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Towards a Prairie Atonement
Argues for the cause of protecting native grasslands and reconciliation on the Great Plains
Towards a Prairie Atonement addresses the question of our relationship with the land by enlisting the help of a Metis Elder and revisiting the history of one corner of the Great Plains.
This book's lyrical blend of personal narrative, prairie history, imagery, and argument begins with the cause of protecting native grasslands on community pastures. As the narrative unfolds, however, Trevor Herriot, the award-winning author of Grass, Sky, Song and River in a Dry Land , finds himself recruited into the work of reconciliation.
Facing his own responsibility as a descendent of settlers, he connects today's ecological disarray to the legacy of Metis dispossession and the loss of their community lands. With Indigenous and settler people alienated from one another and from the grassland itself, hope and courage are in short supply. This book offers both by proposing an atonement that could again bring people and prairie together.
Towards a Prairie Atonement addresses the question of our relationship with the land by enlisting the help of a Metis Elder and revisiting the history of one corner of the Great Plains.
This book's lyrical blend of personal narrative, prairie history, imagery, and argument begins with the cause of protecting native grasslands on community pastures. As the narrative unfolds, however, Trevor Herriot, the award-winning author of Grass, Sky, Song and River in a Dry Land , finds himself recruited into the work of reconciliation.
Facing his own responsibility as a descendent of settlers, he connects today's ecological disarray to the legacy of Metis dispossession and the loss of their community lands. With Indigenous and settler people alienated from one another and from the grassland itself, hope and courage are in short supply. This book offers both by proposing an atonement that could again bring people and prairie together.
125 pages, Hardcover
Published October 18, 2016
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102 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
April 11, 2022
This is a beautiful and important book that seeks to propose a different way of relating to land based on Metis land tenure principles. Herriot ties together the destruction of the native prairie, with the Metis dispossession of their traditional lands, and suggests what is needed is an atonement, or at-one-ment. A coming together. Atonement "begins with the act of recognizing and honoring what was and is native but has been evicted from the land--native plants and animals but the original peoples, cultures, and languages too." Herriot hopes that our shared love for the land will bring us together and be a framework for reconciliation.
As a side note, this is aesthetically also an incredibly beautiful book. Under the dust jacket you will find a lovely blue cover with prairie grass embossed in gold. Flip open the cover and the endpaper is a stunning prairie field with a river running through it. This is a book that must be held in the hands to appreciate fully.
As a side note, this is aesthetically also an incredibly beautiful book. Under the dust jacket you will find a lovely blue cover with prairie grass embossed in gold. Flip open the cover and the endpaper is a stunning prairie field with a river running through it. This is a book that must be held in the hands to appreciate fully.
April 11, 2017
The history of the prairies is complicated. In Towards a Prairie Atonement, Trevor Herriot delves into the weeds of this landscape's story, asking whether the destruction of its natural state could have been avoided -- whether there might have been another way forward. He argues there was, and there still is: A system based on the Metis commonwealth. A way that combines European and Indigenous practices. Land that is both public and private. The Canadian government accidentally stumbled upon this concept with the creation of the shared Prairie Farm Rehabilitation Administration (PFRA) pastures. And now the PFRA pastures are under threat. To move forward, we need to know how we got here. Herriot doesn't offer a specific solution, but does shed some light to guide our path.
June 21, 2020
This book is essentially a reflection on the author's experience with Norman Fleury in Ste. Madeleine and his forthcoming ideas on land claims and Indigenous/Settler relations.
I do not feel I can morally critique someone else's personal thoughts and experiences especially on a subject so delicate as land rights and reconciliation.
However, for the purpose of formulating my stream of consciousness in words, I can write a reflection on my experience reading this book, rather than writing my opinion on the subject.
I did not feel much reading Trevor Harriot's words. The structure of his writing flipped back and forth between current issues, Indigenous and Metis history, and his trip to Ste. Madeleine with Norman Fleury. A lot of what he wrote was very specific such as his description of the Metis people and their traditional worldview of the land, but then became very vague such as when he described his opinion toward the consumer/producer system that is in place in our society today. Because of this I had trouble finding the "point" or message he intended me to receive, though this does not make any of his writing less legitimate.
