Kwe: Standing With Our Sisters

by Joseph Boyden (Editor)

Driven by deep frustration, anger, and sorrow in the wake of yet another violent assault upon a First Nations woman in November 2014, dozens of acclaimed writers and artists have come together to add their voices to a call for action addressing the deep-rooted and horrific crimes that continue to fester in our country.

 

Kwe means woman in Ojibwe. More specifically, kwe means life-giver or life-carrier in Anishinaabemowin, the Ojibwe language. It is a pure word, one that speaks powerfully of women’s place at the heart of all our First Nations.

 

These women who bring light and life to our world are in peril. Aboriginal women in our country are three times more likely to face violent attack and murder than any other of their gender. We must take concrete steps to stop this and we must do it now.

 

A nation is only as good, is only as strong, as how it treats its most vulnerable and those of us in danger. This book is a call to action. It’s sometimes a whisper, sometimes a scream, but we speak our words as one when we demand justice for our more than 1200 murdered and missing Indigenous women. After all, they are our mothers, our daughters, our nieces, our aunties, our sisters, our friends.

Penguin Canada is donating all proceeds from the sales of Standing With Our Sisters to Amnesty International's No More Stolen Sisters initiative.

Genres: Nonfiction, Poetry, Indigenous, Anthologies

92 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 16, 2014

About the author

Joseph Boyden is a Canadian novelist and short story writer.

He grew up in Willowdale, North York, Ontario and attended the Jesuit-run Brebeuf College School. Boyden's father Raymond Wilfrid Boyden was a medical officer renowned for his bravery, who was awarded the Distinguished Service Order and was the highest-decorated medical officer of World War II.

Boyden, of Irish, Scottish and Métis heritage, writes about First Nations heritage and culture. Three Day Road, a novel about two Cree soldiers serving in the Canadian military during World War I, is inspired by Ojibwa Francis Pegahmagabow, the legendary First World War sniper. Boyden's second novel, Through Black Spruce follows the story of Will, son of one of the characters in Three Day Road. He has indicated in interviews that the titles are part of a planned trilogy, the third of which is forthcoming.

He studied creative writing at York University and the University of New Orleans, and subsequently taught in the Aboriginal Student Program at Northern College. He divides his time between Louisiana, where he and his wife, Amanda Boyden, are writers in residence, and Northern Ontario.

Reviews

[Samantha]

I really want to rate this collection high and sing its praises, but the fact is that it's not a great collection. With the support of Amnesty International's No More a Stolen Sisters campaign, Boyden created a collection that could make visible the thousands of missing and murdered aboriginal women. Yeah, great. However, the result is a best described through a summery of one mini-essay: 'I got an email from my friend Boyden. This is what I was thinking about race in the US that night. And aboriginal women are missing too.' Many of the contributions didn't talk about First Nations people or women. It was hard to get the point of the collection when each writer seemed like they'd be the exception to the 'rule' of writing about missing and murdered aboriginal women.
There were some standouts in the collection that I went back to read after I realized that the collection was better understood as individual parts then a cohesive whole. In particular enjoyed:
Pearl and the Storytellers' Academy, by Marilyn Bowering
""He has always been coming towards her; and she towards him—just as soon as they are finished with whatever it is they think they have to do.""

Chasing Painted Horses, by Drew Hayden Taylor
"One of the first rules of storytelling, sometimes a story can be interpreted several different ways. Those are the most interesting kind of stories."

Rivered, by Warren Cariou
A True Story, by Kyo Maclear

However, I didn't feel like I learnt enough from the this collection to remember it in my teaching, nor was I entertained enough to recommend it to other readers. Which is too bad.

[Friederike Knabe]

Not a hefty book in terms of pages, but deep, thought provoking, rich in diversity... a compendium to keep nearby and pick up again, one poem, section of prose, vignette, one thought, story or image at a time.

