Halfe gives culture a voice

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Recently, I had the pleasure of experiencing Louise Halfe's Bear Bones & Feathers. No doubt, this book of poetry will provocatively compel "all the relations" but specifically, I know that it will encourage wonderful memories for our Cree "relations."

Halfe, unlike other First Nations poets, writes in both Cree and English. This particular book of poetry is spiced with words like paskwaw-mostos, Nohkom, ayisiniew, kiskiman, asam, Nimosom, Wisahkecahk, micakisis, nicimos, and therefore exudes an unmistakably Cree flavor.

As a teacher of literature within the university system, having books like Halfe's to work with is extremely important. Books like Bear Bones & Feathers encourage students (both Naive and non-Native) to move beyond the idea of pan-Indianism. Indeed, Halfe - by writing out of her Cree culture centre - encourages readers to understand that we are not just one big indistinguishable brown blob. By calling attention to her Cree culture, Halfe not only educates; she entertains the reader with exciting poems about mythological beings such as Wisahkecahk and Pahkahkos.

Moreover, her book, like numerous other books authored by First Nations people, raises one consciousness of many by calling attention to the peculiar situation of our peoples in Canada. First Nations writers like Halfe are necessarily deconstructing stereotypical images of First Nations people that have for too long misrepresented, distorted, and fragmented our ways and dehumanized and objectified our beings.

With all of the horrific things that have been written about us in the past by individuals outside our cultures who knew little or nothing about our ways, First Nations writers like Louise Halfe have a lot of work ahead.

But, keeping in mind that there are now a whole Army of First Nations Word Warriors like Jeannette Armstrong, Stan, Doug, Ruth and Beth Cuthand; Lee Maracle; Lenore Keeshig; Tobias; Daniel David Moses; Jordan Wheeler; Floyd Favel; Drew Taylor; Emma LaRocque, Beatrice Culleton; Thomas King; Basil Johnson; Tomson Highway; Ruby Slipperjack; Marie Baker; Ron Greyshick; Wayne Keon; Joe Welsch; Sue Duranger and Sky Blue Morin - to name just a few - I'd say that Canadians are finally going to know who we really are.