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lydiainspace's review against another edition
5.0
A phenomenal work of journalism, Paying the Land is comprised almost entirely of interviews with Dene people of the Northwest Territories. Their opinions, life experiences, and ideas for the future of their culture are varied and contrasting, and Sacco thankfully presents them with all this contradiction intact.
krpollard's review against another edition
5.0
I have long been a fan of Joe Sacco since reading his graphic novel "Palestine". I find him to be a talented comic artist and journalist who does something new and inspiring with the medium. I'm always reminded of Mark Daniels' saying in the documentary "Comic Books Go To War" (2009) that in an age when the written word can sometimes fail to convey the same immediacy as photos, but now that photos can be photoshopped to manipulate the truth, comic journalism fills the gap by showing an emotional truth that speaks to the future of journalism (paraphrased). I think Sacco does just that.
When I first started reading his works, I found Sacco's style quite jarring. His faces sometimes dominate the page, and in their expressions of pain, can almost appear grotesque. But there's also something very human about them, and I appreciate the detail that goes into each one. Each characters is an individual, like in a photo, and you can identify the younger selves of characters in their stories and flashbacks. He also shows journalistic integrity in the shape of his balloons, demarcating the speech of his interviewees from his narration, and his introductions from their quotes. I've always also appreciated how his pages reject the traditional comic panels to make the reader focus on the characters or ideas on the page, telling the story in a more messy, organic way that I find more true to life. And in this particular work, I was impressed by the detail, both pictorial and written, in his descriptions of the Dene tradition of living off the land. This is as much a preservation of the culture as it is an eye-witness account of what happened to them.
Prior to reading "Paying the Land", I knew a bit about the residential schools in Canada and assumed a commonality between the Native Americans of the US and the Indigenous tribes of Canada in terms of the level of welfare and alcohol and drug addiction as a result of being driven from their native lands. However, I was unaware of the complicated land claims with the Canadian government and the extent to which the colonizers abused the value systems of tribes like the Dene in their land grab, and just how much it had destroyed the way of life for the Dene.
What I also appreciate about Sacco's journalism is how he depicts the many sides of a complex problem, and so although it's always clear that the Dene's problems are as a result of the colonizers, it's also apparent that they have developed their own infighting and abusive behaviors that have harmed their own people. It's inspiring to read about the communal values pre-colonization, and so very devastating to hear how the trauma inflicted on them as they were forced onto a smaller plot of land, forced into a Western lifestyle, and sent to schools that stripped them of their identity was passed from generation to generation, inflicting more harm along the way.
At the moment I'm teaching a unit on post-colonialism in West Africa with stories from the Congo, Nigeria, and Senegal, but after reading this it strikes me that, as an American, I've often seen colonialism as something that happened in Africa first and foremost and parts of the Americas second. I think this text could be a valuable addition to the unit as a way of reminding my students of what happened in the Americas. I think they would see, as I have, that there are some aspects of the trauma of colonization that are universal, but that the trauma of the Indigenous peoples of the Americas continues to a degree that is different from many African nations. They don't have the postcolonial benefit of a national identity; they still don't have their land back.
When I first started reading his works, I found Sacco's style quite jarring. His faces sometimes dominate the page, and in their expressions of pain, can almost appear grotesque. But there's also something very human about them, and I appreciate the detail that goes into each one. Each characters is an individual, like in a photo, and you can identify the younger selves of characters in their stories and flashbacks. He also shows journalistic integrity in the shape of his balloons, demarcating the speech of his interviewees from his narration, and his introductions from their quotes. I've always also appreciated how his pages reject the traditional comic panels to make the reader focus on the characters or ideas on the page, telling the story in a more messy, organic way that I find more true to life. And in this particular work, I was impressed by the detail, both pictorial and written, in his descriptions of the Dene tradition of living off the land. This is as much a preservation of the culture as it is an eye-witness account of what happened to them.
