Reviews tagging 'Terminal illness'

A Two-Spirit Journey: The Autobiography of a Lesbian Ojibwa-Cree Elder by Ma-Nee Chacaby

4 reviews

nmcannon's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective slow-paced

5.0

I first heard of Ma-Nee Chacaby’s autobiography on Casey the Canadian Lesbrarian’s blog, when she featured it as a finalist for the 2016 Lambda Literary Awards. Since it’s a Canadian publication from a university press, I never expected to see it out in the wild. I suppose I should never doubt my local library! When I saw A Two-Spirit Journey on the shelf, I froze for a good second in shock before snatching it up.

Chronicling her life from childhood to ~2013, the autobiography isn’t light reading, but even the lowest of the low points are buoyed by Chacaby’s gentle, plain-speaking voice. She carries herself through truly harrowing experiences. Her indigenous lifeways are her lifeline. My heart bled and bloomed by turns. Once Chacaby reached adulthood, it was lovely to witness her happiness, though obviously recovery isn’t linear. What impressed me the most is how Chacaby, after escaping toxic situations, would dive right back in there to help others. Barely escaping with her kids from an extremely abusive marriage, she took on other people’s children via fostering and adoption. Working as a counselor returned her to the home insecure communities she was barely out of herself. For the historians in the crowd, I highly recommend A Two-Spirit Journey as a primary source for life in late 20thc. Canada, especially for people who share Chacaby’s identities.

In the back matter, Mary Louisa Plummer explains her methodology for the book. Her and Chacaby’s commitment to her voice and the stranger’s accessibility work together wonderfully. I felt honored to be able to listen to Chacaby’s story, like I was listening to a grandmother over tea. I want to read more autobiographies like Chacaby’s, and I’ve already had a promising start with Deborah A. Miranda’s Bad Indians: A Tribal Memoir. Miranda’s experience sits comfortably side-by-side with Chacaby’s: the one informs the other. I also wish Chacaby a very pleasant All The Money. The shrinkage of social services over the course of the novel was awful. Despite how many lives she’d touched, despite how many people she’s helped, Chacaby lives on a pittance. But, importantly, she still lives.

Chacaby’s autobiography is very important reading for everyone, especially for anyone interested in learning about two-spirit indigenous lives. Chacaby and Plummer have given us a gift.

Casey the Canadian Lesbrarian’s blog post: https://caseythecanadianlesbrarian.wordpress.com/2017/03/21/the-seven-canadian-and-indigenous-lambda-finalists-im-most-excited-about/ 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Addiction, Grief, Lesbophobia, Mental illness, and Racism

Moderate: Sexual assault, Hate crime, Adult/minor relationship, Domestic abuse, Toxic relationship, Torture, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, and Violence

Minor: Police brutality

Chacaby doesn't dwell on the horrible things that happened to her. She's very matter of fact. I would tag most of the content warnings as "Minor," but some occur with such frequency that I bumped them up to "Moderate" or "Graphic."

aus10england's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense fast-paced

5.0

Wow. This is one of the best memoirs I have ever read. 

It hit on all levels, such an eye-opening, inspiring, reflective, and deeply personal read. The authors really did the subject’s stories justice. Ma-nee has lived many, many lives, and the world is lucky to have this published work to live on forever. 

I appreciated the afterwords of this book, that explained how the publication came to be, since the subject of the memoir has vision issues that would make writing a book from start to finish difficult. So much went into it, and it made me appreciate the book even more. 

Overall, this book is severely overlooked, and should be read by anybody who wants to better understand native (queer) identities and culture. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Drug abuse, Grief, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Pedophilia, Toxic friendship, Hate crime, Xenophobia, Toxic relationship, Mental illness, Drug use, Lesbophobia, Adult/minor relationship, Violence, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Emotional abuse, Addiction, and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Terminal illness, Sexism, Death of parent, Medical content, Self harm, Outing, Bullying, Misogyny, Suicide, Cancer, and Infertility

Minor: Stalking, Fire/Fire injury, Animal death, and Miscarriage

bobbi's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad slow-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Drug abuse, Medical trauma, Alcoholism, Addiction, Homophobia, Religious bigotry, Torture, and Terminal illness

Moderate: Medical content, Suicidal thoughts, Kidnapping, Racism, Child death, Death, and Death of parent

deestraith's review

challenging emotional hopeful reflective fast-paced

5.0

I loved this book and will absolutely read it again in a future year. I grew up in north-ish Ontario in an industry town and was really reminded of a bit of that early in the book. As Ma-Nee went through the trials of her life, I felt angry for her; and then, as she discovered more about herself in her adulthood, I was joyful. I hope that whatever she's up to right now, she's surrounded in love and healing. Would absolutely read again.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Grief, Homophobia, Misogyny, and Rape

Moderate: Drug use, Hate crime, Racism, Child death, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Genocide

Minor: Cancer and Terminal illness