fraught reunion between sisters Sila and Amak ends in an uneasy understanding. From the spirit realm, Chevy Bass watches over his imperilled grandson, Kunak. And in the title story, the broken-hearted Bunny wanders onto a golf course on a freezing night, when a flock of geese stand vigil until her body is discovered by a kind stranger.
Norma Dunning’s masterful storytelling uses humour and incisive detail to create compelling characters who discover themselves in a hostile land where prejudice, misogyny and inequity are most often found hidden in plain sight. There, they must rely on their wits, artistic talent, senses of humour and spirituality for survival; and there, too, they find solace in shining moments of reconnection with their families and communities.
Drawing on both lived experience and cultural memory, Norma Dunning brings together six powerful new short stories centred on modern-day Inuk characters in Tainna. Ranging from homeless to extravagantly wealthy, from spiritual to jaded, young to elderly, and even from alive to deceased, Dunning’s characters are united by shared feelings of alienation, displacement and loneliness resulting from their experiences in southern Canada.
In Tainna—meaning “the unseen ones” and pronounced Da‑e‑nn‑a—a fraught reunion between sisters Sila and Amak ends in an uneasy understanding. From the spirit realm, Chevy Bass watches over his imperilled grandson, Kunak. And in the title story, the broken-hearted Bunny wanders onto a golf course on a freezing night, when a flock of geese stand vigil until her body is discovered by a kind stranger.
Norma Dunning’s masterful storytelling uses humour and incisive detail to create compelling characters who discover themselves in a hostile land where prejudice, misogyny and inequity are most often found hidden in plain sight. There, they must rely on their wits, artistic talent, senses of humour and spirituality for survival; and there, too, they find solace in shining moments of reconnection with their families and communities.
150 pages, Paperback
First published March 27, 2021
11 people are currently reading
612 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 85 reviews
November 4, 2024
The trauma and magic and beauty and love and life and death of Inuit men and women… gorgeously rendered with beautiful sentences. Brings both magic and realism to magical realism, indigenous speculative fiction…. Moving
December 3, 2021
I read this because it won Canada’s Governor General’s award for Literary Fiction for 2021, but I was not as impressed as I was expecting to be. (… but it’s me not the book)!
These six short stories focus on the plight of indigenous women at varying stages of their lives.
The plots of each were designed to show the characters and their development, how they perceive themselves as well as how they are perceived by others, and that goal was achieved. It certainly provide an opportunity to consider how we judge when clearly we shouldn’t but there still seemed to be something missing for me. Note that the “for me” is the operative part of that statement.
The writing is clear and informative. I enjoyed the references to the spirit world and the folklore that is shared by the indigenous culture. Yet there seemed to be something lacking. It may be the perspective or the (ad)vantage point from which I am viewing this that creates the void. I suspect it is my deficiency to understand/appreciate/acknowledge the prejudice or inequity of their plight. Perhaps my recognizing that alone means the author has achieved … something, for me.
No matter what age or stage we are in life,everyday we can learn something new. Perhaps today was my day. Now I need to take that new knowledge and do something positive with it. We live in hope.
We always must live in hope.. if we are to make this world a better place for all!
These six short stories focus on the plight of indigenous women at varying stages of their lives.
The plots of each were designed to show the characters and their development, how they perceive themselves as well as how they are perceived by others, and that goal was achieved. It certainly provide an opportunity to consider how we judge when clearly we shouldn’t but there still seemed to be something missing for me. Note that the “for me” is the operative part of that statement.
The writing is clear and informative. I enjoyed the references to the spirit world and the folklore that is shared by the indigenous culture. Yet there seemed to be something lacking. It may be the perspective or the (ad)vantage point from which I am viewing this that creates the void. I suspect it is my deficiency to understand/appreciate/acknowledge the prejudice or inequity of their plight. Perhaps my recognizing that alone means the author has achieved … something, for me.
No matter what age or stage we are in life,everyday we can learn something new. Perhaps today was my day. Now I need to take that new knowledge and do something positive with it. We live in hope.
We always must live in hope.. if we are to make this world a better place for all!