Prior to reading "Paying the Land", I knew a bit about the residential schools in Canada and assumed a commonality between the Native Americans of the US and the Indigenous tribes of Canada in terms of the level of welfare and alcohol and drug addiction as a result of being driven from their native lands. However, I was unaware of the complicated land claims with the Canadian government and the extent to which the colonizers abused the value systems of tribes like the Dene in their land grab, and just how much it had destroyed the way of life for the Dene.
What I also appreciate about Sacco's journalism is how he depicts the many sides of a complex problem, and so although it's always clear that the Dene's problems are as a result of the colonizers, it's also apparent that they have developed their own infighting and abusive behaviors that have harmed their own people. It's inspiring to read about the communal values pre-colonization, and so very devastating to hear how the trauma inflicted on them as they were forced onto a smaller plot of land, forced into a Western lifestyle, and sent to schools that stripped them of their identity was passed from generation to generation, inflicting more harm along the way.
At the moment I'm teaching a unit on post-colonialism in West Africa with stories from the Congo, Nigeria, and Senegal, but after reading this it strikes me that, as an American, I've often seen colonialism as something that happened in Africa first and foremost and parts of the Americas second. I think this text could be a valuable addition to the unit as a way of reminding my students of what happened in the Americas. I think they would see, as I have, that there are some aspects of the trauma of colonization that are universal, but that the trauma of the Indigenous peoples of the Americas continues to a degree that is different from many African nations. They don't have the postcolonial benefit of a national identity; they still don't have their land back.
tomikorobson's review against another edition
5.0
Wow. This is an important read for anyone living in the North and especially those of us who came here from somewhere else.
franz_comme_kafka's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug abuse, Domestic abuse, Death, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Sexual assault, Suicide attempt, Physical abuse, Addiction, Colonisation, Animal death, Genocide, Xenophobia, Forced institutionalization, and Drug use
Moderate: Suicide, Incest, and Bullying
Minor: Blood and Mental illness
alanyoung's review against another edition
5.0
I have read very few graphic novels so was fascinated to see how this literary genre would approach such a complicated subject. I found it a refreshing way of addressing issues that are complicated as the written word was augmented by visual representations of the situations and speakers.
The level of research and engagement was truly impressive as the author listened to the people whose story he subsequently told.
From other sources I have had early and admittedly superficial introduction to nomadic groups in Asia and Africa - nomadic pastoralists. Here the Dene were nomadic hunters. There is something honourable about any people so intimately enmeshed with the environment in which they live. It was evidently a hard life but an evidently sustainable one on all counts.
The bruising encounter between Canadian white cultural values and Dene values was horrific. There was some demonising of white Canadian and particularly Catholic culture. The abuses and the horrors of the residential schools were graphically described with only a few white, Christian, Catholic characters getting any affirmation. The arrogance of purveyors of Western cultural values is not a new theme for there are so many examples in the history of the last 200 years.
The widely different attitudes to the land was also quite shocking with the Dene attitude, in my view, rightly affirmed and applauded. I am ashamed of our arrogance, abuse and exploitation of nature from my own Christian world view but have to confess that such insights are relatively recent.
This is a book well worth reading for the subjects it addresses and the refreshing style by which it does it.
The level of research and engagement was truly impressive as the author listened to the people whose story he subsequently told.
From other sources I have had early and admittedly superficial introduction to nomadic groups in Asia and Africa - nomadic pastoralists. Here the Dene were nomadic hunters. There is something honourable about any people so intimately enmeshed with the environment in which they live. It was evidently a hard life but an evidently sustainable one on all counts.
The bruising encounter between Canadian white cultural values and Dene values was horrific. There was some demonising of white Canadian and particularly Catholic culture. The abuses and the horrors of the residential schools were graphically described with only a few white, Christian, Catholic characters getting any affirmation. The arrogance of purveyors of Western cultural values is not a new theme for there are so many examples in the history of the last 200 years.
