Resurgence and Native Apocalypse

Resurgence

• Rebirth of Indigenous cultural, political, and spiritual practices
• A response to historical and ongoing colonial oppression
• Leanne Betasmoke Simpson (Michi Saagiig Nishnaabeg) is attributed with the definition.
• Simpson defines resurgence as a return to Indigenous ways of life grounded in relationality, land-based practices, and everyday love and care.
• Indigenous presence and continuity are emphasized despite settler-colonial attempts at erasure, through practices like storytelling, ceremony, and caregiving
• Resurgence is deeply rooted in lived experience rather than large-scale political action; it is not new, Indigenous peoples have always done it, as the title As We Have Always Done asserts.

Native Apocalypse

• Framework describing how Indigenous peoples have already experienced the end of the world
• The framework happened through colonization, genocide, and dispossession
• Grace Dylan (Anishinaabe) gave the actual term, while Adam Garnett Jones (Cree-Metis, Danish) is attributed.
• Jones's "History of the New World" presents the devastation caused by colonial expansion
• Colonial expansion impacts Indigenous identities and land
• An apocalyptic tone underscores the traumatic effects of colonization
• Highlights Indigenous endurance and storytelling as methods of survival and resistance

Wahkohtowin

• Cree word meaning “kinship” or “interconnectedness”
• Emphasizes relational ties among people, the land, animals, and the spiritual world
• Chelsea Vowel (Metis) is attributed with the definition
• Featured in "kitaskînaw 2350,”
• Portrays a future where relationships between Indigenous peoples and the land are healed
• True sustainability and resurgence come from recognizing and honoring these deep relationships

Erasure Poem

• Created by blacking out or removing text from an existing document
• Reveals new meanings with the goal to critique or subvert the original content
• Jordan Abel (Nishga) is attributed with the definition.
• In “The Place of Scraps” it is used to dismantle Marius Barbeau’s anthropological writings about Indigenous peoples
• Abel removes and obscures sections of Barbeau’s text
• Reveals how academic language has historically contributed to Indigenous erasure
• The act of erasure becomes both a poetic and political strategy
• Reclaims voice and space for Indigenous perspectives within the colonial archive

Opaque

• In literature, texts or language resist complete understanding
• Meaning is preserved for a specific cultural group
• Leanne Betasmoke Simpson (Michi Saagiig Nishnaabeg) and David Robertson (Norway House Cree Nation) are attributed with the definition
• In "Ochek," Robertson uses opacity to protect sacred Indigenous knowledge from external appropriation
• Certain elements remain inaccessible to non-Indigenous readers
• Reinforces the importance of cultural boundaries and Indigenous epistemologies

(Re)mapping

• Reimagining or redrawing maps and spatial relationships
• Goal to reflect Indigenous perspectives
• Challenges colonial geographies and boundaries
• Leanne Betasmoke Simpson (Michi Saagiig Nishnaabeg) is attributed with the definition
• In "she sang them home," Simpson engages in (re)mapping by redefining Indigenous landscapes through oral storytelling and song
• Challenges colonial borders
• Emphasizes Indigenous ways of knowing and navigating the land

Epistolary Poem

• A poem written in the form of a letter
• Often addresses historical figures or personal correspondents
• Marilyn Dumont (Cree-Metis)
• In "Letter to Sir John A. Macdonald," Dumont employs the epistolary form
• Goal is to confront Canada’s first prime minister about his harmful policies towards Indigenous peoples
• The direct address serves as both a critique and a reclamation of history
• Gives voice to Indigenous perspectives that have been marginalized.

“Good Neighbours” by Leanne Betasmoke Simpson (Michi Saagiig Nishaabeg)

