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Did you know we have a great graphic novel section at the library? Located on top of our vertical files, right next to our french language collection! Being able to see words and images on the page at the same time allows graphic novels to communicate emotions to readers that words alone might not. Continue reading “Graphic Novels Spotlight”

March 8th is International Women’s Day across the globe! It is to celebrate the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of all women, past, present, & future. It is also used as a day to signify a call to action for accelerating women’s equality in society.

The theme for this year is Each for Equal, explained as:

An equal world is an enabled world.

Individually, we’re all responsible for our own thoughts and actions – all day, every day.

We can actively choose to challenge stereotypes, fight bias, broaden perceptions, improve situations and celebrate women’s achievements.

Collectively, each one of us can help create a gender equal world.

Let’s all be #EachforEqual.

(International Women’s Day Theme, 2020)

You might see some social media activity with the hashtags #IWD2020 and #EachforEqual, which are the official hashtags by the International Women’s Day organization.

Here at Xwi7xwa, we’ve picked out some of our favourite books surrounding women, feminism, and womanhood.

A Recognition of Being: Reconstructing Native Womanhood by Kim Anderson explores how Indigenous womanhood had been constructed and reconstructed in Canada, and examines how important the ability to self-determine yourself is in a colonial society.

Contact Zones: Aboriginal and Settler Women in Canada’s Colonial Past edited by Katie Pickles and Myra Rutherdale places women as both colonizer and colonized (sometimes even simultaneously), to demonstrate that women were uniquely positioned at the axis of the colonial encounter. Contact Zones puts Canadian women’s history within colonial and imperial systems.

Keetsahnak: Our Missing and Murdered Indigenous Sisters edited by Kim Anderson, Maria Campbell & Christi Belcourt the tension between personal, political, and public action is brought home starkly as the contributors look at the roots of violence and how it diminishes life for all.

This Wound is a World: poems by Billy-Ray Belcourt issues a call to turn to love and sex to understand how Indigenous peoples shoulder sadness and pain like theirs without giving up on the future.

“Until Our Hearts Are On the Ground”: Aboriginal Mothering, Oppression, Resistance and Rebirth edited by D. Memee Lavell-Harvard and Jeannette Corbiere Lavell is a collection of multiple voices demonstrating the issues surrounding Indigenous motherhood in contemporary society and the effects it has on mothering practices, government policies, and the way mothers are represented in the media.

Empire of Wild by Cherie Dimaline follows Joan through a propulsive, stunning and sensuous novel inspired by the traditional Métis story of the Rogarou – a werewolf-like creature that haunts the roads and woods of Métis communities.

When Did Indians Become Straight?: Kinship, the History of Sexuality, and Native Sovereignty by Mark Rifkin examines the relationships between colonialism through U.S government policy & history and Indigenous peoples sexuality/sexual order of society.

Making Space for Indigenous Feminism edited by Joyce Green covers a wide range of some of the most important issues facing Indigenous peoples today: violence against women, recovery of Indigenous self-determination, racism, misogyny and decolonization in a global context.

Living on the Land: Indigenous Women’s Understanding of Place edited by Nathalie Kermoal and Isabel Altamirano-Jiménez looks at how patriarchy, gender, and colonialism shape the experiences of Indigenous women as both knowledge holders and knowledge producers. Different writers explore the nature and scope of Indigenous women’s knowledge, how knowledge is rootedness in relationships both human and spiritual, and how knowledge is not inseparable from land and landscape.

Life Stages and Native Women: Memory, Teachings, and Story Medicine by Kim Anderson shares the teachings of fourteen elders from the Canadian prairies and Ontario to illustrate how different life stages were experienced by Métis, Cree, and Anishinaabe girls and women during the mid-twentieth century.

Hope Matters by Lee Maracle, Columpa Bobb, & Tania Carter is a collection of poetry written together as mothers & daughters that focuses on Indigenous history from colonial beginnings to reconciliation.

Looking for something else to read on International Women’s Day? Stop in to catch with our librarians or email us at xwi7xwa.library@ubc.ca!

February is Black History Month in Canada, the US, the UK, Germany, and the Netherlands. During this month, we recognize the legacy, achievements, and struggles that Black People have faced and accomplished. The bird in the above picture is the Sankofa bird, with it’s feet forward, head turned backward, it reflects on the past to build a successful future, and is the symbol of Black History Month in Canada this year. We have chosen books and other materials from our collection to celebrate this month with the rest of Canada. Be sure to check out our display in the branch! And remember, we are open normal hours during Reading Week if you are still around campus.

Crossing Waters, Crossing Worlds: the African Diaspora in Indian Country edited by Tiya Miles and Sharon P. Holland looks at historical studies and cultural expressions between blacks and Indigenous in Native communities to illustrates the many forms of expression that has formed through their intertwined history.

IndiVisible : African-Native American Lives in the Americas edited by Gabrielle Tayac is a collection of 27 essays that work to provide multiple viewpoints of the complex personal histories of people with dual heritage, trying to find acceptance within their own communities.

Proudly Red and Black : Stories of African and Native Americans by William Loren Katz and Paula A. Franklin, written for younger readers, is an in-depth look of six people who have both African and Indigenous heritage, including a US senator, a scuplter, and a colonial trader.