November 24, 2021
I can see why this won the Governor General fiction prize. It’s solid. While no story blew me away completely, it was consistently good and depicted Inuit people humanely and sometimes daringly. Handling some pretty heavy subject matter and stereotypes, acknowledging them and then contextualizing them for a story away from the harmful tropes. All while giving them flaws.
Sometimes the author does not provide a western-centric view, in terms of morally correct, which I liked. One in particular made me think quite a bit before turning to the next story because it’s about two homeless people, I think in Edmonton, and there are certain negative associations that feel pretty diminutive, all because she panhandles and will do sex work in able to buy booze. To forget her past, she says. Which seems like she has trauma. But there are also two spirits, one of which is a grandfather of the man who is ostensibly trying to help the woman by trying to get her to get some food rather than booze with him. But he calls her wife and continually laughs at her when she talks about her ability to call an evil spirit that could really mess up his life. Maybe kill him. And so the grandfather and this spirit are in a kind of conflict and the the two homeless people are as well, of a kind, what with him being offered booze by her and to not go to the food place. It escalates fairly quickly. And at the end, I have to say, I was a bit shocked and it took me a while to unpack the nuances of everything and what the story seemed to be saying. It’s been a long time since I’ve read a short story like that.
The prose work is what I would call contemporary. It wasn’t descriptive writing and neither did it get in the way of the reading experience. Dialogue feels natural. Character work seems good. Wide range of stories with a wide range of conflicts. And like I said, no story that was outright bad and I skipped; a rare thing. So I consider this to be pretty solid. Better than I expected.
Content warning for pretty graphic, but brief, sexual assault. Misogyny, racism, missing indigenous women. This collection isn’t shy.
Sometimes the author does not provide a western-centric view, in terms of morally correct, which I liked. One in particular made me think quite a bit before turning to the next story because it’s about two homeless people, I think in Edmonton, and there are certain negative associations that feel pretty diminutive, all because she panhandles and will do sex work in able to buy booze. To forget her past, she says. Which seems like she has trauma. But there are also two spirits, one of which is a grandfather of the man who is ostensibly trying to help the woman by trying to get her to get some food rather than booze with him. But he calls her wife and continually laughs at her when she talks about her ability to call an evil spirit that could really mess up his life. Maybe kill him. And so the grandfather and this spirit are in a kind of conflict and the the two homeless people are as well, of a kind, what with him being offered booze by her and to not go to the food place. It escalates fairly quickly. And at the end, I have to say, I was a bit shocked and it took me a while to unpack the nuances of everything and what the story seemed to be saying. It’s been a long time since I’ve read a short story like that.
The prose work is what I would call contemporary. It wasn’t descriptive writing and neither did it get in the way of the reading experience. Dialogue feels natural. Character work seems good. Wide range of stories with a wide range of conflicts. And like I said, no story that was outright bad and I skipped; a rare thing. So I consider this to be pretty solid. Better than I expected.
Content warning for pretty graphic, but brief, sexual assault. Misogyny, racism, missing indigenous women. This collection isn’t shy.
January 23, 2025
Powerful, poignant and luminous.
Norma Dunning is a talented writer who brings you exactly where she wants you to be and points you at exactly what she wants you to see, no matter how challenging it is to discuss and bear witness.
These short stories were heavy. Chronicling many historical issues faced by Indigenous folks, Dunning spares no one in her examination of the circumstances created around their community and the Indigenous experience in Canada specifically.
I randomly picked up this book from the Toronto Public Library’s available audio section on Libby, and it was a harrowing, touchingly clear-eyed listen.
The title story, Tianna, was the one that was the hardest. A contemplation on motherhood, Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, the way their disappearances are treated by the authorities, and the impact on the community at large — Tianna, is a reflection on the humanity and spirit people trade to survive in situations that were bleak from before they came to be.
The stories Amak and Kunak were strong and These Old Bones was another striking story.
The fight between reality and fiction was palpable in this book, and the narration was well done!
Norma Dunning is a talented writer who brings you exactly where she wants you to be and points you at exactly what she wants you to see, no matter how challenging it is to discuss and bear witness.
These short stories were heavy. Chronicling many historical issues faced by Indigenous folks, Dunning spares no one in her examination of the circumstances created around their community and the Indigenous experience in Canada specifically.