I did, however, learn from and appreciate the quotes of Norman Fleury including the afterword written by him. He described well his frustration toward the unjust acts done towards his people, his pride in the resilience of Michif people as well as their connection with the land at Ste. Madeleine, and his hope that the stories he tells and the stories in this book will lead to reconciliation between settlers, Indigenous peoples and the prairie land. I found that I was touched emotionally by Norman Fleury's words and inspired to continue listening.
All in all, this is a good book and I agree that it will do many good things.
As Norman Fleury says, "there are many ways to tell a story" and this reflection is only one story of one reader's experience with this book.
I do not feel I can morally critique someone else's personal thoughts and experiences especially on a subject so delicate as land rights and reconciliation.
However, for the purpose of formulating my stream of consciousness in words, I can write a reflection on my experience reading this book, rather than writing my opinion on the subject.
I did not feel much reading Trevor Harriot's words. The structure of his writing flipped back and forth between current issues, Indigenous and Metis history, and his trip to Ste. Madeleine with Norman Fleury. A lot of what he wrote was very specific such as his description of the Metis people and their traditional worldview of the land, but then became very vague such as when he described his opinion toward the consumer/producer system that is in place in our society today. Because of this I had trouble finding the "point" or message he intended me to receive, though this does not make any of his writing less legitimate.
I did, however, learn from and appreciate the quotes of Norman Fleury including the afterword written by him. He described well his frustration toward the unjust acts done towards his people, his pride in the resilience of Michif people as well as their connection with the land at Ste. Madeleine, and his hope that the stories he tells and the stories in this book will lead to reconciliation between settlers, Indigenous peoples and the prairie land. I found that I was touched emotionally by Norman Fleury's words and inspired to continue listening.
All in all, this is a good book and I agree that it will do many good things.
As Norman Fleury says, "there are many ways to tell a story" and this reflection is only one story of one reader's experience with this book.
January 15, 2017
Too "What if" . The past cannot be changed though lessons can be learned for the present.
August 20, 2017
The book is an elegant mixture of history, politics, and a passion for preserving the prairie ecosystem.
The curious title is illumined in his discussion of our collective inability or unwillingness to see the failure of our current worldview and our need for atonement: “Colonialism, we have learned too late, is an utterly unreliable narrator. The work of decolonizing, of atonement, begins with the act of recognizing and honouring what was and is native but has been evicted from the land – native plants and animals but the original peoples, cultures, and languages too” (p.13).
Harriot clearly delineates the issue of diminishing natural grasslands as “ you and I share a province where 80 per cent of the natural cover on the prairie has been scraped away and more of it is disappearing every year down the throat of a beast whose appetite cannot be satisfied. Only 3.5 per cent of the native grassland in Canada’s Prairie Ecozone has any form of protection. Some endangered species are now at less than 10 per cent of their populations forty years ago. The little that remains, our fragments of old-growth prairie, are every bit as diverse and irreplaceable as Canada’s last refuges of old-growth forest, but they are under siege from forces ranging from privatization and cultivation to resource extraction and ranchette development. And the worst of it is that damned few people seem to notice” (p.19).
Later in the book, Harriot introduces the Wiihtigo (from Anishinaabe, Ojibwe, and Cree mythology) as a metaphor for this relationship with the earth: “The Wiihtigo is a demonic force often personified as a gluttonous monster whose hunger can never be satisfied. Watching traders gather and ship thousands of tons of meat and hides out of the prairie, the old and wise might well have warned that Wiihtigo was taking charge” (p.107).
Towards a Prairie Atonement weaves our current predicament with the history of the Metis as the author explores a cemetery with an elder, Norman Fleury (who appropriately writes an afterword to the book). The story describes the very point where the possibility of preserving the prairie, with a more harmonious and self-sufficient bond with the ecosystem, was lost to conversion and exploitation.
Plaintively, Harriot shares his love of the prairie: “A lark sparrow lands on a headstone, opens its mouth, and fills the air with its jumble of clear, high notes and a glissando of buzzy trills on a lower register. It is the song of one who has travelled from the grasslands of central Mexico to look for a savannah just like this, with sandy soil and sparse grass next to trees. It sings to claim a place on the prairie, but its title, and that of many other grassland creatures, has been placed at risk by the same failure to reconcile and bring justice to the land” (p.81).
Towards a Prairie Atonement is a wonderful book that will haunt you long afterward. Will Wiihtigo continue to terrorize? Do the opportunities lost preclude atonement? Can justice be brought to this land?