The widely different attitudes to the land was also quite shocking with the Dene attitude, in my view, rightly affirmed and applauded. I am ashamed of our arrogance, abuse and exploitation of nature from my own Christian world view but have to confess that such insights are relatively recent.
This is a book well worth reading for the subjects it addresses and the refreshing style by which it does it.
parker_beyers's review against another edition
4.0
4.5
-------
"After all, what's the difference between me and an oil company? We've both come here to extract something."
Dense and disturbing, [b: Paying the Land|52079617|Paying the Land|Joe Sacco|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1580815787l/52079617._SX50_.jpg|72960738] is an excellent piece of journalism. I'm very interested in reading Joe Sacco's other books, especially [b: Footnotes in Gaza|6796708|Footnotes in Gaza|Joe Sacco|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1666601456l/6796708._SX50_.jpg|7002029] and [b: Palestine|769712|Palestine|Joe Sacco|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1569917057l/769712._SX50_.jpg|755771]. His work is incredibly unique, and his drawings are so beautifully detailed. Those landscapes! Those faces! Those hands!! This book is like a printed documentary. Immense care is put into sharing the stories of the Dene people, with nuanced perspectives abound. How Sacco interprets himself and his work through the lens of colonialism is particularly fascinating. Graphic fiction and non-fiction need to be treated with a hell of a lot more respect. Although I think Parts I-IV are the strongest (I think the latter half of the book is too thematically scattered), I strongly recommend checking this out.
-------
"After all, what's the difference between me and an oil company? We've both come here to extract something."
Dense and disturbing, [b: Paying the Land|52079617|Paying the Land|Joe Sacco|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1580815787l/52079617._SX50_.jpg|72960738] is an excellent piece of journalism. I'm very interested in reading Joe Sacco's other books, especially [b: Footnotes in Gaza|6796708|Footnotes in Gaza|Joe Sacco|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1666601456l/6796708._SX50_.jpg|7002029] and [b: Palestine|769712|Palestine|Joe Sacco|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1569917057l/769712._SX50_.jpg|755771]. His work is incredibly unique, and his drawings are so beautifully detailed. Those landscapes! Those faces! Those hands!! This book is like a printed documentary. Immense care is put into sharing the stories of the Dene people, with nuanced perspectives abound. How Sacco interprets himself and his work through the lens of colonialism is particularly fascinating. Graphic fiction and non-fiction need to be treated with a hell of a lot more respect. Although I think Parts I-IV are the strongest (I think the latter half of the book is too thematically scattered), I strongly recommend checking this out.
tx2its's review against another edition
4.0
Reading 2023
Book 196: Paying the Land by Joe Sacco
A nonfiction graphic novel selection.
Synopsis: In Paying the Land, Joe Sacco travels the frozen North to reveal a people in conflict over the costs and benefits of development. Sacco recounts the shattering impact of a residential school system that aimed to “remove the Indian from the child”; the destructive process that drove the Dene from the bush into settlements and turned them into wage laborers; the government land claims stacked against the Dene Nation; and their uphill efforts to revive a wounded culture.
Review: I have read books previously about the residential school indigenous families were forced to send their children to, and the horrible treatment many received. This book made history more accessible with the art that brought the author’s journey through these lands to life. My rating 4⭐️.
Book 196: Paying the Land by Joe Sacco
A nonfiction graphic novel selection.
Synopsis: In Paying the Land, Joe Sacco travels the frozen North to reveal a people in conflict over the costs and benefits of development. Sacco recounts the shattering impact of a residential school system that aimed to “remove the Indian from the child”; the destructive process that drove the Dene from the bush into settlements and turned them into wage laborers; the government land claims stacked against the Dene Nation; and their uphill efforts to revive a wounded culture.
Review: I have read books previously about the residential school indigenous families were forced to send their children to, and the horrible treatment many received. This book made history more accessible with the art that brought the author’s journey through these lands to life. My rating 4⭐️.