I randomly picked up this book from the Toronto Public Library’s available audio section on Libby, and it was a harrowing, touchingly clear-eyed listen.
The title story, Tianna, was the one that was the hardest. A contemplation on motherhood, Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, the way their disappearances are treated by the authorities, and the impact on the community at large — Tianna, is a reflection on the humanity and spirit people trade to survive in situations that were bleak from before they came to be.
The stories Amak and Kunak were strong and These Old Bones was another striking story.
The fight between reality and fiction was palpable in this book, and the narration was well done!
July 4, 2021
Six powerful stories that draw the reader into their orbit. Dunning tells of the lives of Inuit women with sensitivity and compassion, about their hopes, their losses, tragedies and resilience.
May 31, 2021
Powerful. Raw. Beautifully written. I highly recommend this book.
January 4, 2022
4.75 ⭐
Trigger warnings: Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Alcoholism, Misogyny, Sexual harassment, Toxic relationship, Death
Tainna, pronounced Da-e-nn-a, means “the unseen ones.” A collection of six short stories of contemporary Inuit lives by Dr Norma Dunning, it won the 2021 Governor General's Literary Award for Fiction. Interview with the author: https://49thshelf.com/Blog/2021/12/03...
All the stories are hard-hitting and searing. From the first story Amak, about two estranged sisters reuniting to the last titular story Tainna (The Unseen Ones), about a deceased Inuk woman found frozen on a golf course, Dr Dunning has imbued the stories with ferocity, compassion and honesty. Every word is well-placed to give a gut punch with precision. They roiled my emotions and I don’t think I'll ever forget these characters and their stories.
Panem et Circenses is quite unique, about a group of aged wealthy widows at a club who lie in wait for a wealthier male prey. Fabulous writing.
They sit like cobras in a charmer’s basket, weaving their heads at the stranger among them. Waiting for the right moment to strike. Careful. Calculated.
The knowing prey has his own agenda and when he bestows attention on the Iqaluit woman in their midst, they hiss and turn on her: Your purpose is to be our ethnic content and you've done that very well. We’ve kept your brown skin and eyes around so we don’t appear racist. It’s politically responsible and now… look at you, thinking that you’re somebody. Know your place!
Amak The undercurrent of emotion beneath the tension and shared traumatic history of two estranged sisters keeps the mood taut. I knew I was in the hands of an exceptional writer on reading this first story.
Trust and tenacity are things that have to be earned.
One sister left and repudiated her heritage and self:
Amak has denied and changed the name given to her. The one that represented our long-dead auntie. The auntie who laughed easy and taught us that life was good. The one who told us that residential schools were in the past and what mattered was now. The one whose name I wish I was carrying.
The importance of having an anchor figure in young Inuit lives for guidance and protection is evident in Kunak , about a homeless man panhandling on the streets of Edmonton.
Grandpa Chevy had been a wildlife guide and Kunak's only family. Chevy took the white people out to different spots of the land, showed them where to fish and hunt. He made his money that way, but Grandpa Chevy kept the true land secrets to himself. He never took the hunters and fishermen to the places of plenty. He took them to the places of moderation, to the place of Good Chances. Knowledge was something to be earned. It was not for sale and it was definitely never given away for free. Grandpa Chevy was a careful knowledge keeper. ....Then the Terrible Day Came. ...The Day that Grandpa Chevy's red toque was not in among the rest of the group.
Eskimo Heaven is quite funny. A white priest at a remote Inuit outpost keeps hearing an invisible super enthusiastic congregant at his church. Who is it? What a journey.
These Old Bones My understanding is that Annie Mukluk is a character from one of Dunning's previous books. Be warned it has a very graphic description of gang rape and racist sexual harassment. Annie has moved to a tropical island to forget her past but loneliness consumes her in this foreign place. A harrowing encounter with an acquaintance from the North starts the healing process.
They created one crooked and sideways Inukshuk as they cried together on a street filled with tourists.
They cried for all the hate they had felt from the world. They cried for all the hate they had had for each other up North. They cried together because they were the two people who knew what it was like to lose the love of Moses Henry.
Tainna (The Unseen Ones) is about Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women in Canada.
She was a casualty of Canada. An indigenous casualty of Canada but no one cared. Why would they?
