Sarah Rees Brennan: In Other Lands

In Other Lands, by Sarah Rees Brennan, is a YA portal fantasy/wizard school adventure/coming-of-age story with a difference, and it’s a difference that is quite delightful.

Elliot at 13 is a lonely, cynical, grumpy, often-bullied outsider from a broken family - absent mother, alcoholic, defeated, emotionally unavailable father - who is suddenly invited to attend a school in the Borderlands on the other side of the Wall - a magical dividing line between worlds that few can see, let alone cross. The reader doesn’t get to know much more than Elliot himself at the outset - only that there are humans living in this Borderland, they are allied with the elves, that the humans traditionally guard the border, though at first it’s not too clear what they guard against. There are two courses of study in the Border school, the war course and the council course - one trains fighters, the other, diplomats and lawmakers.

Elliot chooses the less prestigious council course, and spends most of his time complaining about the lack of everything from plumbing to pens. The time not spent studying or complaining is devoted to admiration of Serene-Heart-in-the-Chaos-of-Battle, the first elf to attend border school, talented and brilliant, who is trying to take both the war and council courses. She has, of course, over-estimated, not her ability, but the sheer demand of time involved, and in order to help her, Elliot forms an uneasy alliance with Luke Sunborn, a handsome and apparently self-assured all-round athlete and warrior in training, scion of one of the oldest human families in the borderlands, and an example of everything that Elliot has learned to fear and despise.

Elliot is a nerd, a whiny kid, a smart-ass, and has some lessons to learn, but I couldn’t help liking him, at least in part because he is such a cranky little beast.The other part is because he’s smart, curious, loyal, and has an actual moral compass that goes beyond ‘is it a bad thing? Let’s kill it’ - which is the level at which most heroes of these kinds of fantasies function. He is a pacifist in a land that is built around war.

As the four years of his schooling pass, Elliot learns a great deal about the Borderlands and the history of the various societies - human, elven, dwarven, mermaid, and others - and how they interact. He finds himself - or to be more accurate, plunges himself - into situations where war and conflict are the immediate choice of these around him, and struggles, often successfully, to find ways to promote communication and peace. Most people - of all kinds - think he’s strange and annoying. But he persists, preventing some major interspecies conflicts through persistence and sheer gall.

In addition to having a marvelously atypical protagonist, and being a delightful send-up of the subgenres it draws inspiration from, In Other Lands also offers some interesting takes on gender roles and performance. Elven society is led by women, who are considered stronger and more warlike, while men are fragile, emotional and subject to a double standard of morality. The human society of the borderlands is more like ‘normal’ human society, where women are not quite seen as the equal of men - except in some warrior families where women are trained in the same way as their male siblings, and men and women both fight and take responsibility for home and childcare.

And it deals quite frankly and openly with sex. Teen age sex. Teen age queer sex. Part of Elliot’s coming of age journey is discovering that he is bisexual, and in the course of the story, he has sexual relationships with other young people, boys and girls. And it’s dealt with just as a normal part of growing up, which is a good thing.

Brennan has pulled a lot of different ideas and influences together in In Other Lands, and made a deeply funny, warm, enjoyable, and rather subversive adventure that both kids and adults can enjoy.

Pamela Palmater: Indigenous Nationhood

Indigenous Nationhood is a collection of writings by Indigenous writer and activist Pamela Palmater of the Mi’kmaw Nation, which she describes as: “... a collection of my own personal thoughts, opinions, ideas, and critiques about a wide range of issues...” Most of the writings are taken from her blog, and address many issues, political, economic and cultural, of relevance to Indigenous peoples, particularly those living within what is now called Canada, and their struggles for justice in a white settler country. Many of the blogs were written during the tenure of Stephen Harper as Prime Minister and refer to specific issues involving his government, but really, not much has changed under Trudeau, and the basic truths remain, no matter how the details change.

In my comments on the non-fiction books I read, I often try to summarise some of the important points the author makes; this time, I’m just going to let Palmater’s words speak for themselves, and urge you to buy the book, or go read her blog, to learn more. Because her words are important.

“This is an old battle, one that we have been fighting since contact. While many Canadians would like to believe that old colonial ideologies about Indigenous peoples have long since waned, the opposite is true. Just take a peek at some of the vile comments posted on online media stories about Indigenous peoples and you’ll see what I mean. Not only do Indigenous peoples face this battle on multiple fronts and on a daily basis, but they must also face the battle within themselves. Every day we face the battle to prove we are worthy as human beings. Too often this battle is lost, and we lose our young people to suicide, violent deaths, and early deaths from diseases, malnutrition, and lack of housing or clean water caused by extreme poverty.”

