Daniel Heath Justice - Why Indigenous literatures matter

Indigenous Studies Series

THE INDIGENOUS STUDIES SERIES builds on the successes of the past and is inspired by recent critical conversations about Indigenous epistemological frameworks. Recognizing the need to encourage burgeoning scholarship, the series welcomes manuscripts drawing upon Indigenous intellectual traditions and philosophies, particularly in discussions situated within the Humanities.

Series Editor

Dr. Deanna Reder (Cree-Metis)
Associate Professor, First Nations Studies and English, Simon Fraser University

Advisory Board

Dr. Jo-ann Archibald (St:l)
Professor Emeritus, Educational Studies, Faculty of Education, University of British Columbia

Dr. Kristina Bidwell (NunatuKavut)
Associate Dean of Aboriginal Affairs, College of Arts and Science, Professor of English, University of Saskatchewan

Dr. Daniel Heath Justice (Cherokee Nation)
Professor of First Nations and Indigenous Studies/English and Canada Research Chair in Indigenous Literature and Expressive Culture, University of British Columbia

Dr. Eldon Yellowhorn (Piikani)
Associate Professor, First Nations Studies, Simon Fraser University

This book has been published with the help of a grant from the Canadian Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences through the Awards to Scholarly Publications Program, using funds provided by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. Wilfrid Laurier University Press acknowledges the support of the Canada Council for the Arts for our publishing program. We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Canada Book Fund for its publishing activities. This work was supported by the Research Support Fund.

Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication

Justice, Daniel Heath, 1975, author

Why Indigenous literatures matter / Daniel Heath Justice.

(Indigenous studies)

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Issued in print and electronic formats.

ISBN 9781771121767 (softcover).ISBN 9781771121781 (EPUB).
ISBN 9781771121774 (PDF)

1. American literatureIndian authorsHistory and criticism. 2. Canadian literatureNative authorsHistory and criticism. 3. Indians in literature. 4. Native peoples in literature. 5. American literatureHistory and criticism. 6. Canadian literatureHistory and criticism. I. Title. II. Series: Indigenous studies series

PS153.I52J878 2018 810.9897 C2017-905582-8

C2017-905583-6

Cover and text design by Lime Design Inc. Front cover image by Joseph Erb, www.josepherb.com.

2018 Wilfrid Laurier University Press
Waterloo, Ontario, Canada
www.wlupress.wlu.ca

This book is printed on FSC certified paper and is certified Ecologo. It contains post-consumer fibre, is processed chlorine free, and is manufactured using biogas energy.

Printed in Canada

Every reasonable effort has been made to acquire permission for copyright material used in this text, and to acknowledge all such indebtedness accurately. Any errors and omissions called to the publishers attention will be corrected in future printings.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior written consent of the publisher or a licence from the Canadian Copyright Licensing Agency (Access Copyright). For an Access Copyright licence, visit http://www.accesscopyright.ca, or call toll-free to 1-800-893-5777.

This book is gratefully dedicated to my mother, Deanna Kathline Justice, who taught me to read and encouraged my dreams, even when they took me far from home.

These are stories worth following home.

Our bodies, like compasses, still know the way.

DEBORAH MIRANDA (ESSELEN), BAD INDIANS

gidigaa bizhiw is a strategist and a warrior. the strategist sits with the pain. or maybe she sits beside the pain. maybe the warrior, the one that carries the burden of peace also carries the burden of loveof embracing connection in the face of utter disconnection. maybe there is no limit on love.

LEANNE SIMPSON (MICHI SAAGIIG NISHNAABEG), CAGED

Contents

Acknowledgements

Those who have shown me intellectual and personal generosity in the course of writing this book are far too many in number to list here, and I apologize to anyone I may miss in these thanks. Among the most immediate are these: to Christine Miskonoodinkwe Smith, former student and an impressive multi-genre writer in her own right, who first sparked the idea for this project when she asked me to write on the topic for her blog; to the stalwart Lisa Quinn, who was unfailingly encouraging even when Id pushed well past any reasonable expectation of patience with the manuscripts lateness; and to Siobhan McMenemy, former University of Toronto Press colleague and now Wilfrid Laurier University Press editor extraordinaire, whose good guidance helped smooth out the rough edges of the project and encouraged me to be clearer, bolder, and more expansive in my revisions; to Deanna Reder, Margery Fee, Sophie McCall, and June Scudeler, who never ceased to believe in the project or me, even when I was often doubtful about the merit of one or the other; and to David Gaertner, whose early enthusiasm for the first chapters gave me the kick-start I needed to keep with it. Special thanks to Mark Rifkin and my two anonymous reviewers, all of whom gave such excellent and generous suggestions for revision; Im hopeful the final version of the work meets with your approval. And mahalo to kuualoha hoomanawanui for the incredibly helpful response to my reading of Queen Liliuokalanis writing. Thanks, as well, to all the writers and publishers who provided permission to reprint work in this volume.

Wado to Joseph Erb for the evocative cover art that so powerfully speaks to the books concerns (incidentally, its the first Cherokee art thats ever graced one of my book covers), and to Lara Minja and the team at Wilfrid Laurier University Press for creating a book design I wanted to honour with equally fine content; to my research assistant, Sol Diana, who helped get the messy appendix into tip-top shape; to my students and colleagues at the University of British Columbia and the University of Toronto, who continue to inform, inspire, and expand my world and its possibilities; to my fellow members of the Indigenous Literary Studies Association for their vital work in support of Indigenous writing and literary criticism, especially to the much-missed co-founders, Renate Eigenbrod and Jo-Ann Episkenew.