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Reviews
My Grandfather's Knocking Sticks: Ojibwe Family Life and Labor on the Reservation by Brenda J. Child
turophile's review against another edition
emotional
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
5.0
It took me some time to get into this book because of the way it was structure, but so glad I read it. It's several tales within a tale, but basically describing the native american experience in the US, specifically Minnesota. Despite the title, ultimately it's about women in my opinion.
aimiller's review
5.0
So I've read this book twice and fallen in love with it two times at this point. When I first read excerpts of it for a class, a classmate described this book as a gift, and it truly was--reading about Child's grandmother, for example, brought tears to my eyes, especially in her resistance to agency surveillance in her life. So the first two chapters are just incredible gifts to the reader, and it definitely sucked me in on the second read.
The latter chapters are sort of a more traditional historical fare, but Child is so careful in her analysis, so attentive to gender and changes across time in the gendering of labor practices while also avoiding painting everything with a broad brush about that change. It's an incredible book and I strongly recommend it to anyone looking to know more about American Indian labor history, or just anyone looking for a really great, nuanced piece of nonfiction.
The latter chapters are sort of a more traditional historical fare, but Child is so careful in her analysis, so attentive to gender and changes across time in the gendering of labor practices while also avoiding painting everything with a broad brush about that change. It's an incredible book and I strongly recommend it to anyone looking to know more about American Indian labor history, or just anyone looking for a really great, nuanced piece of nonfiction.
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