The Place of Scraps

by Jordan Abel

The Place of Scraps revolves around Marius Barbeau, an early-twentieth-century ethnographer, who studied many of the First Nations cultures in the Pacific Northwest, including Jordan Abel’s ancestral Nisga’a Nation. Barbeau, in keeping with the popular thinking of the time, believed First Nations cultures were about to disappear completely, and that it was up to him to preserve what was left of these dying cultures while he could. Unfortunately, his methods of preserving First Nations cultures included purchasing totem poles and potlatch items from struggling communities in order to sell them to museums. While Barbeau strove to protect First Nations cultures from vanishing, he ended up playing an active role in dismantling the very same cultures he tried to save.

Drawing inspiration from Barbeau’s canonical book Totem Poles, Jordan Abel explores the complicated relationship between First Nations cultures and ethnography. His poems simultaneously illuminate Barbeau’s intentions and navigate the repercussions of the anthropologist’s actions.

Through the use of erasure techniques, Abel carves out new understandings of Barbeau’s writing – each layer reveals a fresh perspective, each word takes on a different connotation, each letter plays a different role, and each punctuation mark rises to the surface in an unexpected way. As Abel writes his way ever deeper into Barbeau’s words, he begins to understand that he is much more connected to Barbeau than he originally suspected.

Genres: Poetry, Indigenous, Read For School, School

288 pages, Paperback

First published September 10, 2013

Reviews

[Christopher Roth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Texts rendered as "poetic erasure techniques" in which excerpts from the fieldnotes and publications of Marius Barbeau, who did research with the Tsimshian, Gitxsan, and Nisga'a indigenous people in British Columbia in the 1910s through 1950s, are, page by page, stripped of chunks of text until only key, at first seemingly random phrases and letter strings remain. Reminded me of William S. Burroughs's "core sample" method, though for all I know this sort of thing is quite common now. I was initially skeptical, since I am by nature resistant to po-mo gimmicks and to facile deconstructions of complex texts (Barbeau was such a colonialist in his own way, and his work is so outdated, that it is easy to dismiss him too readily or to dismiss his many important contributions), however eventually "Place of Scraps" won me over. In a sense this is because I am a member of one of the very narrow conceived-of readerships for this book: I have worked with the Tsimshian, including with some of Barbeau's "informants'" descendants, and I have taught Barbeau texts at the graduate level to Tsimshian, Gitksan, and Nisga'a students. One of the most challenging things about that was coming to grips with how First Nations readers seize on completely different parts of texts than I and my non-Native colleagues do. E.g., I might zero in on some theoretical aspect which seems to me the main point of assigning a text, but then I find that the subtle phrasings by which Barbeau erases Native voices or alludes cavalierly to removing totem poles from villages "for preservation" are things that a First Nations reader can't get past, which color all the theoretical points in a way that they don't for me. Abel's erasure poems bring this phenomenon out very powerfully, and raise all sorts of interesting questions about how writing can be erasure and erasure can be writing. The doors that this book opens up lead to wildly complex issues of representation. And I hadn't been expecting that at all.

What would be fascinating to do next is to see the same technique applied to the writings of William Beynon, Barbeau's First Nations "assistant"/collaborator. Lots, lots more complexity and anxiety that way lies.

[ella l · Rating 4 out of 5]

wow! just wow

literally such a good and important read. not usually a poetry person but this conceptual collage erasure poetry is so cool. language is so cool. so majorly impressed with this body of work

[Crystal · Rating 3 out of 5]

super interesting erasure poetry. takes marius barbeau's anthropology work with Indigenous totem poles (basically white guy going 'oh no your culture is dying lol imma steal all your art and totem poles and keep them safe for you hee hoo) and erases words to form new meaning and poetry. it's a dual focus on both carving out words to reveal a core, but also carving out words to look at what's being removed, focussing on the shavings and not the core - this turns into like a multi sided commentary on the shitty cores and intents of ethnographic practices, erasure and marginalization of indigenous culture, but also faith in what's left after everything has been taken away, and faith in the enduring nature of Indigenous identity. really worth a read!

