Description
In the impressive and powerful first book, Iskwewak-Kah' Ki Yaw Ni Wahkomakanak: Neither Indian Princesses Nor Easy Squaws, Janice Acoose deconstructs stereotypical images of Indigenous women in popular literature. Exposing literature as an institution of a Euro-Canadian nation shaped by non-Indigenous scholarship, Acoose calls attention to its projections of Indigenous women as Indian princesses, easy squaws, suffering helpless victims and tawny temptresses. With clarity and depth, Acoose traces the bars of literature imprisoning Indigenous women in images born of racism and sexism. From Margaret Laurence to William Patrick Kinsella, she interrogates the words that hurt, challenging liberalism, upending complacency and leaving the prison doors gaping. Iskwewak: Neither Indian Princesses nor Easy Squaws is a strong addition to literary and cultural criticism and an important resource for teachers and students alike. Janice Acoose holds a PhD from the University of Saskatchewan and is a Sessional Lecturer with the Northern Teacher Education Program, an activist-educator, and an internationally recognized Indigenous literary critic, writer, researcher, and consultant. Her roots stem from the Sakimay First Nation and the Marival Métis community.