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Pages: 88
epub
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A Short History of the Blockade
Giant Beavers, Diplomacy, and Regeneration in Nishnaabewin
CLC Kreisel Lecture Series
By Leanne Betasamosake Simpson
In A Short History of the Blockade, award-winning writer Leanne Betasamosake Simpson uses Michi Saagiig Nishnaabeg stories, storytelling aesthetics, and practices to explore the generative nature of Indigenous blockades through our relative, the beaver—or in Nishnaabemowin, Amik. Moving through genres, shifting through time, amikwag stories become a lens for the life-giving possibilities of dams and the world-building possibilities of blockades, deepening our understanding of Indigenous resistance as both a negation and an affirmation. Widely recognized as one of the most compelling Indigenous voices of her generation, Simpson’s work breaks open the intersections between politics, story, and song, bringing audiences into a rich and layered world of sound, light, and sovereign creativity. A Short History of the Blockade reveals how the practice of telling stories is also a culture of listening, “a thinking through together,” and ultimately, like the dam or the blockade, an affirmation of life.
Book details
Publication date: February 2021Features: Foreword/liminaire, introduction
Series: CLC Kreisel Lecture Series
Keywords: Indigenous resistance; Blockades; Beaver dams; Nishnaabeg storytelling; Regeneration; Generative resistance; Canadian Indigenous Literature; Indigenous stories; Land defenders; Water defenders; practice of wisdom
Subject(s): SOCIAL SCIENCE / Indigenous Studies, Creative Writing, Creative Writing / Literary Nonfiction, Creative Writing, Creative Writing / Essays, Indigenous Studies, Indigenous Studies / Indigenous Author(s), Indigenous Studies, Indigenous Studies / Indigenous Literature, LITERARY CRITICISM / Native American, LITERARY CRITICISM / Canadian, Literary essays, Animal life stories, Indigenous people: government, Ontario, Indigenous resistance; Blockades; Beaver dams; Nishnaabeg storytelling; Regeneration; Generative resistance; Canadian Indigenous Literature; Indigenous stories; Land defenders; Water defenders; practice of wisdom, Literature / Indigenous Stories, Indigenous Authors, Bestseller
Publisher(s): University of Alberta Press, Canadian Literature Centre / Centre de littérature canadienne
Book details
Publication date: February 2021Features: Foreword/liminaire, introduction
Series: CLC Kreisel Lecture Series
Keywords: Indigenous resistance; Blockades; Beaver dams; Nishnaabeg storytelling; Regeneration; Generative resistance; Canadian Indigenous Literature; Indigenous stories; Land defenders; Water defenders; practice of wisdom
Subject(s): SOCIAL SCIENCE / Indigenous Studies, Creative Writing, Creative Writing / Literary Nonfiction, Creative Writing, Creative Writing / Essays, Indigenous Studies, Indigenous Studies / Indigenous Author(s), Indigenous Studies, Indigenous Studies / Indigenous Literature, LITERARY CRITICISM / Native American, LITERARY CRITICISM / Canadian, Literary essays, Animal life stories, Indigenous people: government, Ontario, Indigenous resistance; Blockades; Beaver dams; Nishnaabeg storytelling; Regeneration; Generative resistance; Canadian Indigenous Literature; Indigenous stories; Land defenders; Water defenders; practice of wisdom, Literature / Indigenous Stories, Indigenous Authors, Bestseller
Publisher(s): University of Alberta Press, Canadian Literature Centre / Centre de littérature canadienne
Leanne Betasamosake Simpson. Leanne Betasamosake Simpson is a Michi Saagiig Nishnaabeg writer, scholar, and musician, and a member of Alderville First Nation in Ontario. She is the author of six previous books. Her newest novel is Noopiming: The Cure for White Ladies and her latest album is Theory of Ice. Simpson is on the faculty at the Dechinta Centre for Research and Learning.
Jordan Abel. Jordan Abel is a Nisga'a writer who lives and works in Treaty 6 territory (Edmonton).
“Simpson, a celebrated Indigenous storyteller, artist, and scholar, offers four Nishnaabeg stories from the wisdom of the beaver nation and the foundational teachings of their blockades (dams) as an established practice of world-building resistance. Together, the stories are also a commentary on current issues of social media, lateral violence, binary thinking, and surveillance that house the potential to hinder the generative, relational, and reciprocal nature of Indigenous resistance.” Morgan Mowatt, University of Toronto Quarterly, August 2023 [doi: 10.3138/utq.92.3.hr.018]
Introduction / Jordan Abel
One
Two
Three
Four
Final Words
Notes
Leanne Betasamosake Simpson. Leanne Betasamosake Simpson is a Michi Saagiig Nishnaabeg writer, scholar, and musician, and a member of Alderville First Nation in Ontario. She is the author of six previous books. Her newest novel is Noopiming: The Cure for White Ladies and her latest album is Theory of Ice. Simpson is on the faculty at the Dechinta Centre for Research and Learning.
Jordan Abel. Jordan Abel is a Nisga'a writer who lives and works in Treaty 6 territory (Edmonton).
“Simpson, a celebrated Indigenous storyteller, artist, and scholar, offers four Nishnaabeg stories from the wisdom of the beaver nation and the foundational teachings of their blockades (dams) as an established practice of world-building resistance. Together, the stories are also a commentary on current issues of social media, lateral violence, binary thinking, and surveillance that house the potential to hinder the generative, relational, and reciprocal nature of Indigenous resistance.” Morgan Mowatt, University of Toronto Quarterly, August 2023 [doi: 10.3138/utq.92.3.hr.018]
Introduction / Jordan Abel
One
Two
Three
Four
Final Words
Notes