The Unseen Ones Kivgalo and Riita, gentle and tender:
Kivgalo sat by the campfire, waiting on the other side of the river. He had known her before she was born.
"She's not going to make it," muttered Kigali, one of the oldest of the old ones. "Her spirit is too broken."
My only reservation about this short story collection is the constant reference to 'slanted eyes' in almost every story and the way spirit Grandpa Chevy treated the other Indigenous woman to protect his grandson. Perhaps I'm missing something and can be humbly enlightened.
Trigger warnings: Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Alcoholism, Misogyny, Sexual harassment, Toxic relationship, Death
Tainna, pronounced Da-e-nn-a, means “the unseen ones.” A collection of six short stories of contemporary Inuit lives by Dr Norma Dunning, it won the 2021 Governor General's Literary Award for Fiction. Interview with the author: https://49thshelf.com/Blog/2021/12/03...
All the stories are hard-hitting and searing. From the first story Amak, about two estranged sisters reuniting to the last titular story Tainna (The Unseen Ones), about a deceased Inuk woman found frozen on a golf course, Dr Dunning has imbued the stories with ferocity, compassion and honesty. Every word is well-placed to give a gut punch with precision. They roiled my emotions and I don’t think I'll ever forget these characters and their stories.
Panem et Circenses is quite unique, about a group of aged wealthy widows at a club who lie in wait for a wealthier male prey. Fabulous writing.
They sit like cobras in a charmer’s basket, weaving their heads at the stranger among them. Waiting for the right moment to strike. Careful. Calculated.
The knowing prey has his own agenda and when he bestows attention on the Iqaluit woman in their midst, they hiss and turn on her: Your purpose is to be our ethnic content and you've done that very well. We’ve kept your brown skin and eyes around so we don’t appear racist. It’s politically responsible and now… look at you, thinking that you’re somebody. Know your place!
Amak The undercurrent of emotion beneath the tension and shared traumatic history of two estranged sisters keeps the mood taut. I knew I was in the hands of an exceptional writer on reading this first story.
Trust and tenacity are things that have to be earned.
One sister left and repudiated her heritage and self:
Amak has denied and changed the name given to her. The one that represented our long-dead auntie. The auntie who laughed easy and taught us that life was good. The one who told us that residential schools were in the past and what mattered was now. The one whose name I wish I was carrying.
The importance of having an anchor figure in young Inuit lives for guidance and protection is evident in Kunak , about a homeless man panhandling on the streets of Edmonton.
Grandpa Chevy had been a wildlife guide and Kunak's only family. Chevy took the white people out to different spots of the land, showed them where to fish and hunt. He made his money that way, but Grandpa Chevy kept the true land secrets to himself. He never took the hunters and fishermen to the places of plenty. He took them to the places of moderation, to the place of Good Chances. Knowledge was something to be earned. It was not for sale and it was definitely never given away for free. Grandpa Chevy was a careful knowledge keeper. ....Then the Terrible Day Came. ...The Day that Grandpa Chevy's red toque was not in among the rest of the group.
Eskimo Heaven is quite funny. A white priest at a remote Inuit outpost keeps hearing an invisible super enthusiastic congregant at his church. Who is it? What a journey.
These Old Bones My understanding is that Annie Mukluk is a character from one of Dunning's previous books. Be warned it has a very graphic description of gang rape and racist sexual harassment. Annie has moved to a tropical island to forget her past but loneliness consumes her in this foreign place. A harrowing encounter with an acquaintance from the North starts the healing process.
They created one crooked and sideways Inukshuk as they cried together on a street filled with tourists.
They cried for all the hate they had felt from the world. They cried for all the hate they had had for each other up North. They cried together because they were the two people who knew what it was like to lose the love of Moses Henry.
Tainna (The Unseen Ones) is about Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women in Canada.
She was a casualty of Canada. An indigenous casualty of Canada but no one cared. Why would they?
The Unseen Ones Kivgalo and Riita, gentle and tender:
Kivgalo sat by the campfire, waiting on the other side of the river. He had known her before she was born.
"She's not going to make it," muttered Kigali, one of the oldest of the old ones. "Her spirit is too broken."
