Annie Muktuk et autres histoires

by Norma Dunning, Daniel Grenier (Translator)

Annie Muktuk et autres histoires touche au coeur de ce que signifie être inuit.


Des femmes énergiques, puissantes, libres.
LIVRES HEBDO


C’est cru, féroce et, on le sent, terriblement vrai. Une vraie découverte !
LAURENCE BAULANDE, ACTUALITTÉ

Personnages colorés et éminemment drôles, qui témoignent tout autant du racisme et de l’aliénation que de la tendresse, de l’amour et l’espoir.

ANNE-FRÉDÉRIQUE HÉBERT-DOLBEC, LE DEVOIR

Écrivaine et professeure, Norma Dunning enseigne les savoirs autochtones et raconte les légendes de ses ancêtres. Elle vit à Regina.

Genres: Short Stories, Indigenous, Fiction, Canada, Short Story Collection, Adult, Adult Fiction

256 pages, Pocket Book

First published June 15, 2017

Reviews

[Jenny (Reading Envy) · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was mentioned on the Best Reads of 2017 Reading Envy Podcast episode and then Lindy included it in a package of books from Canada, so I pretty much knew this book was required reading. And for my Canada-Alaska reading goal in 2018, it counts for a territory in Canada I hadn't touched yet - Nunavut.

Any of the facts I'm spouting about the author and the background to these stories comes from this excellent interview with her from the CBC.

I felt like these stories were different and wanted to understand why. Dunning had been writing for years and shoving her stories into a drawer. She said a lot of Inuit authors write but are afraid of their stories being colonized. She first thought to look into publishing after reading an anthropologist's take on the Inuit, and her reaction was, "Why is it that aboriginal women are never in charge of their own sexuality? Why are we presented as women who can be used? So that's where Annie came from — what inspired her was getting mad."

And there is definitely a theme of women owning their sexuality in these stories. These are not from American or Canadian sensibility, and I really appreciated that peek into the world.

When the author talks about being a Southern Canadian Inuk, she means anything south of official Inuit territories. The story "Annie Muktuk" is set in Churchill, Manitoba, which is the "polar bear capital of the world" (and you can see in this feature by Google Maps. Her mother was born in Whale Cove, Nunavut, although she herself did not grow up there. (Check out this interactive Inuit Nunangat Map from the Indigenous and Native Affairs Office in Canada.)

Some of the stories go back farther in time, and some are present-day. One is based on stories she heard about her grandfather while others are based in her own life. She's giving the name "story" but feels the majority are stories she has been told. Many of them include the same characters and are linked together, but not all.

Themes include survival, sexuality, family, Inuit vs. white people (these are usually hilarious), mythology and magic, and more. There's so much in the 200 pages, I can see why I've seen this so highly recommended. I loved it.

[Dani · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Hikwa turns her face to me. Her tongue is clamped between two pieces of wood. She cannot speak. Her hands are lying on her lap wrapped in a brown rope that snakes its way around her ankles.
“Your sister, Margarite, is learning the power of silence. Would you like to learn this as well?” Father LePage asks.
I glance at Hikwa. She signals the word “No” to me with her eyes. A slight turn of her head showing me the pain she is feeling.
I feel the tears dripping from my eyes. All I want is to touch Hikwa. I want to feel her hand in mine. I want to know that she is there under all the bruises and black spots on her face. I lower my eyes to the floor.
“I said, Therese, do you want to learn the power of silence?”
Father LePage is standing in front of me. I feel his hand slice into the roots of my hair, my head snapping up, his nose close to mine. I can smell the breath of a white man. It smells like nothing I know.”

This is an excerpt from an incredible short story about three Inuit girls growing up in a Manitoban residential school titled “My Sisters and I” from Norma Dunning’s debut short story collection “Annie Muktuk.” This collection is stunning. Transcendent. Hilarious. Tragic. This collection is powerful and wonderful. Through it we are given a glimpse into the lives of Inuit characters who strive to hold onto their traditions in a vicious colonized society.

