Whitemud Walking

by Matthew James Weigel

An Indigenous resistance historiography, poetry that interrogates the colonial violence of the archive

Whitemud Walking is about the land Matthew Weigel was born on and the institutions that occupy that land. It is about the interrelatedness of his own story with that of the colonial history of Canada, which considers the numbered treaties of the North-West to be historical and completed events. But they are eternal agreements that entail complex reciprocity and obligations. The state and archival institutions work together to sequester documents and knowledge in ways that resonate violently in people’s lives, including the dispossession and extinguishment of Indigenous title to land.

Using photos, documents, and recordings that are about or involve his ancestors, but are kept in archives, Weigel examines the consequences of this erasure and sequestration. Memories cling to documents and sometimes this palimpsest can be read, other times the margins must be centered to gain a fuller picture. Whitemud Walking is a genre-bending work of visual and lyric poetry, non-fiction prose, photography, and digital art and design.

Genres: Poetry, Indigenous, Canada, History

144 pages, Paperback

First published April 12, 2022

Reviews

[kdburton · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m really trying not to buy anymore books, but then I get an incredible one like this out from the library that I want to read again and again, lend to everyone I know, teach to my students. This approach to interrogating identity, lineage, land, colonization. This should be required reading for all of us, especially Albertans. Beautiful and complex and lingering.

—

Library borrow.

[Tina · Rating 5 out of 5]

So so good! Loved these poems!

Thank you to Coach House Books for my gifted review copy!

[Erin Kowal · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a beautiful book, but this is not easy poetry. It’s experimental academic? I bet it was meaningful to write. It was not so meaningful to read (for me).

[Lauryn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this for my university class, not expecting it to be great. But woah I was surprised since experimental poetry isn’t usually my thing. Very eye opening

[Maryam · Rating 5 out of 5]

There's something entrancing, heartwrenching, weird, and eerie about reading this during talks of Alberta separatism and Trump's claims on Canada as the 51st state. The brilliance of revisiting the archive and experimentalism is at full force in this work.

[Julie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Whitemud Walking is Matthew James Weigel’s complicated love letter to the stolen land that has shaped his family’s past, his present and, by writing this, his legacy.

Using Whitemud Creek in Edmonton to centre his work and offer a specific location for his poetry to wander back to several times during the writing, Weigel comments on the way history is written, bent out of shape, and interpreted. Often introducing one perspective, such as his grandmother’s written words, only to pitch it against other voices, he shows the reader that biases, injustice, colonial power, and most often lies, are how Treaties 1-11 were so effective at taking land without consequence. The book cleverly involves examining the methods, perspectives, and biases of historians in their accounts of the past.

This is a brilliant blend of poetry, illustration and archival content that pushes back against unjust historical actions — while at the same time observing how bureaucracy continues to hold so much power. When Weigel still needs official permission to access the files that in some cases are personally connected to him, it is heartbreaking. Powerful reading!

[Lauren · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am someone who would have told you last year that I hate poetry. I truly credit Whitemud Walking with changing that.

I got to hear Matthew James Weigel read a few pieces from Whitemud Walking, and I was hooked by the end of the first stanza of "Inside the Pop-Up Box". The cleverness of the writing, artful blending of archival and self-written poetry, and pointed commentary are so rich and thoughtful. But more than that, the poetry's storytelling feels deeply emotional, to the point that you *feel* the looming weight of the Treaty 6 text.

Notable mention here is "Ancestors of the Author Determined (to be a good ancestor). From my time working in and around museums and archives, the anonymity of the people captured in these institutions is so common and so shitty. That is absolutely a phenomenon not spoken about in the museum/ archive world, and I respect Weigel calling it out for what it is - erasure.

A true 5/5 ⭐, and I genuinely recommend this to anyone living in Treaty 6 territory, but particularly to those in the City of Edmonton.

[Mesa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm not big on poetry, but Whitemud Walking is an experience, from holding the weight of the book to touching its pages to reading the words printed upon them, torn from them, shaped within the gutters and beyond its margins. I can't imagine what it was like to sit down and put this text together.

I initially got the digital version. After reading it, I realized that the physical copy is far more intentional and profound—Weigel uses his medium wastelessly. I had the pleasure of hearing him perform a few poems live, too... I even would've listened to his reading of the Treaty. But I'm glad he didn't give one :p

What a journey this text took me on. What a journey we're still taking.

[Andie Wardrop · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this for school and after our last poetry book (a true disappointment) I wasn't expecting much, but I found whitemud walking to be not only engaging but educational, beautiful and powerful.
The unique format contained a mix of both found and original texts, and Weigel's poetry, while inspirational, remained accessible.
I was really impressed with this book. I would absolutely recommend it to anyone getting into contemporary poetry. Five stars.

[Lea · Rating 5 out of 5]

Like a really good walk, reading Matthew James Weigel’s poems in this book inevitably will raise your heartbeat and move you through an experience that you are co-creating with the environment around you. The styles and forms within this collection are so impressive and adventurous!

Energetically creative, a fantastic read!

[Stephanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Utterly devastating in the most important way, though the work's devastation only grazes on that felt and experienced by the author's family and the Peoples of Treaty 6, 7, 8 and beyond.

Marsi cho, MJW.

[Anna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Everyone that has ever lived in or around Edmonton, or had a relationship to this area even, should read this. Not only factually eye-opening, but it is more than poetry but an oeuvre, carefully woven together to tell ones own story while exploring the story of this land and its people.

[Zo · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fantastic collection of experimental poetry! Absolutely phenomenal

[Kat Edwards]

It's hard for me to rate this book. It was great, but I feel like I really lost something by reading the e-book of it. You definitely need to read the physical version.

[Bailey Stefanhoule · Rating 5 out of 5]

incredible. i have no words.

[Taylor · Rating 5 out of 5]

A thoughtful, challenging, heartfelt collection of poetry. Absolutely adored it on the first readthrough and will definitely be coming back to it a few more times to really soak it all in.

[Susan White · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thought-provoking, poignant and innovative.

[Bryn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting and very cleverly done Indigenous historiography and prose/poetry.