A world where traditions run up against technology
Author again shows passion for the regeneration of indigenous culture set in an ever-changing world
A testament to the power of connection, This Accident of Being Lost is by turns poignant, funny, fiercely angry and deeply sad.
Leanne Betasamosake Simpson writes that “these stories were born out of a Nishnaabeg world;” they honour age-old indigenous traditions and values, but they are also situated in a milieu of texting, online dating and Instagram.
Even the mystical spirits in her stories have cellphones.
It’s Simpson’s third book of short fiction; she’s also published non-fiction ( Dancing on Our Turtle’s Back) and has put out two albums of her songs.
All of her work is rooted in her passion for the regeneration of indigenous culture, which entails confronting the devastating effects of colonialism.
As she puts it in one song, “we are the singing remnants/left over after/the bomb went off in slow motion/over a century instead of a fractionated second.”
In “Plight,” Simpson derisively skewers white complacency. The narrator and her friends set out to collect sap from maple trees in a liberal neighbourhood, sure that their project will be supported because it allows the community to feel they’re responding to “the plight of the Native people” and “can be part of the solution without doing anything.”
A deep-seated longing for connection, to ease the ache of “being lost” and provide a sense of home, drives the book.
In “Circles Upon Circles,” the narrator and her family want to reclaim the indigenous tradition of growing rice in a local lake, but meet resistance from cottagers.
Simpson lyrically conveys the ceremony’s comforting sense of continuity:
Leanne Betasamosake Simpson inventively brings together the ’old ways’ of her Nishnaabeg heritage and modern manners
“I imagine just two people in a canoe, with un-fancy sticks from the bush, knocking rice into the boat . . . I hear the grain hitting the bottom of the boat. I hear the wind. I see ducks and geese sitting and eating and smiling because they showed us this first and they remember.”
Conversely, humorous stories about relationships in the context of modern technology, such as “Selfie” and “Airplane Mode,” offer an ironic comment on how the hyper-connectivity of the digital age actually makes the characters insecure about the closeness of their connection.
Simpson inventively brings together the “old ways” of her Nishnaabeg heritage and modern manners in this remarkable book. Barbara Carey is a Toronto writer and the Star’s poetry columnist.