Dunning has created a space that gives Inuit women control of their sexuality, identity and lives. She challenges societies perceptions of Inuit through her work that is full of Inuktitut language and symbolism. I can’t recommend Annie Muktuk enough. There wasn’t one story that left me feeling unsatisfied.

[Lauren · Rating 5 out of 5]

There is quite a thrill to choosing a book at random, knowing very little about it, and jumping right in. Sometimes it works well, and sometimes it is an unfortunate situation. Thankfully, jumping in to Annie Muktuk and Other Stories was the former - a total gem.

Norma Dunning's collection has some linked stories, some longer historical pieces, and some more experimental/esoteric pieces. All of her stories have this larger theme of representation of First Nations/native peoples - particularly women - in the larger society. The title story of Annie Muktuk is actually part of a larger story told from multiple perspectives of this young, attractive, and "promiscuous" woman, Annie Muktuk. We see her through other people's eyes first, and then we get Annie's side. It's a crafty storytelling mechanism.

The most compelling stories were "Elipsee"- a story of love and illness with a side of mysticm, and the final two stories, "Husky", the Hudson Bay Company trapper who "goes native", and "My Sisters and I", the story of three girls taken from their family and sent to live in Catholic mission schools, for better and worse.

ETA 12/5/2017
I have been thinking about this book alot - especially the last story "My Sisters and I", and putting it on my Best of 2017 list.

ETA 12/6/2017
I was reviewing some of my faves and my Book Riot challenge books, and researched a bit more on this one - and found this great CBC article about Dunning and the book: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/norma-dunning-inuit-stories-annie-muktuk-1.4203698

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

J’ai vraiment beaucoup aimé. Un beau registre de nouvelles avec des histoires fortes, violentes, douces.

[Friederike Knabe · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very affecting collection of powerful, connected stories! They also are precursors to Norma Dunning recent story collection. The author creates memorable characters, their experiences are often challenging, but also told with a sense of humour and irony. The stories are drawn from lives lived in the North and explore realities that at times reach beyond them.

I strongly recommend to also read her most recent collection TAINNA: The Unseen Ones.

[Carla · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gritty characters are introduced in these wonderful short stories. There are some interconnecting stories, but all are a close up unromantic look at Inuit people's, their culture and the racism they endure everyday. Most days consist of violence. Their colonization equals that of First Nations people's. A heartbreaking depiction sometimes done with humour of a strong people.

[Alicia · Rating 4 out of 5]

definitely recommend and would read more from this author in the future.

[Eva · Rating 4 out of 5]

Absolument apprécié le caractère trash, rentre-dedans, mais parfois aussi présent tout en subtilités; rappelle des histoires trop souvent et longtemps subies par les Inuits. Une grande intelligence se trouve derrière les récits de Norma Dunning. La traduction était pertinente et j’ai cru comprendre que Daniel Grenier a été en contact avec l’autrice pour valider ses traductions puisque les rapports de langue colonisées-colonisatrices sont présentes à travers les textes. À lire!

[Laura Frey (Reading in Bed) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a solid collection. I hate it when short story collections are uneven (as most are) because how can you rate them as a whole? Every story here is good, every one. The linked stories about Annie Muktuk in particular.

[Navita Gujral · Rating 4 out of 5]

Clever stories exploring Inuit culture, racism, their relationships, sexuality, physical abuse, superstitions and a lot more. Some stories are connected but all are engrossing reads that challenge perception.

[Annabelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lu en moins de 24h. 👏👏👏

[Rose Stanley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bookopolothon, Book the First
Prompt: Small book (this one is under 200 pages)

Genuinely can't remember where I heard of this book or who recommended it, but it turned out to be an interesting, if disturbing read (couldn't NOT be because, you know, racism). Also as someone who prefers NOT to read about bodily functions (or, you know, talk about them EVER) #verybritishproblems, that aspect of these stories was pretty uncomfortable for me, so, there's that.

