Scan barcode
A review by lit_laugh_luv
NDN Coping Mechanisms: Notes from the Field by Billy-Ray Belcourt
4.0
An excellent collection with some brilliant writing and some very personal experiences about the intersection of queerness and indigenous identity in modern Canada. The use of language in this is beautiful, and I found myself saving several excerpts that left me thinking. The latter half of the book is distinctly more academic and references the work of several scholars I know only by name, and I'll admit some passages were over my head. I can't necessarily critique the text for this as this is a reflection on me as a reader and it should be acknowledged that as a white settler I am certainly not the target audience for some of these poems.
At minimum I'd highly suggest reading through part 1 as its considerably more accessible and lyrical, and really highlights both the broader impacts of colonialism and the additional individualized intersection of the author's queer identity. These concepts are often treated as abstract or historical by our education system and this book does a great job highlighting both the inter-generational trauma and the rich culture of the Cree.
I don't typically read much poetry nor am I intimately familiar with all of the historic events referenced, but I still found the majority of this accessible and gripping. Treaty 8 in particular is a real standout poem, where the original document text is directly used to structure a poem highlighting the underlying intent of the Crown ("A reaper given all the encouragement to continue hunting on behalf of the law") - not only in this exceptionally creative, but it also grounds the poem with historical context that allows you to much better appreciate Belcourt's writing in isolation.
Some passages that really resonated with me:
"People love being alive so much they will force aliveness onto even a hypothesis of a man."
"There is a holy place filled with NDN girls, hair wet with utopia, who were caught between girlhood and a TV death. No, it isn't heaven. The hunted know of greener grasses."
"A struggling thing isn't a struggling thing if everything else is in a state of rot."
At minimum I'd highly suggest reading through part 1 as its considerably more accessible and lyrical, and really highlights both the broader impacts of colonialism and the additional individualized intersection of the author's queer identity. These concepts are often treated as abstract or historical by our education system and this book does a great job highlighting both the inter-generational trauma and the rich culture of the Cree.
I don't typically read much poetry nor am I intimately familiar with all of the historic events referenced, but I still found the majority of this accessible and gripping. Treaty 8 in particular is a real standout poem, where the original document text is directly used to structure a poem highlighting the underlying intent of the Crown ("A reaper given all the encouragement to continue hunting on behalf of the law") - not only in this exceptionally creative, but it also grounds the poem with historical context that allows you to much better appreciate Belcourt's writing in isolation.
Some passages that really resonated with me:
"People love being alive so much they will force aliveness onto even a hypothesis of a man."
"There is a holy place filled with NDN girls, hair wet with utopia, who were caught between girlhood and a TV death. No, it isn't heaven. The hunted know of greener grasses."
"A struggling thing isn't a struggling thing if everything else is in a state of rot."