Honouring the strength of Indian women : plays, stories, poetry / Vera Manuel, Kulilu Patki ; edited by Michelle Coupal, Deanna Reder, Joanne Arnott, and Emalene A. Manuel ; introduction by Emalene A. Manuel ; afterwords by Michelle Coupal, Deanna Reder, and Joanne Arnott.
Publisher:
University of Manitoba Press,
Copyright Date:
2019
Description:
xii, 391 pages, 8 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations ; 22 cm.
Introduction / by Emalene A. Manuel -- Plays. Strength of Indian women -- Song of the circle -- Journey through the past to the future -- Echoes of our Mothers' past -- Every warrior's song -- Stories. That grey building -- Theresa -- The letter -- The abyss -- Poetry. The storm -- Woman without a tongue -- Ghosts & predators -- L.A. Obsession song -- Addictions -- Lies -- Life abuse of girls -- The woman I could be -- Fools -- Loneliness -- Abused mothers, wounded fathers -- Hunger -- The Catholic Church -- Deadly legacy -- Keeping Secrets -- Forgiveness -- When I first came to know myself -- When my sister & I dance -- The girl who could catch fish with her hands -- Two brothers -- La Guerra -- Keepers in the dark -- Inheritance -- For the child who knew -- Never ever tell -- Ottawa -- The truth about colonization -- Justice -- Beric -- Christmas inside of me -- Spring fever -- Megcenetkwe -- Dying -- Afterwords. Narrative acts of truth and reconciliation: teaching the healing plays of Vera Manuel / by Michelle Coupal -- Embedded teachings: Vera Manuel's recovered short stories / Deanna Reder -- "Through poetry a community is brought together": Vera Manuel's poetry, poetry activism, and poetics / by Joanne Arnott -- Appendix. Indians and residential school: a study of the breakdown of a culture / by Vera Manuel.
Summary:
"This critical edition delivers a unique and comprehensive collection of the works of Ktunaxa-Secwepemc writer and educator Vera Manuel, daughter of prominent Indigenous leaders Marceline Paul and George Manuel. A vibrant force in the burgeoning Indigenous theatre scene, Vera was at the forefront of residential school writing and did groundbreaking work as a dramatherapist and healer. Long before mainstream Canada understood and discussed the impact and devastating legacy of Canada's Indian residential schools, Vera Manuel wrote about it as part of her personal and community healing. She became a grassroots leader addressing the need to bring to light the stories of survivors, their journeys of healing, and the therapeutic value of writing and performing arts. A collaboration by four Indigenous writers and scholars steeped in values of Indigenous ethics and editing practices, the volume features Manuel's most famous play, "Strength of Indian Women"--First performed in 1992 and still one of the most important literary works to deal with the trauma of residential schools-along with an assemblage of plays, written between the late 1980s until Manuel's untimely passing in 2010, that were performed but never before published. The volume also includes three previously unpublished short stories written in 1988, poetry written over three decades in a variety of venues, and a 1987 college essay that draws on family and community interviews on the effects of residential schools."-- Provided by publisher.
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.