This Place (150 Years Retold)

by Kateri Akiwenzie-Damm, Sonny Assu, Brandon Mitchell, Rachel Qitsualik-Tinsley, Sean Qitsualik-Tinsley, Niigaanwewidam James Sinclair, Jen Storm, Richard Van Camp, and Katherena Vermette

[nannah]

”Indigenous writers have pointed out that, as Indigenous people, we all live in a post-apocalyptic world. The world as we knew it ended the moment colonialism started to creep across these lands. But we have continued to tell our stories; we have continued to adapt. Despite everything, we have survived.”

Content warnings:
Oh, boy, lots. Because this talks about the crimes committed against Indigenous peoples by the Canadian government, things can get pretty intense and tough to read.
- genocide
- racism against Indigenous people
- kidnapping
- cannibalism

Maybe I haven’t fully read enough graphic novels, but I haven’t come across any graphic novel anthologies before this one. And what a wonderful idea! Especially in this case because as has been said (I think in the foreword), graphic novels are a very accessible and easy way to learn about things that may be less so in a thick nonfiction book written in difficult academic text (and they're more straightforward than fiction).

This anthology contains eleven graphic novel shorts, each with a summary and timeline of events talking a bit about the events in the graphic novel or what inspired it. All of the stories are about Indigenous peoples living in what’s known as Canada.

As with all anthologies, some stories are hit and miss. In this case, it’s the art styles. Some of them aren’t my thing, but none of them are objectively awful. All of the stories, however, are engaging and serve more as springboards into further research than they do a thorough explanation or overview of things. Which is a great thing, actually! I have more notes saved to look things into from this anthology than from many nonfiction books. By covering lots of ground, this anthology is able to get people interested and outraged by what has happened to many of these different Indigenous peoples.

I really hope this is something that will be done more often, because I think it’s very effective.