My only reservation about this short story collection is the constant reference to 'slanted eyes' in almost every story and the way spirit Grandpa Chevy treated the other Indigenous woman to protect his grandson. Perhaps I'm missing something and can be humbly enlightened.
did-not-finish
May 22, 2023Not for me. Abandoned about halfway through.
February 24, 2025
Tainna was an incredible recommendation from my library’s website, and it turned out to be one of the best—if not the best—short story collections I’ve ever read.
Each story is deeply moving, filled with sorrow, beauty, and thoughtful reflections on Indigenous experiences. Some stories were difficult to read due to the violence and trauma faced by the characters. Despite the hardships portrayed, the endings often carried a sense of hope and tenderness.
It’s hard to put into words how thoughtfully crafted this book is.
Each story is deeply moving, filled with sorrow, beauty, and thoughtful reflections on Indigenous experiences. Some stories were difficult to read due to the violence and trauma faced by the characters. Despite the hardships portrayed, the endings often carried a sense of hope and tenderness.
It’s hard to put into words how thoughtfully crafted this book is.
December 13, 2023
Amak 4 ⭐️
Kunak 3 ⭐️
Le paradis 2⭐️
Panem et Circenses 4⭐️
Ces vieux os 4,5⭐️
Tainna celles et ceux qu’on ne voit pas 5⭐️
Kunak 3 ⭐️
Le paradis 2⭐️
Panem et Circenses 4⭐️
Ces vieux os 4,5⭐️
Tainna celles et ceux qu’on ne voit pas 5⭐️
July 19, 2022
Some sneakily powerful writing here - a few of the stories crept up beside me and knocked me down. I loved the two sisters in "Amak" - one of them grounded and surrounded by love, and the other lost and flailing, and failing to understand that she was lost and flailing. My other favourite was "Eskimo Heaven" which told the adventures of a well-meanng priest - at least he thought he was well-meaning - being literally given the runaround by a wonderful spirit grandpa who actually needs to be in his own book. The other stories were various levels of pain and heartbreak, and it would probably stand me well to reread them for better understanding. More power to you, Norma Dunning!
June 13, 2021
A beautiful collection of stories, that flow seamlessly from one to the next, exploring the reality of life for a number of Inuk characters who live ‘southern’ - beyond the tundra, beyond their traditional lands. Stories of dislocation, of ‘other’-ness, of the cumulative toll of racism and poverty… Stories that are also deeply imbued with traditional beliefs providing a window of understanding into the importance, and the role, of the land, the ancestors, and the spirits, in the Inuit culture.
January 9, 2023
This was a great collection of short stories. I found myself falling into these stories and lives of the characters and being sucked back out at the end. Wanting more. The topics could get very heavy. The characters were well written for only having so much time on the page.
I had this one recommended a few times and I am so glad I finally did!
I had this one recommended a few times and I am so glad I finally did!
January 18, 2022
Dr. Norma Dunning's current collection of short stories translates across cultures for victimized women but also gives those of us born into white privilege a look at how blessed we didn't know we were.
This book is a candidate for the Governor General's award this month.
This book is a candidate for the Governor General's award this month.
October 31, 2023
Wonderfully written stories, steeped in mythology, showing the daily lives and struggles for modern Inuit peoples. Highly recommended for fans of short stories
September 19, 2024
poucas vezes eu choro lendo livros, e esse teve a proeza de me fazer chorar algumas vezes. já quero reler ele e me emocionar tudo de novo com essas personagens sofridas e maravilhosas!
May 20, 2022
4.5 stars
This collection of short stories from Norma Dunning is astoundingly beautiful and heart-breaking. As a Syilx-Okanagan woman myself, I connected with much of the trauma experienced by the women in these stories. However, I am not Inuit, and therefore some of the experiences were quite eye-opening for me. I felt like I was getting the briefest glimpse of a world that I have yet to step foot in. It was both illuminating and eerie; learning about evil spirits of whose presence you'd previously been unaware can be a disconcerting experience.
There are six stories in this collection.
Amak, to me, is a story about internalised misogyny and colonialism on the one side, and boundaries and cycle-breaking on the other. It deals with the trauma that builds in families, and how different children from the same family will internalise different messages, despite experiencing the same violence.
