Gatherings: The En'owkin Journal of First North American Peoples, Vol. 3

Marjorie Retzleff teaches English at Champlain College in Lennoxville,
Quebec.

Fifteen years ago there were few published works by Canadian First
Peoples. Today, there is not only an annual journal of First Nations
writing (of which this is the third volume), but there is also a writing
school that contributes amply to that journal. The theme of this issue
(“Mother Earth Perspectives: Preservation Through Words”) is
reflected in most of the works, although the boundaries of inclusion
seem flexible.

As with all journals, the level of literary performance is uneven,
particularly since many writers are being published for the first time
or are very young. However, the folk tales by two Kahnawake Survival
School students are a delightful surprise, full of the storytelling
magic of the oral tradition. Other standouts include Drew Hayden
Taylor’s “Ice Screams” and Lee Maracle’s “Scarlet Requiem.”
The journal provides creditable examples of most genres, including
several “oratories” or personal reminiscences.

The least satisfactory feature of the volume is the political poetry,
which focuses on environmental issues and on the 500th anniversary of
Columbus’s arrival in the New World. Although most of it seems
motivated by genuine passion, very little of it transcends the
predictable and the prosaic. (One notable exception is Jordan
Wheeler’s “When Grey Whale Sings to a Swan,” which uses a specific
image to evoke a poetic yet general response.) Such issues as pollution
and hydro projects are far more effectively and persuasively handled in
the essays, particularly those by Sheila Sanderson and Greg Young-Ing.
In the end, however, one is struck by the essential irony of the journal
(an irony noted by only Mary Lou C. Debessige): it uses the language and
literary forms of the “conquerors.”