Poetry stronger than prose in unique collection

Page 12

Without Reservation: Indigenous Erotica

Edited by Kateri Akiwenzie-Damm

Kegedonce Press

213 pages (sc)

$24.50

Without Reservation is a collection of poetry and prose by Aboriginal writers from around the world.

The subtitle promises "erotica." What the book actually delivers is love, loss, longing, and desire-with some humour and a little sex thrown into the mix.

The book features both male and female contributors: gay, straight and bisexual, and represents a broad range of cultures and territories, from Inuit and Plains Cree to Spokane and Chickasaw to Samoan and Maori. Without Reservation contains more poetry than prose-the poetry is by far the strongest work.

Linda Hogan's poem "The Creations of Water and Light" sets the stage for the book's literary take on sexual love.

Alootook Ipellie's prose piece "Summit with Sedna, the Mother of Sea Beasts" starts out promising-Ipellie describes the Inuit goddess Sedna as "feeling miserable and sexually bankrupt," and makes more than a few droll references to the sexual reputation of shamans-but in the end shows only male misunderstanding and fear of female sexuality.

Joseph Bruchac's "Bad Meat" is also a misstep. There are other failures: Witi Ihimaera's "Dio Mi Potevi" and Paul Seesequasis's "The Dance" are heavy with post-colonial theory that kills erotic thoughts upon contact.

But the book recovers with Gregory Scofield's yummy poems "Ochim His Kiss" and "More Rainberries (The Hand Game)," which refers to a lover's "sweet taste" and "muskeg." Although fairly tame, these poems are the book's first real erotica.

It's too bad that editor Kateri Akiwenzie-Damm's introduction is so lacking in substance. It was a golden opportunity to discuss sexual dysfunction in Native communities, the relationship of modern erotica to traditional Aboriginal stories or how material was selected. Still, the strength of the material means that Without Reservation is a worthy read.