Highlights for me: the Annie Muktuk stories in the middle could easily have been a longer story, as could the final story about the three sisters. Also, I appreciated the use of inuit words throughout (and the handy glossary in the back).

[Amélie Jetté · Rating 4 out of 5]

Au fil des pages, cette impression de lire un livre important a persisté; un livre qui "touche au coeur de ce que signifie être Inuit". Les personnages d’Igloolik y sont d’une grande richesse et d’une authenticité majuscule, à commencer par Annie Muktuk elle-même. Tradition, culture, croyances, sexualité libre et décomplexée, quotidien du Nord, tendresse, amitié, racisme sont quelques-uns des thèmes portés par cette écriture souvent crue, aux mots admirablement traduits et préservés par Daniel Grenier (la note du traducteur en fin de livre est d’ailleurs d’une pertinente justesse), où règne parfois une certaine part déstabilisante de magie, de légende.
Extrait de la page 2: "[La remarquable] image de couverture est une oeuvre d’Annie Pootoogook. […] Le matin du 19 septembre 2016, le corps d’Annie Pootoogook a été retrouvé dans la rivière Rideau, à Ottawa. Annie Pootoogook fait désormais partie des milliers de femmes autochtones disparues ou assassinées."

[jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars ✨

[Bri Fidelity · Rating 3 out of 5]

Is it still exoticising if you're doing it to yourself?

[Care · Rating 4 out of 5]

Annie Muktuk and Other Stories was a great short story collection. I loved how diverse the tones of the stories were. Funny moments, romantic, tragic, infuriating scenes. And the stories were all interconnected with overlapping characters, themes, and locations. Themes of health and wellness, love and sexuality, agency and power, language, trauma, cultural loss and revival. Not all of the stories affected me strongly, but a few were really powerful and moving. Definitely recommend to fans of short stories and those looking for Inuk authored writing.

[Kerry Clare · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing! Read this.

[Kayren mosurinjohn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I want MORE of her stories!

[Prairie Fire Review of Books · Rating 5 out of 5]

Review from prairiefire.ca

Review by Mary Barnes

Stories are meant to be told, to be absorbed, thought about and laughed over. Appreciated.

They float in the air like will o’ wisps, waiting for the storyteller to reach out and grasp them. It is then and only then that they become solid, and are given meaning.

Norma Dunning’s debut short story collection takes us out of our mundane lives into one that is raucous, humorous and spiritual. She also leads us into a world where the indigenous seem apprehensive of the white world. But all is not what it appears to be.

The author brings the stories from her culture to resonate and find importance in the land of literature. Dunning has written a powerful book, the short stories depicting the way of her people, how they once lived and now live in the presence of the white world. She regales her audience with tales funny and sad, harrowing yet uplifting. But most of all she places the stories on the page to show that she and her people matter.

In the first story, “Kabloona Red”, Dunning’s character starts drinking and smoking soon after her husband leaves for work. Each day that he is absent she remembers her harrowing experiences at residential school, her continual rapes at the hands of the priests, her endurance during the six years she spent in the institution. Dunning’s writing of these incidents reminds us of the havoc generated through violence, and how it leads to permanent damage. As her character says near the closing of the story: “You never really get over things. You just move one. Move on to laughter. Move on to being alive. Move on to growing old.” (5)

Her story, “Manisatuq”, introduces Annie Mukluk who tries not to get lost in the white world but she often is. She survives by using sex to her advantage. She says, “Sex is the only thing that I do very well. It gives me power. It gives me strength. It bring me a strange comfort.” (87) The spirit of her mother, however, visits her and tries to persuade her daughter to give up this way of life and go on another path. “You need to rest your head into the same man’s arms each night”. (91) It is not until several stories later that Annie reaches another plateau in her life.

