Indigenous literature recommendations
Fiction, non-fiction, and poetry collections written by Indigenous authors to add to your TBR.
As November settles in, we’re all thinking too much about assignments and pointedly not about finals. We need—well, godly intervention would be nice—but at the very least, a distraction. Something to do that will distract us from university, and the wind chill, if only for a bit. So, I’m pushing the reading agenda. And since American Thanksgiving and Black Friday are coming up soon, why not focus on and uplift Indigenous voices? You know, since we haven’t historically had a great track record.
Below are some of my favourite fiction, non-fiction, and poetry books written by Indigenous authors about Indigenous people that I have either read or have on my TBR list, and you should too.
Fiction
- Prairie Edge by Conor Kerr
Following the misadventures of two cousins who decide to protest by letting a herd of bison loose in Edmonton, this story dissects themes of protest, performance, and the danger of cynicism on long-term movements. Dark humour is a skill I appreciate in my literature and Conor Kerr delivers. You’re torn between the need to laugh and the need to look away. However, the writing is so brutally honest about the themes it discusses that you don’t even get to look away.
- Never Whistle at Night: An Indigenous Dark Fiction Anthology
It is a common belief among many Indigenous people that you should not whistle at night lest you beckon some spirit left undisturbed. Well, this book summoned my attention, and now it’s haunting me. This anthology is witty, sharp, and vivid in both imagery and imagination as it celebrates Indigenous storytelling. Not only is this a great way to familiarise yourself with many Indigenous authors very fast and an even better way to spend a late night, but it also makes me very glad that I don’t know how to whistle. Never Whistle at Night is an easy and fun read with something for everyone, and I highly recommend it.
- Five Little Indians by Michelle Good
This is Michelle Good’s debut novel from 2020, which follows the story of five survivors of the Canadian Indian residential school system. It is visceral, viscous and utterly haunting. Despite it being a work of fiction, you know that it’s true. If reading this book does not intimately change the way you view the world and its history, then very few things will.
Non-Fiction
- Clearing the Plains by James Daschuk
Recommended to me by a friend as an absolute must-read for everyone living in Canada, Clearing the Plains is a documentation of all the ways Europeans tried to erase the First Nations in Canada for the sake of taking over and utilizing their land. For all that we acknowledge Canada’s existence as a direct result of colonial violence, we tend to gloss over the severity of the genocide and ethnic cleansing that took place. This book puts them on stark display. I particularly recommend it to all UTM students. Our campus is on stolen land. We should understand precisely how it got there.
- Making Space for Indigenous Feminism by Gina Starblanket
Self-explanatory. This book explores the intersectionality and generational thinking of Indigenous feminism to make sense of how these problems continue to be criminally neglected today.
- Peace and Good Order: The Case for Indigenous Justice in Canada by Harold Johnson
Even more self-explanatory. Read it, understand it, and then go do something about it.
Poetry
It’s always hard for me to give poetry recommendations just because I have so many and no one else ever has the time. But here I present my top three poetry recommendations written by Indigenous authors:
- Crushed Wild Mint by Jess Housty.
- The Star Poems by Jesse Rae Archibald-Barber
- It Was Never Going to Be Okay by Jaye Simpson
Each of these anthologies is poignant and painful, twisting and breath-stopping. Each piece will move you, and when you reach the end, you must flip back and have another go. Reading this poetry hurts in the most visceral, beautiful way, and that’s how you know it’s good.
