Claiming Anishinaabe: Decolonizing the Human Spirit

by Lynn Gehl

Overview

Denied her Indigenous status, Lynn Gehl has been fighting her entire life to reclaim mino-pimadiziwin--the good life. Exploring Anishinaabeg philosophy and Anishinaabeg conceptions of truth, Gehl shows how she came to locate her spirit and decolonize her identity, thereby becoming, in her words, "fully human." Gehl also provides a harsh critique of Canada and takes on important anti-colonial battles, including sex discrimination in the Indian Act and the destruction of sacred places.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780889774933
Publisher:	University of Regina Press
Publication date:	09/23/2017
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	176
File size:	632 KB

About the Author

Lynn Gehl, PhD, is an Algonquin Anishinaabe-kwe from the Ottawa River Valley and lives in Peterborough, Ontario. She is the author of The Truth That Wampum Tells.

Table of Contents

-List of Anishinaabe Words

-List of Diagrams and Images

• Part One: Setting the Stage

Chapter One: Who Am I

Chapter Two: Spirit is Everywhere

Chapter Three: Introduction

• Part Two: Indigenous Knowledge and the Human Spirit

Chapter Four: Sharing Creator’s Love

Chapter Five: The Essence of the Human Spirit

Chapter Six: An Indigenist Approach

Chapter Seven: Valuing a New Paradigm

Chapter Eight: Debwewin Journey: Operationalizing Heart Knowledge

• Part Three: Indigenous Teachings and Ways of Being

Chapter Nine: Creator’s First Pipe

Chapter Ten: Moon Ceremony

Chapter Eleven: Feasting as a Way of Knowing

Chapter Twelve: Anishinaabe Clan System of Governance

Chapter Thirteen: Role Modeling: Honouring Jeannette Corbiere-Lavell

Chapter Fourteen: Nationhood is Inside and Outside at the Same Time

Chapter Fifteen: Our Bodies are Intelligent, Our Bodies Remember

Chapter Sixteen: Our Hearts and Minds Requires a New Song

• Part Four: Contemporary Indigenous Issues I Do

Chapter Seventeen: Returning Creator’s First Pipe

Chapter Eighteen: Treaty, Status, Indian Mothers and Their Babies

Chapter Nineteen: E’Dbendaagzijig: Citizenship Law Excludes

Chapter Twenty: Forked Tongue Politicians

Chapter Twenty-One: Hegemony of the Heart

Chapter Twenty-Two: Cultural Politics and Nation Building

• Epilogue

• References

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"[C]lear, insightful, and desperately needed..." - Lorraine F. Mayer, author of Cries from a Métis Heart

"[T]he discussion of the heart and mind knowledge, as well as the discussion on the Anishinaabeg Clan System of Governance, [are] major contributions to the research." - Marlyn Bennett, co-editor of Pushing the Margins

Editorial Reviews

12/18/2017
This essay collection from Gehl (The Truth that Wampum Tells), an Anishinaabe activist, environmental scientist, and scholar, is an inviting, though often repetitive and uneven, reflection on the need to embrace traditional teachings to offset humankind’s self-destructive impulses. Gehl is a gifted and thoughtful storyteller, and though some chapters read like unedited blog posts, patient readers will benefit from her perspectives, delivered like informal discussions around a kitchen table or campfire. In tackling duplicitous colonial governments, Eurocentric notions of science and nature, and a decades-long struggle with the Canadian legal system to recognize her long-denied Indigenous status, Gehl provides a theoretical framework for reimagining how people can view and relate to the natural world. Gehl’s reminder that every species can survive in the absence of human beings is a humbling one, delivered with grace and wit. Some sections may be impenetrable for general readers, and she concedes that her exploration of laboratory science may prove a “cognitive wrestle.” But readers willing to skip to less obscure chapters will still glean Gehl’s core truths, especially in penetrating meditations on feasting, the power of song, and body memory. She reminds readers that humans ignore a disconnect from nature at their peril. (Nov.)

Publishers Weekly

"Throughout Claiming Anishinaabe, the conversation remains rooted in the destructive effects of oppressive power on the human spirit, and an insistence that both knowledge and spirituality are key in reclaiming one’s sense of self. —"

Quill & Quire

"Throughout Claiming Anishinaabe , the conversation remains rooted in the destructive effects of oppressive power on the human spirit, and an insistence that both knowledge and spirituality are key in reclaiming one’s sense of self." — Quill & Quire

From the Publisher