“Road Show Eskimo” shows an Inuk woman who appears to be under a white man’s power. She goes on stage and does a show according to his instructions. With the re-release of the book they’ve presented over the years, she decides to play him like a hunter trapping a rabbit. She wears the traditional amauti, worn and faded through the years, and then paints a tattoo on her face. She cannot find the special ring he wants to wear so he puts on a Walmart ring, “the cheap proof of their pretend life together” (44) Then she outwits the man at his own game.

There are more stories, stories of Moses Henry, Johnny Cochrane, Annie and others. They are full of Native humour, full of knowing. They are stories full of survival despite the cruelties experienced in the characters’ lives. The story that I found most moving in this wonderful collection is “My sisters and I”. It begins with the narrator telling us of an Inuk family finding happiness on the land. Then a sudden disruption of their life there and the sisters are wrested from their family and sent to a residential school. The strangeness and the cruelty are mind-boggling. “I don’t know who I am anymore”, says the narrator. (154)

The nuns imprison the sisters for disobedience. They no longer can use their names. Instead, Hikwa becomes Margarite, Puhuliak becomes Suzanne, and Angavidiak becomes Therese. In this strange white world, they endure the viciousness of Father LePage, each day hard and unforgiving. But Hikwa finds kindness in Bishop LaFlamme and the other two sisters have a friend in Joshua, the young woodcutter.

Dunning’s rendering is a way of stating that Annie Mukluk and the others are alive. They are present and do not intend to disappear.

[Serendipity · Rating 4 out of 5]

Annie Muktuk is a fantastic collection of short stories by Inuk author Norma Dunning. There’s a real variety here with a diversity of characters, settings ranging from historical to more contemporary, and all the expected themes are touched upon - colonialism, forced assimilation, cultural conflict, racism - as well as many others. I loved the way the interconnected stories focussing on the titular Annie Muktuk have her in control of her own sexuality. My favourite story, especially in terms of power and impact, was My Sisters and I. The barbarity of the priest in charge of their residential school was horrific but I loved the way the three sisters hung together, found solace and strength in their cultural heritage, and eventually managed to escape together. The solidarity of women was a feature I really enjoyed in Husky as well, not to mention the way it highlighted traditional Inuit beliefs. Seeing them extract revenge and impose justice was refreshingly cathartic. Kakoot was another story that really impacted me, both for his need to escape the nursing home and die in a manner fitting his belief system and for the totally disrespectful way he was treated by most of the staff.

I appreciated the way the stories focused on both positive aspects of Inuit culture and of problems within the community, linking these back to various aspects of contact with European society. Not being from North America I’m glad I’ve now read an own voices perspective on Inuit life in and outside the Arctic circle, a necessary correction to the culturally inaccurate stereotypes I was exposed to as a child.

[Catherine Dubé · Rating 5 out of 5]

Énorme coup de cœur pour cette collection d'histoires courtes de l'autrice Inuk Norma Dunning. Une écriture coup de poing, crue sans être trash. Dépendance, suicide, vieillesse, violences physiques et sexuelles dirigées vers les femmes autochtones, objectification, dépossession de soi, violence et mauvais traitements infligés par le clergé (et par extension, par le gouvernement) dans les pensionnats, ce sont des thèmes très durs qui sont abordés dans ce recueil, qui ne verse jamais dans le misérabilisme. Les personnages sont dotés d'une voix et d'une agentivité forte. C'est magnifiquement traduit, on sent beaucoup de finesse et de sensibilité dans le travail de traduction de Daniel Grenier, qui nous présente sa démarche à la fin de l'ouvrage. 2022 commence en force du point de vue de mes lectures.