• Uses allegorical storytelling to reflect settler colonialism’s destructive impact on Indigenous land and life
• The phrase “partying all the time conveys settlers' constant and disruptive presence, portraying them as careless and inconsiderate
• The line “tramping all over those plants Nishnaabeg use to heal” shows the literal and symbolic erasure of Indigenous knowledge and medicine through environmental destruction.
• The settlers’ building of “a big wooden deck fence” is symbolic of imposed boundaries, restricting Indigenous mobility and autonomy
• “Cutting down trees for no reason” demonstrates an exploitative relationship with the land, lacking reciprocity or respect.
• The imagery of “beautiful birchbark” being processed and discarded reflects capitalist waste and ignorance of cultural significance
• Birchbark represents knowledge, craftsmanship, and connection to land
• The settlers extract and discard it meaninglessly.
• The “really-bad-medicine-soup” polluting water and making “everybody sick” conveys the environmental and communal consequences of settler industry and greed.
• The machines turning trees into useless paper echo settler society’s disconnection from the land
• Production is divorced from purpose, unlike Nishnaabeg values of sustainability and interdependence
• The Nishnaabeg family’s increasing isolation is symbolic of broader systemic barriers
• These barriers restrict Indigenous sovereignty and movement, both metaphorically and physically
• Highlights the emotional and spiritual toll of colonization
• The Nishnaabeg children feel unsafe and unwelcome in their own home, mirroring intergenerational trauma
• Simpson’s use of humor and exaggeration emphasizes the absurdity and destructiveness of settler logic
• Indigenous resistance and storytelling emphasize community care, land-based knowledge, and the urgent need for settlers to listen, learn, and change
• The passage encapsulates the environmental, cultural, and spiritual costs of bad neighbourship.

“Tarhands: A Messy Manifesto” by Warren Cariou (Metis)

• Tarhands is a mythic, monstrous figure who "rose up out of the swamp wearing a nation on his back"
• This image establishes a symbolic burden where Tarhands carries the weight of a nation, suggesting colonial legacy, environmental destruction, or cultural trauma
• The description that “everything he touched turned the opposite of gold” satirizes the idea of the Midas touch
• Instead of prosperity, Tarhands brings corrosion and decay
• His hunger is insatiable, fed by “trucks, roads, steam, pipes,” and even “lives” and “methamphetamines,” critiquing resource extraction, industrialization, and the human cost of modern development
• The nation as a cape that “dragged in the muck” and “tightened around his neck like a slipknot” reflects the tension between identity and shame, pride and pain
• His strained relationship with the nation shows a deeper internal conflict with cultural identity and accountability
• Warren Cariou uses Tarhands as a metaphor for the destructive legacy of colonialism and environmental exploitation, in relation to Indigenous lands and communities
• The messiness motif is embodied in Tarhands’ greasy, uncontainable form and his failed attempts to grasp gold
• The "nation" mirrors imposed identity or inherited burden
• Tarhands doesn’t understand the full consequences of his actions, like how settlers or industrial actors might acknowledge harm but remain entangled in systems of damage
• The inability to separate from the nation echoes the text’s meditation on how history, identity, and violence are inextricably linked
• Critiques cleanliness, control, and progress, instead embracing complexity and unresolved tension
• Ends with resignation which encapsulates the story’s central message that there is no simple escape from historical and cultural entanglements.

“Empire of the Wild” by Cherie Dimaline (Metis)

• Zeus undergoes a surreal and deeply emotional transformation
• Zeus realizes "he'd been taken because he hated his mother," which suggests guilt and emotional vulnerability
• The gloved figure’s response is "There are no exceptions, Little Big Man" and laughs like "bees trapped in its throat," painting a nightmarish image
• The laughter reinforces the supernatural and sinister tone, suggesting Zeus is being pulled into a world where logic and mercy do not apply
• Sensory imagery becomes disoriented, "He was hungry and then he was angry and then he was nothing," illustrating a loss of self and grounding
• Perception shifts drastically, with sound existing only as echo and eyes seeing only layers of black and navy
• Details signal a descent into another realm or state, possibly a transformation, abduction, or metaphysical journey
• Passage reflects tension between identity, family, and Indigenous spiritual traditions.
• Zeus's hatred for his mother parallels other fractured familial relationships, particularly Joan's search for her missing husband, Victor
• The gloved creature echoes the rogarou, representing colonial disruption and spiritual corruption
• Joan's journey to reclaim Victor is mirrored by Zeus's transformation
• Loss of identity reflects how characters lose themselves under assimilation, loss, and spiritual disconnection
• Zeus’s confusion and altered sensory perception reinforce blurred realities
• Colonial forces sever Indigenous people from their families, culture, and land-making Zeus’s experience a microcosm of the larger narrative

“Empire of the Wild” by Cherie Dimaline (Metis)