The curious title is illumined in his discussion of our collective inability or unwillingness to see the failure of our current worldview and our need for atonement: “Colonialism, we have learned too late, is an utterly unreliable narrator. The work of decolonizing, of atonement, begins with the act of recognizing and honouring what was and is native but has been evicted from the land – native plants and animals but the original peoples, cultures, and languages too” (p.13).
Harriot clearly delineates the issue of diminishing natural grasslands as “ you and I share a province where 80 per cent of the natural cover on the prairie has been scraped away and more of it is disappearing every year down the throat of a beast whose appetite cannot be satisfied. Only 3.5 per cent of the native grassland in Canada’s Prairie Ecozone has any form of protection. Some endangered species are now at less than 10 per cent of their populations forty years ago. The little that remains, our fragments of old-growth prairie, are every bit as diverse and irreplaceable as Canada’s last refuges of old-growth forest, but they are under siege from forces ranging from privatization and cultivation to resource extraction and ranchette development. And the worst of it is that damned few people seem to notice” (p.19).
Later in the book, Harriot introduces the Wiihtigo (from Anishinaabe, Ojibwe, and Cree mythology) as a metaphor for this relationship with the earth: “The Wiihtigo is a demonic force often personified as a gluttonous monster whose hunger can never be satisfied. Watching traders gather and ship thousands of tons of meat and hides out of the prairie, the old and wise might well have warned that Wiihtigo was taking charge” (p.107).
Towards a Prairie Atonement weaves our current predicament with the history of the Metis as the author explores a cemetery with an elder, Norman Fleury (who appropriately writes an afterword to the book). The story describes the very point where the possibility of preserving the prairie, with a more harmonious and self-sufficient bond with the ecosystem, was lost to conversion and exploitation.
Plaintively, Harriot shares his love of the prairie: “A lark sparrow lands on a headstone, opens its mouth, and fills the air with its jumble of clear, high notes and a glissando of buzzy trills on a lower register. It is the song of one who has travelled from the grasslands of central Mexico to look for a savannah just like this, with sandy soil and sparse grass next to trees. It sings to claim a place on the prairie, but its title, and that of many other grassland creatures, has been placed at risk by the same failure to reconcile and bring justice to the land” (p.81).
Towards a Prairie Atonement is a wonderful book that will haunt you long afterward. Will Wiihtigo continue to terrorize? Do the opportunities lost preclude atonement? Can justice be brought to this land?
August 31, 2020
This is a brief mediation on the endangered prairies, and the choices which led to their present condition. The middle portion of the book is dedicated to preserving the oral tradition of the Michif people. The prescriptions for how to remedy the treatment of the land are philosophical instead of practical - which is the only reasonable approach in a book of this length. Until reading “Prairie Atonement”, I had never thought about the land itself as a victim of greed and prejudice. And I’d never stopped to imagine what atoning to the land might look like. I’m thankful this book expanded my horizon to appreciate my own province more.
August 10, 2018
This is a lovely book of history that reads like a story. It is a great start to provide some context that could lead to a conversation about where to go from here.
August 12, 2021
For such a tiny book, "Towards a Prairie Atonement" packs a powerful punch.
August 3, 2023
A beautiful read about home. A go to recommendation for those trying to learn more about the prairie history.
November 18, 2016
This little book of 150 pages packs a big punch. This time Herriot examines the history of the Metis on the Canadian prairies and the appallingly way they were treated by the powers of the time. The author proposes that their approach to land ownership/stewardship was superior to the that of the conquering culture and we would be well advised to revisit some of their ideas when it comes to the protection of public lands today. Highly recommended for nature lovers, history buffs and social justice advocates.
August 5, 2023
I’m an admirer of Trevor Herriot’s writing and his work as a conservationist, but this book felt an uneasy mixture. I enjoyed his descriptions of the land, his conversations with Fleury grounded in the Métis experience and his explorations of the nature of Métis land tenure, but too much of the book felt quite academic in nature and lacked the passion that I’m sure he actually feels.
November 24, 2018
A wonderful book that explores the complex relationship between settlers and the land they occupy, beautifully told by Herriot a he seeks to find his own way of coming to terms with living in a place taken from indigenous peoples.
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May 23, 2017This book was featured in the Nota Benes section of the May 2017 issue of World Literature Today Magazine.
https://www.worldliteraturetoday.org/...
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews