A review by serendipitysbooks
Paying the Land by Joe Sacco

challenging informative reflective medium-paced

4.25

 Paying the Land is exemplary graphic journalism - graphic in format not content. Sensitive topics like sexual abuse are handled sensitively. The author travelled extensively in the Dene land (part of what many know as Canada’s Northwest Territory). His focus was on the impacts of and attitudes towards development and the extraction of natural resources like oil, gas and diamonds. Is fracking an economic opportunity to be embraced or the antithesis of traditional ways and beliefs that should be rejected? The book inevitably is broader in scope highlighting traditional ways of life, and the impacts of colonialism especially the residential schools. I appreciated the way the author gave space to differing opinions and points of view, letting willing Dene people speak for themselves. 
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