Kunak is the story of a lost boy and the ancestor who protects him, a story that is very familiar in Indigenous communities. It's also the first introduction to ancestors and spirits in this collection. It's beautifully written. However, this story is part of the reason I'm giving a rating of 4.5 instead of 5 stars. I found that a lot of the ways in which the characters of Kunak and Chevy Bass dealt with the character of Aviak were deeply misogynistic. I'm unsure if the author did this to bring awareness to the misogyny that Inuit women face, but it sure didn't feel that way. It felt normalised and extremely heavy. Having said that, there might be elements of Inuit culture and ways of being that I'm just not understanding here. I'm hoping to read more by Inuit authors in the future, so hopefully I'll begin to gain more insight.
Eskimo Heaven is a fantastic story, and absolutely hilarious! I don't remember the last time I read a story in which the main character was Catholic and I actually liked them. The wisdom and teachings that the character of Ittura passes to the protagonist, Priest Prentice, were eye-opening for me in terms of learning about Inuit ways of being, and I'm so grateful to have had this glimpse into the understandings of a fellow Indigenous culture. And I loved how the author helped the priest to grow instead of just using him as a way to hurt the Indigenous characters. It was refreshing.
Panem et Circenses is an elegantly written story about trying to be something you're not. It reminds me of the song "The Poverty of Philosophy" by Immortal Technique, and in particular, the following quote:
Tainna (The Unseen Ones) is the last and titular story. It's a story about the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls of so-called Canada. This is a heart-wrenching and traumatic topic, but somehow the author manages to approach it with tenderness and hope. It was a beautiful end to a wonderful collection of stories.
My final thoughts are that Tainna is a skillfully-written collection of diverse stories that all focus on the experiences of Inuit women. I would 100% recommend this as reading to any and all adults, and I would even go so far to recommend it for teenagers, as long as someone was there to help them unpack some of the heavier content as they work through it. I'm very excited to read more of Norma Dunning's work!
This collection of short stories from Norma Dunning is astoundingly beautiful and heart-breaking. As a Syilx-Okanagan woman myself, I connected with much of the trauma experienced by the women in these stories. However, I am not Inuit, and therefore some of the experiences were quite eye-opening for me. I felt like I was getting the briefest glimpse of a world that I have yet to step foot in. It was both illuminating and eerie; learning about evil spirits of whose presence you'd previously been unaware can be a disconcerting experience.
There are six stories in this collection.
Amak, to me, is a story about internalised misogyny and colonialism on the one side, and boundaries and cycle-breaking on the other. It deals with the trauma that builds in families, and how different children from the same family will internalise different messages, despite experiencing the same violence.
Kunak is the story of a lost boy and the ancestor who protects him, a story that is very familiar in Indigenous communities. It's also the first introduction to ancestors and spirits in this collection. It's beautifully written. However, this story is part of the reason I'm giving a rating of 4.5 instead of 5 stars. I found that a lot of the ways in which the characters of Kunak and Chevy Bass dealt with the character of Aviak were deeply misogynistic. I'm unsure if the author did this to bring awareness to the misogyny that Inuit women face, but it sure didn't feel that way. It felt normalised and extremely heavy. Having said that, there might be elements of Inuit culture and ways of being that I'm just not understanding here. I'm hoping to read more by Inuit authors in the future, so hopefully I'll begin to gain more insight.
Eskimo Heaven is a fantastic story, and absolutely hilarious! I don't remember the last time I read a story in which the main character was Catholic and I actually liked them. The wisdom and teachings that the character of Ittura passes to the protagonist, Priest Prentice, were eye-opening for me in terms of learning about Inuit ways of being, and I'm so grateful to have had this glimpse into the understandings of a fellow Indigenous culture. And I loved how the author helped the priest to grow instead of just using him as a way to hurt the Indigenous characters. It was refreshing.
Panem et Circenses is an elegantly written story about trying to be something you're not. It reminds me of the song "The Poverty of Philosophy" by Immortal Technique, and in particular, the following quote:
These Old Bones is an "Annie Mukluk" story, and one that brings focus to the beauty that can be found in escaping colonialism and returning to the love of your community and ways of being. It's a story about finding happiness and success on your own terms, and about learning to see yourself as having value. It was not just beautifully written, but it was extremely heart-warming. 5 stars.