“It is time Canada accepted the fact that we will not be assimilated. Whether you call it “aggressively contrary,” “insurgency,” or “criminal” — we will continue to protect our cultures and identities for future generations. If only Canadians could leave their minds open long enough to see the incredible strength of our diverse peoples, the beauty of our rich cultures and traditions, the unique ties we have to our territories, and the incredible pride we have in our identities — then they would see why we refuse to give it up.”

“My own identity has been shaped by the histories, stories, lessons, and practices passed on to me by my large extended family. This has shaped my worldview, values, and aspirations — it is essentially what some might refer to as my cultural identity. My experience of identity on the other hand, has been shaped entirely by others — by schoolmates, teachers, employers, friends, neighbours, historians, judges, politicians, and governments. While my own Indigenous identity is strong and has survived the test of time, it is scarred and bruised by my lived experience of identity and the ongoing attack on my identity through government law and policy designed to assimilate Indigenous peoples into the body politic.”

“From smallpox blankets and scalping bounties to imprisonment and neglect — Canada is killing our people, and Canadians will be next if nothing is done to change the value (or lack thereof) that we collectively put on human life — all human life. This dictatorial, police state is not what newcomers had in mind when they came to Canada. A territory shared with Indigenous Nations based on formal agreements (treaties) and informal agreements (alliances) was founded on three principles: mutual respect, mutual prosperity, and mutual protection. Indigenous peoples, their families, communities, and Nations protected and cared for newcomers. Our people fought in Canada’s world wars to protect our shared territory and people. Now it’s time for Canadians to stand up for Indigenous peoples.”

“There is a children-in-care crisis, with 40% of children in care in Canada (30,000–40,000) being Indigenous children. In Manitoba, approximately 90% of the children in care are Indigenous. The crisis of over-incarceration of Indigenous people shows that 25–30% of the prison population in Canada are Indigenous and numbers are increasing. The water crisis reveals that 116+ First Nations do not have clean water and 75% of their water systems are at medium to high risk. The housing crisis is particularly staggering when you consider that 40% of First Nations homes are in need of major repair and there is an 85,000 home backlog. There is a growing crisis of violence against Indigenous women, with over 1200 murdered and missing Indigenous women and little girls in Canada. The health crisis results in a life expectancy of 8–20 years less for Indigenous people due to extreme poverty. This does not include the cultural crisis, where 94% of Indigenous languages in Canada (47 of 50 languages) are at high risk of extinction. These are all exacerbated for communities which suffer from massive flooding due to hydroelectric operations.”

“We are in the fight of our lives and we need to turn the tide of this war around. We have to stop blaming ourselves and believing the lies that we were told. We are not inferior, we are not genetically predisposed to dysfunction, our men are not better than our women, and we certainly did not ever consent to genocide against our people. All the dysfunction, addictions, ill health, suicides, male domination, and violence are the result of what Canada did to us. We are not each other’s enemies. We have to forgive ourselves for being colonized — none of that is who we really are as Indigenous peoples.”

“Today, however, the bright spirits of our peoples have been dimmed by the dark cloud under which our generations have lived for a very long time. Multiple generations of our peoples have been living under colonial rule and suffering the losses of our lands, identities, traditions, values, and worldviews, as well as our sense of responsibility to ourselves and each other. This has been compounded by the historical and current physical and emotional harms imposed by our colonizers. These actions are well known and include assimilation laws, policies, and state actions like residential schools, day schools, the Indian Act, discriminatory laws, the sixties scoop, overrepresentation of Indigenous children in foster care and our men in prisons, deaths in police custody, starlight tours, racial profiling, and many other current state actions.”

“Just like all the “non-status,” “non-band member” and “off reserve” Indian women who have been excluded at every turn, we now have a new negative descriptor — murdered or missing Indigenous women and girls. Our women can be murdered or go missing in frighteningly high numbers without society caring enough to even wonder why. How much more inequality must Indigenous women endure before society at large will stand up and say enough?”

“The whole world is changing and it is Indigenous peoples who are leading that change to restore balance to the earth, its life-giving resources, and the peoples who share this planet. We have the power to bring our people back home. All those suffering in child and family services, those that are missing, and those trapped in prisons or state custody — we are going to bring them back home. Canadians are standing beside us as we do this because they have come to realize that without farmable land, drinkable water, and breathable air — none of us will survive. This means that Indigenous Nations are Canadians’ last best hope at protecting the lands, waters, plants and animals for all our future generations.”