Friday, March 29, 2024

The Brown Ball of Fury’s Top 10 Indigenous Reads For Summer 2018

There’s nothing better than being able to relax and lose yourself in a good book.

A Tribe Called Geek’s Brown Ball of Fury put together her list of this summer’s TOP 10 Must Read Books by Native writers. Check it out!


10. Son Of A Trickster by Eden Robinson

The first novel in the Trickster trilogy, Son of A Trickster, is a mesmerizing coming of age tale where “Everyday teen existence meets indigenous beliefs, crazy family dynamics, and cannibalistic river otter”. Award-winning author, Eden Robinson of the Haisla and Heiltsuk First Nations, seamlessly blends humor, heartbreak and magic into a story that focuses on the experiences of a weed cookie selling First Nations teen named Jared. He smokes too much, drinks too much and struggles to keep his family together, taking on responsibilities beyond his years. As he struggles to find stability and his place in the world, he also experiences blackouts and hallucinations so vivid that he decides he needs to clean and sober and in doing so discovers the magic that exists around and within him.


9. We Are Dancing For You by Dr. Cutcha Risling Baldy

“I am here. You will never be alone. We are dancing for you.”

We Are Dancing For You is a powerful and personal account of the revitalization of the Flower Dance, a women’s coming of age ceremony for the Hoopa Valley Tribe. Dr. Cutcha Risling Baldy shares how the women of the tribe were able to revitalize the Flower Dance as well as how the ceremony transformed and empowered the lives of the young women who have been able to participate. We Are Dancing For You also addresses the way that menstruation, gender inequality and gender violence within Native communities are viewed and discussed.

 


8. Shadows Cast By Stars by Catherine Knutsson

By far one of the most gripping tales of Indigenous survival in a post-apocalyptic world! Shadows Cast By Stars takes place in a future ravaged by The Plague. In this world, the blood of Aboriginal people is the most sought after and valuable commodity because of the anti-bodies that have made them immune to The Plague. Shadows Cast By Stars is centered around a heroine named Cassandra Mecredi, whose family escaped government forces looking to harvest their blood by fleeing to a mysterious territory protected by The Band and an Energy Barrier that protects its inhabitants from outsiders while allowing the spirit world in. It is here that Cassandra is chosen by the spirits to be “their voice and instrument”.

 


7. Sixkiller #1 by Lee Francis and Weshoyot Alvitre

Sixkiller is definitely “Alice In Wonderland meets Kill Bill set in Cherokee Country”, but it is more than just a tale of revenge. Sixkiller is the tale of Alice Sixkiller, a schizophrenic Native woman seeking revenge for the murder of her sister. As she tracks down her sister’s murderer, her mental illness begins manifest itself and takes her in and out of reality. As she struggles to maintain a grip on reality, she finds clarity and direction from the stories of her people and their characters. Sixkiller is a captivating tale that touches on mental illness, violence against Native women, Native identity and the power of blood memory. The story isn’t the only captivating thing about this debut comic from Lee Francis, the artwork by Weshoyot Alvitre is absolutely stunning and unforgettable.


6.  Deer Woman: An Anthology edited by Elizabeth LaPensée and Weshoyot Alvitre

This anthology features the heartwork of Native women sharing stories of survival, empowerment, and healing. Purchasing this breathtaking anthology serves to not only support the voices and stories of Native women, but to also empower them. One dollar ($1) from every sale goes to supporting Arming Sisters, a Native women’s self defense group.

Edited by Elizabeth LaPensée and Weshoyot Alvitre and featuring the work of: Patty Stonefish, Allie Vasquez, Mia Casesa, Darcie Little Badger, Tara Ogaick, Kimberly Robertson, Barbara Kenmille, Maria Wolf Lopez, Tatum Bowie, Jackie Fawn, Rebecca Roanhorse, Carolyn Dunn, Nashoba Dunn-Anderson, and more, this anthology is an important addition to the current conversation about violence against women, especially Native women.


5. Heart Berries: A Memoir by Terese Marie Mailhot

“STRONG. RESILIENT. INDIGENOUS.”

