| Title | : | Unreconciled: Family, Truth, and Indigenous Resistance |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 0735235759 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 0735235759 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Kindle Edition, Hardcover, Paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 208 pages |
| Publication | : | Penguin Canada; Reprint edition (June 14 2022) |
NATIONAL BESTSELLERWINNER of the 2022 Rakuten Kobo Emerging Writer Prize for Non FictionA GLOBE AND MAIL BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR"Unreconciled is one hell of a good book. Jesse Wentes narrative moves effortlessly from the personal to the historical to the contemporary. Very powerful, and a joy to read."Thomas King, author of The Inconvenient Indian and SufferanceA prominent Indigenous voice uncovers the lies and myths that affect relations between white and Indigenous peoples and the power of narrative to emphasize truth over comfort.Part memoir and part manifesto, Unreconciled is a stirring call to arms to put truth over the flawed concept of reconciliation, and to build a new, respectful relationship between the nation of Canada and Indigenous peoples.Jesse Wente remembers the exact moment he realized that he was a certain kind of Indian a stereotypical cartoon Indian. He was playing softball as a child when the opposing team began to war whoop when he was at bat. It was just one of many incidents that formed Wente's understanding of what it means to be a modern Indigenous person in a society still overwhelmingly colonial in its attitudes and institutions.As the child of an American father and an Anishinaabe mother, Wente grew up in Toronto with frequent visits to the reserve where his maternal relations lived. By exploring his family's history, including his grandmother's experience in residential school, and citing his own frequent incidents of racial profiling by police who'd stop him on the streets, Wente unpacks the discrepancies between his personal identity and how non Indigenous people view him.Wente analyzes and gives voice to the differences between Hollywood portrayals of Indigenous peoples and lived culture. Through the lens of art, pop culture, and personal stories, and with disarming humour, he links his love of baseball and movies to such issues as cultural appropriation, Indigenous representation and identity, and Indigenous narrative sovereignty. Indeed, he argues that storytelling in all its forms is one of Indigenous peoples' best weapons in the fight to reclaim their rightful place.Wente explores and exposes the lies that Canada tells itself, unravels "the two founding nations" myth, and insists that the notion of "reconciliation" is not a realistic path forward. Peace between First Nations and the state of Canada can't be recovered through reconciliation because no such relationship ever existed.
Unreconciled: Family, Truth, and Indigenous Resistance Reviews
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About three quarters of the way through Unreconciled, I told my wife that I thought the book was okay, but I didn't really think it was for me. I've spent the last couple of years learning all I could about Indigeneity, starting with Indigenous approaches to working with
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I read this book while filming a series for Canadian television about a woman who was taken from her Indigenous family on reserve in Saskatchewan and placed with a Jewish family in Montreal. The indigenous creators and creatives on this series are angry just as Jesse
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I now believe that every Canadian should read this book. Part memoir, part manifesto for change. The beginning and end were great for me found the middle less so but I loved this book and it was nice to read a call to action from someone other than a politician. Wente
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When I went through my reading list from this year, I realized that I hadn't yet read from any Indigenous authors. Unreconciled: Family, Truth And Indigenous Resistance by Jesse Wente was my first purchase and read for 2022, based off of a recommendation from a
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I like Jesse Wente so I pre ordered this book. As expected, he writes eloquently about his identity. His critiques of Canada are scathing and accurate. He has thought deeply about his role as an Ojibwe person. Where he stumbles is his description of Métis. Specifically the
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My book arrived but the package was opened
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This book is very concise in its description of life seen through the eyes of a first nation's movie critic who has felt stigmatized over his whole life. The tokenism is true and is a continuing battle. Overall, I quite enjoyed this book.
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I knew Jesse from his film critic work. I now respect and like him even . He gives a direct and clear history of his life and his community. Thank you for doing this book, Jesse. It goes far to educate people who need to know about it all.
