South Side of a Kinless River

by Marilyn Dumont

Featured on Quill & Quire's Fall Preview

A nuanced, relational, and community-minded new book from one of Canada's preeminent poets.

South Side of a Kinless River wrestles with concepts of Métis identity in a nation and territory that would rather erase it. Métis identity, land loss, sexual relationships between Indigenous women and European men, and midwifery by Indigenous women of the nascent settler communities figure into these poems. They add up to a Métis woman's prairie history, one that helps us feel the violence in how those contributions and wisdoms have been suppressed and denied.

"Each poem is an anthem, every page showcasing the talent and necessity of this incredible poetic voice. Dumont brings the Métis tone, cadence and intricate stitch-work into all she creates."
- Cherie Dimaline, author of The Marrow Thieves and Empire of the Wild

"The voice of this Métis woman is as loving, tender and humane, as it is powerful, satirical and political..."
- Rita Bouvier, author of a beautiful rebellion

Genres: Poetry, Indigenous

80 pages, Paperback

Published September 2, 2024

About the author

Marilyn Dumont’s poetry has won provincial and national awards. She has been the writer-in-residence at five Canadian universities and the Edmonton Public Library as well as an advisor in the Aboriginal Emerging Writers Program at the Banff Centre. She teaches sessional creative writing for Athabasca University and Native studies and English for the University of Alberta. She lives in Edmonton, Alberta.

Reviews

[leah · Rating 5 out of 5]

brilliant as always

[Sophia Wasylinko · Rating 4 out of 5]

An exploration of kinship and Metis identity in verse from one of Canada's most beloved poets. This was the first collection by Marilyn Dumont that I've read, and I was drawn in by her retelling - and reclamation - of prairie history through Indigenous and Metis eyes (e.g. "Memory is a cemetery" and "Red River cart written all over it"). Dumont sheds light on the discrimination against the Metis people ("mihceto-pikiskwewak") and the loss of the Indigenous way of life ("Moorings"). She also highlights the role that Indigenous women played in the settler community ("Indigenous midwives") and how they were used and abused by prominent colonial figures ("Governor Simpson"). Previously forgotten by settler history, Metis women such as Victoria Belcourt Callihoo rise on the page to dance, bake bread, and speak Cree. In turns contemplative, defiant, joyful, heartbroken, and angry, "South Side of a Kinless River" is a must-read.