"One of the first rules of storytelling, sometimes a story can be interpreted several different ways. Those are the most interesting kind of stories." This ending in Drew Hayden Taylor's brief excerpt from his novel in progress "Chasing Painted Horses" summarizes well the reading experience of this wide ranging collection of texts compiled by Joseph Boyden.

More than fifty writers from different walks of Canadian life have contributed, including well known and outspoken authors such as Margaret Atwood or John Ralston Saul and many First Nation authors from across the Canadian lands. The texts and poems touch on many aspects of women's (and men's) lives and experiences, some precise and concrete, others using symbolism and imagery. The Anishnaabe word "Kwe", in its rich and encompassing meaning of 'woman' as the life giver and carer, is direct or indirectly present in all selected texts. As I said at the outset, a rich collection of Canadian writing that deserves to read and reflected upon more than once and will hopefully lead to more awareness and engagement.

[Selina Young]

Really I should give it 5 stars for the topic; something we all need to think about and talk about - missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls. The book should also get 5 stars for the collection of poems and short stories. I don't normally read either and I enjoyed many of them. And what a collection of authors!!!! I gave 4 stars as I found it hard to get into the stories. I don't have enough time to connect with the characters so I lose interest. The stories did make me think about this deep dark stain on my country.

[Malvina]

Decent anthology but it feels like it was pieced together too quickly.

[Marc]

Bien pensant, mais mal pensé, il me semble.

[Eric Lam]

An incredible collection of writing by the foremost Canadian authors dedicated to telling the stories of Indigenous women and girls in this country. Heartbreaking, violent, hopeful, and necessary, the journey towards Truth and Reconciliation continues through the sharing and memorializing of their experiences. A must read for every Canadian, no matter your background.

[Literary Mama]

From "Essential Reading: Wishing" by Literary Mama staff:

Editor-in-Chief Maria Scala writes, "One of my wishes, at the start of this year, is that more people read the anthology Kwe: Standing with Our Sisters, edited by Joseph Boyden. 'Kwe' means 'woman' in Ojibwe, and more specifically, it means 'life-giver' or 'life carrier' in Anishinaabemowin, the Ojibwe language. This book, which includes writing from Sherman Alexie, Margaret Atwood, Lorna Crozier, Gord Downie, Tanya Tagaq Gillis, Lee Maracle, Yann Martel, and Michael Ondaatje, is a call for action regarding the prevalence of violence towards First Nations women in Canada. These Aboriginal women are three times more likely to face violent attack and murder than any other of their gender. As Boyden writes in his introduction: 'Hey, boys, what are we to do? Hey, men, why don't we question this sickness that beats inside too many of us? Shall we healthier ones spend our lives staring, not knowing what to do, just stand and look at our shoes or touch our faces and ask for forgiveness for horrors we feel no part of . . . ?'"

Literary Mama's full Essential Reading post can be found here: http://www.literarymama.com/litreflec...

[J. Thompson]

What an amazing collection of writing from the opening essay by Joseph Boyden to John Ralston Saul's closing piece. A journey of essays, fiction, poetry from some of my favourite writers and others, until now, unknown to me.

We have begun several conversations now in Canada about sexual assault and abuse. We cannot falter. We cannot allow things to return to the previous normal. The government response that this is not sociological is just wrong.

[Ellen]

This is a great collection of writing but some of the contributions really had nothing to do with the theme of the book, which disappointed me. If everyone's contributions were relevant to the theme, this book could have been so much more powerful. But there were some very powerful contributions that were very relevant, and all-in-all this was a collection of great writing by some very talented writers, for an important cause.

[Kelly Dyment]

I was so excited for this collection, and in fact it was my first Kindle purchase a few years ago, but I just finished it last night, which is telling. Many of the short stories were powerful, and the messages were important, but it felt disjointed to me. Truth be told, I'm not a poetry fan, so that might have been what lost me. I am still glad that I read it, it would just be a difficult one for me to strongly recommend.

[James Atherton]

Not impressed.

[Mary Curran]

Strong writing about an important topic by several recognized Canadian authors.

[Ellen]

Wonderful collection supporting an important cause.