Many adults have created dangerous environments for their children in their own homes, they are suffering from the pain of poverty and reminders of abuse from residential schools so alcohol and drugs are an escape for them. I found it easier to focus on the outdoors while reading, because for the characters and readers alike, it’s a respite from the horror that can be found indoors. In fact, I could argue that the landscape is the main character instead of the young girl everything revolves around the snow, human actions seemingly inconsequential in comparison to the movements of the ice surrounding the town. The fact that they live so far north that the sun never really goes down during one point in the year lends the area a mythical quality in itself, add to that the descriptions of the hordes of foxes that roam around in packs, overpopulated because of the melt cycle, and the setting of the book takes on a life of its own. Living in a city, it’s hard to fully understand how important the weather and seasons can be when living in such a remote area.
The connection that particular population has with their land is incredible. Poetry is interspersed throughout the narrative along with line drawings by Jaime Hernandez the mix of media is one of the strongest aspects to this book because it completely immerses the reader, keeping our attention tied tightly to what’s in our hands only.Īs a Canadian who tries to read a wide range of indigenous literature, I found the descriptions of life in the far north fascinating. We dip in and out of varied experiences with her going to school, being sexually assaulted, getting high with her friends, talking to the elders in her community. She grows up in a small northern community that struggles with addiction of all kinds so she finds solace in the barren, harsh, but beautiful landscape of the Arctic tundra. Our female protagonist remains unnamed, as does the majority of the characters.
At some points the book veers into fantasy or magical realism, for instance there’s one point in which the northern lights impregnate the protagonist-this can be taken in many different ways: allegory, myth, a re-telling of a traumatic experience- Tagaq leaves it up to the reader to decide.
Having heard her speak about it, I knew that it mirrored parts of her youth growing up in Nunavut Canada, but it should not be considered a straightforward memoir, which will be obvious when one reads it. The book is a mash-up of genres memoir, poetry, fiction and myth.
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