No matter what kind of car you drive
Or what kind of fancy clothes you put on
You will never be them
They're always gonna look at you as nothing but a little monkey
I'd rather be proud of what I am
Rather than desperately trying to be something I'm really not
Just to fit in
And whether we want to accept it or not
That's what this culture, or lack of culture, is feeding us
Tainna (The Unseen Ones) is the last and titular story. It's a story about the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls of so-called Canada. This is a heart-wrenching and traumatic topic, but somehow the author manages to approach it with tenderness and hope. It was a beautiful end to a wonderful collection of stories.
My final thoughts are that Tainna is a skillfully-written collection of diverse stories that all focus on the experiences of Inuit women. I would 100% recommend this as reading to any and all adults, and I would even go so far to recommend it for teenagers, as long as someone was there to help them unpack some of the heavier content as they work through it. I'm very excited to read more of Norma Dunning's work!
December 23, 2021
These stories, infused with the magic realism of Inuit culture, offer their readers new perspectives on what it means to live in Canada today. The unseen ones watch, often with sadness, those they are trying to protect, and sometimes protection means death over heartbreak. From the opening story of two sisters who no longer live in the same world, to the closing story of a former soldier turned groundskeeper who finds the body of an Inuit woman, surrounded by geese, and offers tangible reconciliation, these stories are seeming simple, but deeply moving. This book won the 2021 GG for best fiction, and it is easy to see why.
May 18, 2022
Six short stories; this book does not take long to read, but you will want to pause to let each story sink in before going on to the next one. An award-winning book (Governor General's award in 2021), this is an important contribution to fiction by Inuit authors, as there are not a lot of books describing modern-day Inuk experiences in the south. Yes there are those living on the streets of Edmonton and other places in degrading circumstances, but the Inuit have their ancestors and protectors watching out for them, and some of the endings provide hope for the future.
October 1, 2022
This was an intense book of short stories, you are dropped right into the middle of each & everything just comes at you. I'm not really a short story fan but I did enjoy the first story and the one about Annie. The writing was really powerful across all 6, though.
February 21, 2023
I listened to a lecture on this collection by Norma Dunning . Her comments on each story were enlightening and her manner was warm and engaging. I recalled every excerpt she read. I think that is the true mark of good writing!
February 9, 2022
Worth reading for the title story alone. (It was my favourite.)
I loved the use of magical realism and the rawness and honesty of the characters.
I loved the use of magical realism and the rawness and honesty of the characters.
March 23, 2022
incredibly beautiful, one of my favourites <3
May 15, 2022
Phenomenal collection of short stories. The writing reminded me of Margaret Laurence. Very raw and brutally honest stories.
January 9, 2025
I love when my first finished book of the year is a very good one. The collection of stories about Inuit coming south to Edmonton is touching, funny and makes you pause and think about how lucky most of us are.
If you have ever lived/visited in Edmonton, you will be transported to known urban landmarks and maybe some smells
When to read it: if you feel adventurous and need a book to stop your reading slump!
If you have ever lived/visited in Edmonton, you will be transported to known urban landmarks and maybe some smells
When to read it: if you feel adventurous and need a book to stop your reading slump!
August 25, 2025
I had only written three short stories when i discovered this book. It inspired me to finish my now published collection (despite knowing I couldn't match it!) What a beautiful ode to culture, nuance, and storytelling. LOVE this collection. If the author sees this : I sent you a message on twitter and on FB years ago, just to say this book is incredible.
December 9, 2024
I didn't love this collection personally, which disappoints me. I loved the story ideas that Dunning had but the writing and execution wasn't for me. I did finish it in the hopes of loving at least one story but alas, that didn't quite happen.
July 21, 2025
Amak was my favourite short story in this collection I liked the writing in it.
“He was always looking east or west of the person he was speaking to, or at a skyline that he created above their forehead.”
“He was always looking east or west of the person he was speaking to, or at a skyline that he created above their forehead.”
July 11, 2022
Beau recueil de nouvelles avec plusieurs histoires crève coeur mais dont la plupart m'ont redonné espoir.
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