Untold Stories: Civil Rights, Libraries, and Black Librarianship edited by John Mark Tucker is composed of 15 articles that fall under three themes: Legacies of Black Librarianship, Chronicles from the Civil Rights Movement, & Resources for Library Personnel, Services and Collections.

American Red & Black: Stories of Afro-Native Identity directed by Alicia Woods is an award winning intimate look at 6 Afro-native Americans from across the U.S as their reflect on their experience as a part of two different communities of colour.

Oklahoma: Black Cherokees edited by Ty Wilson & Karen Coody Cooper looks at the ways the Cherokee assimilated into American society during the 1800s including accommodating the institutional slavery of black people and how this decision still impacts people today.

Native Land Talk: Indigenous and Arrivant Rights Theories by Yael Ben-Zvi draws on different types of texts to illustrate the ways that Indigenous and African-descended slaves explained their own views of freedom in the 18th and 19th century, and how their views drew off of the ways settlers threw off British rule in the American Colonies.  This books makes the case for how rights were constructed differently depending on if it existed in American, African, or English space, and explains the historical obstacles to solidarity between Indigenous and African American struggles.

Race and Racialization: Essential Readings edited by Tania Das Gupta, Carl E. James, Chris Andersen, Grace-Edward Galabuzi, and Roger C.A. Maaka draws a number of academic thinkers and writers to explore the themes of ethnocentrism, cultural genocide, conquest and colonization, disease and pandemics, slavery, the social construction of racism, and the failures of integration in short essays.

There’s Something in the Water: Environmental Racism in Indigenous and Black Communities by Ingrid R.G. Waldron examines the legacy that environmental racism has in Indigenous and Black communities in Canada, focusing primarily on Nova Scotia, and uses settler colonialism as the overarching theory to explain how environmental racism works as erasure in white-settler society.

American Cowboys written, produced and directed by Cedric Wildbill and Tania Wildbill shows the legacy of Indigenous and Black cowboys in the American West dating back to the 1900s where the cowboy winners broke the colour barrier in rodeo. This documentary includes a 1911 silent film!

Racism and Anti-Racism in Canada edited by David Este, Liza Lorenzetti, & Christa Sato is a introductory  reader that illustrates the many ways that racism and discrimination has impacted Canadian society, with writers from diverse backgrounds that reflect the people making up Canadian society.

Rumble: the Indians Who Rocked the World directed by Catherine Bainbridge is a library favourite that focuses on the Indigenous and Afro-Indigenous people who shaped music to where it is today.

Happy Valentine’s Day from your librarians at Xwi7xwa! We have rounded up some fun reads surrounding topics of love, care, and romance. Have you checked our our fiction section or poetry section yet? We have lots of choices for you when you want to take a step back from academic texts. Come in to the library and ask one of our librarians for some of their favourites!

Mama, Do You Love Me? by Barbara M. Joosse; illustrated by Barbara Lavallee is a children’s book where the mother explains just how unconditional her love is for her child. This book features great depictions of Arctic animals and Inuit life.

#IndianLovePoems: Poems by Tenille K. Campbell dives into stories of love and lust from all across Canada, illustrating the depth of emotions that come when sex, culture, and race is mixed with love, lust, and relationships.

Love Beyond Body, Space, and Time : An Indigenous LGBT Sci-Fi Anthology edited by Hope Nicholson is a collection of science fiction and urban fantasy stories starring First Nation and Métis folks.

Critically sovereign: Indigenous Gender, Sexuality, and Feminist Studies edited by Joanne Barker traces the ways that gender is intrinsically tied to Indigenous politics and colonialism.

Sacred Wilderness by Susan Power follows the lives of four women that are clan mothers from different time periods and different backgrounds that risk their hearts and lives for love of family, relationships, and life.

Islands of Decolonial Love: Stories & Songs by Leanne Simpson writes short stories of Indigenous Peoples and Communities learning to live loving and observant lives where at the same time struggling to survive the historical and ongoing injustices of colonialism.

I Love My Skin by Terry Haines is a film on how First Nation children learn to love and accept themselves in a society that can make them feel less than.

Without Reservation: Indigenous Erotica collected and edited by Kateri Akiwenzie-Damm is an anthology of poetry and prose by Indigenous writers from Canada, New Zealand, America, and Australia including well known authors like Maria Campbell and Sherman Alexie.

I Loved Her by Shezza Ansloos; illustrations by Kimberly McKay-Fleming is a children’s book of a young girl reflecting on the love and friendship she has with her grandmother.

Spirits, Fairies, and Merpeople: Native Stories of Other Worlds by C.J. Taylor are tales of enduring love and the struggles of life told through tales written for all ages.

Me Sexy: an Exploration of Native Sex and Sexuality compiled & edited by Drew Hayden Taylor is a book filled with humorous essays was complied to show a fun and sexy side, because so much of fiction that features Indigenous Peoples end up focusing on aspects of kidnapping, rape, and assault.

First Wives Club: Coast Salish Style by Lee Maracle (available online) are short stories that offers a glimpse into the love life of a university professor, a single mom, and an activist that are tied together through their Coast Salish background.