Written by: Assorted Indigenous authors

Illustrated by: Assorted Indigenous illustrators

For ages: YA & Middle Grades

Language: Majority English,

Topics Covered: Own Voices, First Nations, Indigenous Voices, Graphic Novels, First Contact, History,

Summary: 

This Place is a graphic novel produced by one of my favorite Indigenous publishers, Highwater. It is an anthology of comics retelling history from a First Nations prospective, and the beautiful Foreword by Alicia Elliot discusses the idea that Indigenous people live in a post-apocalyptic society (a society post-White contact). Since colonization occurred by Europeans, they have been oppressing, killing, and destroying Indigenous peoples and their cultures. This book is written in resilience and in defiance, a refusal to assimilate and forget their Indigenous roots.

Each story has a foreword by the author, and a timeline that situates the events taking place. It is a beautiful and powerful book, and doesn’t shy away from the inhumane treatment that Indigenous peoples have endured since First Contact. I would venture to say that although some schooling may teach about this history, it will still be through a whitewashed and Eurocentric lens. History does not belong to the victors, it belongs to everyone. And it is our job to search out counter-narratives to have in addition to all of the stories we hear. A well-rounded knowledge of historical events and figures increases self-reflection and critical thinking skills, something all of us need. I implore all of you to learn as much as you can from Indigenous peoples, particularly highlighting Own Voices and buying books from Indigenous publishers and indie bookstores.

This is another amazing ARC find from the free book bin on campus (when I was still on campus), I’ve been dying to read this since it came out last year and was absolutely thrilled to find it!

About the Creators: