Sundogs

Lori A. Dunn is an ESL teacher and editor of the Toronto women’s
magazine Feminie.

Set in the summer of 1990 in Canada, Sundogs takes us into the private
life of Marianne, a young Native woman struggling to find her place in
the world, while her community reacts to Meech Lake and the standoff at
Oka. Amid political change, family upheaval, and a budding relationship,
Marianne discovers within herself the earthbound spirituality of her
ancestors, and the strength to challenge her basic assumptions.

Maracle uses Marianne’s fledgling sociologist mind to examine the
emerging struggle between the woman and her environment, skilfully
peeling away the white-male-academic training to allow the thinking of
her people to emerge. Readers of all nationalities become personally
involved in the narrative, as the author deconstructs typical encounters
between Native and Caucasian Canadians.

Maracle’s prose is spare and light, replacing any needlessly
sentimental poetic imagery with sociopolitical commentary. Through the
Native-Canadian mind that is telling the story, she also reminds the
reader that the personal is political in all areas of life, whether
confronting issues of racism, sexism, or class structure.