[Trésor de Velours · Rating 3 out of 5]

Il est évident que ce recueil s’avère puissamment bien écrit. Le propos est frontal, direct, et nous amène à connaître une communauté, celle d’Igloolik, qui est malheureusement souvent oubliée par le système. On y développe notre empathie vis-à-vis de ces humain-e-s qui ont vécu les affres du colonialisme ou qui vivent avec le traumatisme intergénérationnel. Le tout est présenté certes rudement, mais surtout avec beaucoup de doigté.
Le côté choral des nouvelles apporte son lot d’éléments positifs, mais, aussi, d’éléments négatifs. Certaines histoires auraient méritées qu’on en fasse un roman complet, alors que d’autres paraissaient à mes yeux moins signifiants d’intérêt. En effet, parfois, lorsque mis côte-à-côte, les récits semblaient dépareillés, ce qui enlève à l’efficacité du propos.

[Marie-Claude Ratté · Rating 5 out of 5]

J'ai de la difficulté à trouver les mots pour rendre tout le bien que cette œuvre mérite. Les nouvelles de Norma Dunning sont saisissantes. Elles dépeignent des femmes très fortes, résilientes et assumées. Le cadre dans lequel elles évoluent est blindé de préjugés à leur égard. De part leur force de caractère et leur courage, elles réussissent à se défaire de cette carcasse stéréotypée pour définir elles-mêmes leur liberté.
J'ai tout aimé de ce recueil de nouvelles, mais j'ai particulièrement été happée par les récits des trois mères et des trois sœurs.
Une lecture que je conseille, assurément.

[Violet · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm surprised I had never heard of this book before or when it came out in 2017 - these short stories are wonderful. Some of them are very short, some of them are better than others, as is often the case with short stories collections, but I found them engaging, interesting, sad and funny, and well-written. They all talk about Inuit culture, racism, the objectification of Native women by white men, interracial relationships, addiction... They were wonderfully moving, and I liked that some of them feature characters from other short stories in the collection - loosely connected to each other.

[lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a delightful collection of stories of Inuit people living their best (mostly) lives in northern Canada/Alaska/their traditional homelands. Several stories feature around the adventures of the titular Annie Mukluk and the people she knows. The other stories talk about different characters from different times, and are mostly set in contemporary times. The two stories at the end "Husky" and "My Sisters and I" are more like historical fiction, and both these stories feature Inuit women taking care of themselves even through their fear and silence.

[Mykel Mogg · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was blown away by this collection of interconnected stories. Each story deepened and changed my understanding of the previous ones-- some in obvious ways, because they came back to the same characters and events; others spoke to each other less directly. They kept touching the places where joy and grief live together. Reading this book made me cry a few times and left me feeling grateful to be alive.

Hot tip: there's a glossary in the back (I didn't find it till partway through reading).

[Freya Abbas · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted to like this but I guess I am just not a huge fan of stories like this. Something about the dealing with traumatic subject matter, the writing style... Idk. However there were some stories in here that I did like, such as the one about the young Inuit couple where the woman has breast cancer and the one about the Inuk man in the hospital who Sedna tries to bring to the land of the dead. I also liked the one about the HBC factor and his three wives.

[Chrisreadsbooks · Rating 4 out of 5]

Whoah - I was not expecting to like this book as much as I did. I read it for an indigenous bookclub and was even hesitant to start. But the stories... so engaging. Some are so funny, and others will rip your heart out before putting it back together again. Highly recommend if you want to read more about the Inuit experience.

[Cynthia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Currently one of my favourite authors, Dr. Dunning writes an old-fashioned "page-turner". The individual short stories stand up on their own two feet, but I am delighted to report that they often share characters or/and locations with one or more of the other stories. A smart, fun, totally engaging read.

[Félicia Cá · Rating 5 out of 5]

Je l’ai dévoré en une journée, j’ai ri, pleuré, j’ai été attendrie, surprise, fâchée.

Un recueil de plusieurs nouvelles Inuit, aux personnages aussi intriguants qu’attachants. J’en aurais pris encore une centaine de pages

Mention spéciale au traducteur: franchement ça coule super bien en français, on ne sent pas de lourdeur du tout, super lecture!