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breekeeler's review
challenging
informative
slow-paced
I won’t give this a star rating, both because it is not the kind of book that feels like it should be rated that way and because I read it as part of my academic work, and I don’t typically star rate those books. However, this book is incredibly powerful. It is Abel at his absolute best, and the fact that this was his dissertation project blows my mind. Moreover, this book should be required reading and I hope to see it appearing on syllabi everywhere.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Racism, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, and Colonisation
Minor: Domestic abuse and Forced institutionalization
readsunderamountain's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
5.0
gummistovlar's review
5.0
I don't feel I have any words to do this book justice, really. I just want to sit with it for a while.
I cannot imagine how difficult and painful it was for Abel to create this, and while I know I am not the audience he wrote it for, I am immeasurably grateful to have the opportunity to read it anyway.
I cannot imagine how difficult and painful it was for Abel to create this, and while I know I am not the audience he wrote it for, I am immeasurably grateful to have the opportunity to read it anyway.
dfparizeau's review
5.0
Teachers from high school through post-graduate studies, take note: this book belongs in the classroom.
What does it mean to be dislocated? What does it mean to only have access to your personal and familial history through fragments and scraps--some of which you aren't even aware are connected to you in the moment? These are some of the questions that Jordan Abel confronts in NISHGA.
While it's true that from the standpoint of commercially available biographies/mempirs, what Abel is doing here is novel. However, I think that it is important to acknowledge that for many Indigenous folks, it is a reality that they cannot conceptualize their personal histories in a non-linear manner.
This is an important book because it gives Indigenous and non-Indigenous people a concrete visual of what it is like to try to piece together a history, when a person and their people have been displaced and directly targeted by colonial genocide.
What does it mean to be dislocated? What does it mean to only have access to your personal and familial history through fragments and scraps--some of which you aren't even aware are connected to you in the moment? These are some of the questions that Jordan Abel confronts in NISHGA.
While it's true that from the standpoint of commercially available biographies/mempirs, what Abel is doing here is novel. However, I think that it is important to acknowledge that for many Indigenous folks, it is a reality that they cannot conceptualize their personal histories in a non-linear manner.
This is an important book because it gives Indigenous and non-Indigenous people a concrete visual of what it is like to try to piece together a history, when a person and their people have been displaced and directly targeted by colonial genocide.
sofietsatas's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
fast-paced
5.0
annemaries_shelves's review against another edition
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
fast-paced
4.0
This was probably one of the more unique and undefinable non-fiction books I've read in a while.
Jordan Abel, towards the end of the text, calls it a "research-creation", which 'combines elements of creative-nonfiction, found archival documentation, photography, concrete poetry, and academic inquiry.'
Throughout the book, Abel discusses the personal and broader impacts of intergenerational trauma from the residential school system in Canada and the complexity of Indigenous identity as a result. He especially focuses on the experiences of people who have, like him, have been stripped of/dispossessed of their community and history, and also identify as urban Indigenous. He also discusses the argument/fact that residential schools are always present in Indigenous art and literature, even in their explicit absence, and that was a really important and impactful moment of realization for me (and I hope other readers).
The mix of personal 'notes', interviews and transcripts of presentations/talks, photography, and poetry really strengthened the thesis of the book and made it an engaging, and emotional read.
I particularly appreciated the overlaying of Indigenous art (notably Indigenous art from the West coast) where in the art is overlays a photograph. The use of white space in the art and text was also really effective in supporting his ideas and experiences, and appears multiple times throughout the book.
There's a lot of really great ideas captured in his book and I want to tab/annotate my own copy one day.
Content/trigger warning: The book includes printouts of websites discussing suicide and self-harm. Mentions of residential schools don't go into detail, but are a topic discussed throughout the text.
Jordan Abel, towards the end of the text, calls it a "research-creation", which 'combines elements of creative-nonfiction, found archival documentation, photography, concrete poetry, and academic inquiry.'
Throughout the book, Abel discusses the personal and broader impacts of intergenerational trauma from the residential school system in Canada and the complexity of Indigenous identity as a result. He especially focuses on the experiences of people who have, like him, have been stripped of/dispossessed of their community and history, and also identify as urban Indigenous. He also discusses the argument/fact that residential schools are always present in Indigenous art and literature, even in their explicit absence, and that was a really important and impactful moment of realization for me (and I hope other readers).
The mix of personal 'notes', interviews and transcripts of presentations/talks, photography, and poetry really strengthened the thesis of the book and made it an engaging, and emotional read.
I particularly appreciated the overlaying of Indigenous art (notably Indigenous art from the West coast) where in the art is overlays a photograph. The use of white space in the art and text was also really effective in supporting his ideas and experiences, and appears multiple times throughout the book.
There's a lot of really great ideas captured in his book and I want to tab/annotate my own copy one day.
Content/trigger warning: The book includes printouts of websites discussing suicide and self-harm. Mentions of residential schools don't go into detail, but are a topic discussed throughout the text.
Content Warnings
Minor: Self harm and Suicide