[Kari Burk · Rating 5 out of 5]

Creative composition at its best. A visual and cerebral treat operating on many levels. I admire what Jordan Abel has done here with de-constructing and 're-writing' an historical account of a subject that calls his soul in to not only research but to re-do. It's satisfying somehow to see, what might be in the category of or called, 'defacing a book'. I think we need more of this kind of work as it gives us permission to break shit down, take it apart and re-do it. I'm not okay-ing the defacement of books in a general way but if done with integrity and a truth of some kind it can maybe work. I recently read something on Caroline Myss's facebook page that is applicable here..." talking does not heal, taking action does "

[Brian Henderson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Here's a book of nifty text carving that carves up Marius Barbeau's writings about Pacific NW First Nations and his work with them, especially concerning totem poles, and that attempts to find a place for the poet by inverse appropriation of, on the one hand, the poet's own memory or memory attempts and his First Nation roots -- his father was a carver--, and on the other, the appropriations of Barbeau and white culture. Some wonderful visual effects here, filled with haunted spaces.

[Zack]

Jordan Abel's first book is totally worth checking out. Sometimes conceptual stuff is a hard sell for me, but he does it in a very emotion weird and fun way that i totally dig. Also this book is fiercely political without beating you over the head with anything or coming off as pretentious. I dig that too.

[dimwig · Rating 4 out of 5]

barbeau erasing nisgaa culture & not realizing it (bringing totem pole to rom). abel erasing barbeau & showing what he was doing. barbeau not knowing nisgaa history. abel not knowing his own. not so much writing an oppressed group back into history as writing the history itself for the first time. from the scraps.

[Siobhan · Rating 5 out of 5]

AMAZEBALLS. I want to read every word this young poet has written now. What a talent! He "erases" bits of an ethnographic account of his Nisgaa community's totem poles, creating gorgeous and powerful visual word plays while pondering things like, oh, the limits of knowledge. Just fantastic.

[S P · Rating 5 out of 5]

from 1
(field)
(process wherein
language readjusts to
)
()
(casualty)
()
(a description of
)
(
all) (53)
[...]
26.06.2008
The poet travels back to Edmonton and reassesses the validity of his knowledge of the past. The poet rotates the wooden spoon in his hands and becomes distracted by its history: unblemished, unused. He contemplates putting the spoon to use, but finding himself unable to do so, places the wooden spoon on the shelf. Without warning, the poet becomes acutely aware of his own projected purpose for the wooden spoon, an object designed for the uncontrollable nakedness of spectacle. The poet takes an inventory of all the similar pieces he has witnessed: the totem pole in the mall, the emblems on the manhole covers, the endless carvings for sale in Water Street storefronts, and the wooden spoon on the shelf. (105)
[...]
follow
the coast

cut open
the dead
place (111)

[Jade · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read for class.
I really did not expect to like this as much as I did. The idea of “experimental poetry” aroused a lot of ideas of pretentiousness in my mind. But this was very readable and moving! Abel is clearly extremely smart and he uses erasure to create layers of meaning within these poems. On a visual level, they’re super interesting as well. Would recommend especially for anyone looking for Native poets.

[Charlotte Hembruff · Rating 4 out of 5]

My first time reading erasure poetry (as someone who doesn't fully understand poetry) and I really liked it! It felt accessible in a way that I could like understand it and find meaning form the work, but I had to work to like understand it. Idk how to phrase it but felt engaged for sure.
Loved the part about the ROM, super interesting!!

[df parizeau · Rating 5 out of 5]

Conceptually one of the most potent pieces of poetry I have ever had the chance to read. With just a select few words, Abel unravels so much.

[corynn ☁️ · Rating 4 out of 5]

super unique and clever little book.

[Naomi Ruth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Part poetry, part art, part sociological decunstruction/decolonialisation. More of an experience.

[Samuel Pletsch · Rating 1 out of 5]

Well, one positive thing was it was a quick read.

[Rebekah · Rating 4 out of 5]

kingggg

[Buried In Print]

Following Amazon's purchase of GoodReads, I no longer post my reviews here.

If you would like to read my thoughts on this book, you can view them in the following places:
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If you read/clicked through to see this review here on GR, many thanks.

[Jakelene · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5

Truly brilliant, and I've barely cracked the surface of this book's intelligence. I'll be purchasing this book as soon as possible so I can read it again and again and again.

This is a must read for anyone interested in Indigenous history and culture, as well as contemporary politics, poetic form, and experimental writing. Even if you don't love this book, I guarantee you'll look at the world completely differently after you read it.

[John Williams · Rating 5 out of 5]

Utterly unique in its structure, powerful and multi-dimensional in its themes, Abel's collection questions historical 'facts', revises our perceptions on culture, and speaks to the heart of what poetry can achieve.

[Daniel Zomparelli · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the strongest collection of poems I've seen in a while.

[Catherine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Stunning!

[Mills College Library]

811.6 A139p 2013