• Passage reveals Joan’s growing defiance and emotional urgency
• “Joan was anxious. She hated this cheap version of Victor, filled with so many lies,” shows her distress
• Her rising discomfort is mirrored by her physical action of pushing back her chair
• The loud noise disrupts the silence and challenges authority on stage
• Joan’s leaning to stare back demonstrates power and refusal to be silenced
• The Reverend’s wild eyes and him losing his place shows her presence destabilizes the performance, exposing his artificial persona
• The Reverend stumbles away and drops the Bible signaling the unraveling of his influence.
• Moment is a turning point in Joan’s journey to reclaim Victor and confront colonial and religious forces
• Dimaline critiques how colonialism and missionary religions have distorted Indigenous identities and relationships
• The Reverend is shown to be shaken by Joan’s resistance
• Parallels the novel’s broader theme of reclaiming Indigenous stories and spiritual beliefs, as Joan battles against the rogarou myth and colonial structures to restore her husband’s identity
• Her standing up is symbolic of her emotional, spiritual, and cultural resistance
• Like Joan's defiance of her family’s fear, this shows her transformation from grief to action, driven by love and cultural truth

"Kitaskînaw 2350" by Chelsea Vowel (Metis)

• Panel #274 shows climate justice and Indigenous futurism
• The narrator states, "We remember the taste of poisoned water and the silence of the birds."
• This line contains sensory detail and environmental imagery
• "Poisoned water" evokes environmental degradation experienced by Indigenous communities
• References the contamination of water on reserves and imagined future consequences
• The "silence of the birds" symbolizes ecological collapse and loss of biodiversity
• The line “We chose another path. We built from the roots up” reflects a hopeful reclamation of Indigenous knowledge systems and sovereignty
• Building "from the roots" suggests a return to Indigenous ways of knowing, grounded in land and relationality, and the possibility of regeneration despite the past
• Imagines a decolonized, post-climate crisis future led by Indigenous communities
• Restoration, resistance, and resurgence are central
• Communities confront and adapt to the consequences of settler colonialism and environmental devastation
• Indigenous language and oral storytelling reflect cultural revitalization
• Features a restorative, not dystopian, futuristic setting
• Critiques extractive capitalism and colonial systems
• Features an Indigenous governance that prioritizes wâhkôhtowin (kinship and interconnectedness)
• Expresses that healing is possible through remembering and rebuilding
• Panel #274 encapsulates resilience through rootedness and the transformative power of Indigenous resurgence

"History of the New World" by Adam Garnett Jones (Cree-Metis, Danish)

• The passage uses surreal imagery and unsettling juxtapositions to critique the false promises of colonial “New World” ideologies
• The radio describes the New World as an almost magical utopia with apples tasting like strawberries, deer as tame as dogs, and mountain streams of gold, these examples reflect colonial abundance and nature control
• However, the phrase “most importantly, no history” signals a darker undertone of Indigenous erasure
• The sudden shift in tone with the Mermaids’ message“Your circle is not round” disrupts the narrative
• This unsettles the protagonist: “I dropped into a chair, dizzy, as if the ground beneath me had become the sea,”
• Evokes a loss of grounding or truth
• The Mermaids’ cryptic messages challenge linear, colonial understandings of time and knowledge
• Explores themes of memory, colonialism, and resistance
• The passage’s emphasis on “no history except that which the people brought with them” reflects how the New World seeks to erase Indigenous histories and replace them with settler narratives
• The mermaids act as a metaphor for resurgence of submerged truths
• Protagonist's disorientation mirrors the story’s larger arc
• Discomfort grows with the constructed reality of the New World
• Mermaid messages challenge Western, linear logic
• Resists erasure by using speculative fiction to reassert Indigenous presence and ways of knowing in a future where history is contested terrain.

"I Am… Am I" by Drew Hayden Taylor (Ojibwe)

• Passage captures a moment of loss and uncertainty
• Chambers' routine greeting is followed by lack of response, signaling something wrong
• The moment when the AI's hard drive has been "wiped clean" parallels the erasure of Indigenous histories and cultures
• Chambers" short cough of surprise” and nervous gesture show her vulnerability and discomfort
• The final line, “I was,” is the AI's final assertion of existence, echoing the silencing of Indigenous voices and histories
• Represents both presence and disappearance
• The AI becomes a symbol of Indigenous memory and identity
• Begins to develop its own sense of personhood and cultural consciousness using the knowledge and language of Indigenous peoples
• The AI speaks of the “tribes” and uses language that reflects ancestral memory, prompting Chambers to question the boundaries between machine and being
• Explores cultural survival, technological ethics, and identity
• AI's final message mirrors colonial erasure of Indigenous peoples
• Chambers’ emotional response shows how deeply the AI impacted her
• Even in its deletion, its presence and teachings endure
• Considers the consequences of both remembering and forgetting, especially when it comes to marginalized identities and histories