Booklife Review

George, a Wet’suwet’en woman from the Gidimt’en Clan, tells her story, and that of her community, in this commanding debut, delving into her experiences as an Aboriginal woman living in predominantly non-Aboriginal spaces. She touches on the trauma that she and her ancestors have experienced, along with the impact of colonization on her family, community, and culture, adding in reproduced photographs to bolster the historical record. George explains the tenets of Wet’suwet’en culture—and her family’s attempts to both stay connected to it and try to make it in a Western world—while exploring systemic and institutional racism, in the process dispelling colonial myths and spotlighting the Indigenous experience.

Readers will be transfixed by George’s story, from her mother’s use of “traditional food” (mainly moose and salmon) to feed her family in the face of an overpriced Western economy to the cherished time she spent on Wet’suwet’en ancestral territory. Her trauma is vividly rendered as well, as she recounts heartbreaking scenes of sexual abuse as a child and memories of painful family deaths—including taking part in a search for a missing cousin who was later found deceased. Those early experiences shaped George’s development into adulthood, creating in her a deep desire to advocate for issues such as Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women.

George weaves some background from Canada’s Indian Act as well as its Truth and Reconciliation Commission throughout the book, but the bulk of the memoir relies heavily on the emotional weight of personal narratives, painting Canada’s troubled relationship with Indigenous peoples through shades of vulnerability and honesty. As George comes to a reconciliation with her community, and, through that, with herself, readers will find it a powerful experience. “Throughout my life, I was treated as invisible,” she writes, but “my connection to my ancestors and my culture has always been my stronghold.”

Takeaway: Unflinching memoir of an Indigenous woman navigating impacts of colonization.

Comparable Titles: Thomas King; Richard Wagamese’s Indian Horse.

Production grades
Cover: A
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: N/A
Editing: A-
Marketing copy: A-