This is what comes to mind when reading Heart Berries. There are books that stay with you, books whose words you find echoing inside your thoughts, and books that bring you comfort because they speak to your own experiences and struggles. Heart Berries is one of those books. Terese Marie Mailhot’s memoir gives you a raw and fearlessly honest glimpse of the impact that abuse, trauma, and mental illness has had on her life, but it reveals her strength, resiliency and her ability to thrive as she heals, reconciles and moves forward from her experiences. Once you start reading, you won’t stop and once you do, you’ll find yourself challenged and changed for the better.

 


4. Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants by Robin Wall Kimmerer

“Action on behalf of life transforms. Because the relationship between self and the world is reciprocal, it is not a question of first getting enlightened or saved and then acting. As we work to heal the earth, the earth heals us.”

Braiding Sweetgrass is a reminder of the sacred and symbiotic relationship that we have with the earth and the responsibilities that we have to the land, water, animals, plants and to each other. It manages to impart both scientific and Indigenous knowledge in a way that doesn’t negate the value, validity or importance of one over the other.

A very thought-provoking read!


3. The Marrow Thieves by Cherie Dimaline

Set in a post-apocalyptic world devastated by global warming, The Marrow Thieves is a harrowing tale of Indigenous survival that echoes the real-life horrors of the residential school era, experimentation on Native bodies and colonization. But it is also a testament to the love and resiliency of Native people and their power to not just survive, but to reclaim and revive the knowledge and ways that have been stolen and lost throughout the generations.

In the Marrow Thieves, Indigenous people are forced to live on the run, forced into hiding because they are being hunted and confined to government facilities called “schools” by the Recruiters and other Natives acting as “agents”. It is revealed that the population has lost the ability to dream and scientists are harvesting the bone marrow of Native peoples believing their DNA holds the cure to restoring the ability to dream, but the real motivation is far more terrifying.

For Native people reading this novel: The truth and the possibility of what could be that lies beneath the surface of this fiction is chilling but the message that everything we need to survive is found within ourselves, within our blood memory is a powerful reminder that we will always be.


2. Trail of Lightning by Rebecca Roanhorse

“I’m no hero. I’m more of a last resort, a scorched-earth policy. I’m the person you hire when the heroes have already come home in body bags.”

Move over, Supernatural and out of the way, Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Trail of Lightning delivers one of the most captivating heroines of this generation, Maggie Hoskie, a supernaturally deadly, monster slaying Navajo woman.

Trail of Lightning takes place in the aftermath of a climate apocalypse that has left most of the world devastated by floods and has given rise to one of the only places left standing, Dinétah, a former reservation where magic and legendary gods, heroes and monsters now roam. Maggie is tasked with finding a missing girl and discovers that the abductor is a monster unlike any she has encountered before. In order to solve the mystery behind the monster, she must discover and confront the secrets of her own past and the world around her. Once you pick up this book, you won’t be able to put it down until you’ve finished the book. Then, you’ll find yourself in agony as you await the next installment, Storm of Locusts, which won’t be available until April 2019.


1. There, There by Tommy Orange

“When you hear stories from people like you, you feel less alone. When you feel less alone, and like you have a community of people behind you, alongside you, I believe you can live a better life.”

There, There is devastatingly beautiful and brutally honest. It contains so much truth that as you’re reading you’ll find yourself throwing your fist in the air because every word is a revolution. In his debut novel, Tommy Orange brilliantly weaves an intricates story of how the lives of 12 Natives living in Oakland intersect at the Big Oakland Powwow and the reasons that led them there. You’ll find yourself laughing, crying, and reflecting on the beauty, joys, sorrows, realities and complexities of being “Indians and Native Americans, American Indians and Native American Indians, North American Indians, Natives, NDNs and Ind’ins, Status Indians and Non-Status Indians, First Nations Indians and Indians so Indian we either think about the fact of it every single day or we never think about it at all”.

 

Johnnie Jae
Johnnie Jaehttp://www.atribecalledgeek.com
Known as the Brown Ball of Fury, Johnnie Jae is the founder of A Tribe Called Geek, an award-winning media platform for Indigenous Geek Culture and STEM. She is a multimedia journalist, speaker, futurist and entrepreneur that loves empowering others to follow their passions and create for healing and positive change in the world. She is from the Otoe-Missouria and Choctaw Tribes of Oklahoma. Jae seamlessly shifts from humor and pop culture to advocacy and digital media, which has made her a much-sought after speaker and commentator.

Related Articles

Stay Connected

2,416FansLike
1,482FollowersFollow
7,660FollowersFollow
- Advertisement -

Latest Articles