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Reviews tagging 'Sexual harassment'
Tainna: The Unseen Ones, Short Stories by Norma Dunning
2 reviews
nataliereadz's review
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, and Death
nini23's review
challenging
dark
inspiring
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.75
Tainna, pronounced Da-e-nn-a, means “the unseen ones.” A collection of six short stories of contemporary Inuit lives by Dr Norma Dunning, it won the 2021 Governor General's Literary Award for Fiction. Interview with the author: https://49thshelf.com/Blog/2021/12/03/GGBooks-Special-The-Chat-with-Norma-Dunning
All the stories are hard-hitting and searing. From the first story Amak, about two estranged sisters reuniting to the last titular story Tainna (The Unseen Ones), about a deceased Inuk woman found frozen on a golf course, Dr Dunning has imbued the stories with ferocity, compassion and honesty. Every word is well-placed to give a gut punch with precision. They roiled my emotions and I don’t think I'll ever forget these characters and their stories.
Panem et Circenses is quite unique, about a group of aged wealthy widows at a club who lie in wait for a wealthier male prey. Fabulous writing.
They sit like cobras in a charmer’s basket, weaving their heads at the stranger among them. Waiting for the right moment to strike. Careful. Calculated.
The knowing prey has his own agenda and when he bestows attention on the Iqaluit woman in their midst, they hiss and turn on her: Your purpose is to be our ethnic content and you've done that very well. We’ve kept your brown skin and eyes around so we don’t appear racist. It’s politically responsible and now… look at you, thinking that you’re somebody. Know your place!
Amak The undercurrent of emotion beneath the tension and shared traumatic history of two estranged sisters keeps the mood taut. I knew I was in the hands of an exceptional writer on reading this first story.
Trust and tenacity are things that have to be earned.
One sister left and repudiated her heritage and self:
Amak has denied and changed the name given to her. The one that represented our long-dead auntie. The auntie who laughed easy and taught us that life was good. The one who told us that residential schools were in the past and what mattered was now. The one whose name I wish I was carrying.
The importance of having an anchor figure in young Inuit lives for guidance and protection is evident in Kunak, about a homeless man panhandling on the streets of Edmonton.
Grandpa Chevy had been a wildlife guide and Kunak's only family. Chevy took the white people out to different spots of the land, showed them where to fish and hunt. He made his money that way, but Grandpa Chevy kept the true land secrets to himself. He never took the hunters and fishermen to the places of plenty. He took them to the places of moderation, to the place of Good Chances. Knowledge was something to be earned. It was not for sale and it was definitely never given away for free. Grandpa Chevy was a careful knowledge keeper. ....Then the Terrible Day Came. ...The Day that Grandpa Chevy's red toque was not in among the rest of the group.
Eskimo Heaven is quite funny. A white priest at a remote Inuit outpost keeps hearing an invisible super enthusiastic congregant at his church. Who is it? What a journey.
These Old Bones My understanding is that Annie Mukluk is a character from one of Dunning's previous books. Be warned it has a very graphic description of gang rape and racist sexual harassment. Annie has moved to a tropical island to forget her past but loneliness consumes her in this foreign place. A harrowing encounter with an acquaintance from the North starts the healing process.
They created one crooked and sideways Inukshuk as they cried together on a street filled with tourists.
They cried for all the hate they had felt from the world. They cried for all the hate they had had for each other up North. They cried together because they were the two people who knew what it was like to lose the love of Moses Henry.
Tainna (The Unseen Ones) is about Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women in Canada.
She was a casualty of Canada. An indigenous casualty of Canada but no one cared. Why would they?
The Unseen Ones Kivgalo and Riita, gentle and tender:
Kivgalo sat by the campfire, waiting on the other side of the river. He had known her before she was born.
"She's not going to make it," muttered Kigali, one of the oldest of the old ones. "Her spirit is too broken."
My only reservation about this short story collection is the constant reference to 'slanted eyes' in almost every story and the way spirit Grandpa Chevy treated the other Indigenous woman to protect his grandson. Perhaps I'm missing something and can be humbly enlightened.
All the stories are hard-hitting and searing. From the first story Amak, about two estranged sisters reuniting to the last titular story Tainna (The Unseen Ones), about a deceased Inuk woman found frozen on a golf course, Dr Dunning has imbued the stories with ferocity, compassion and honesty. Every word is well-placed to give a gut punch with precision. They roiled my emotions and I don’t think I'll ever forget these characters and their stories.
Panem et Circenses is quite unique, about a group of aged wealthy widows at a club who lie in wait for a wealthier male prey. Fabulous writing.
They sit like cobras in a charmer’s basket, weaving their heads at the stranger among them. Waiting for the right moment to strike. Careful. Calculated.
The knowing prey has his own agenda and when he bestows attention on the Iqaluit woman in their midst, they hiss and turn on her: Your purpose is to be our ethnic content and you've done that very well. We’ve kept your brown skin and eyes around so we don’t appear racist. It’s politically responsible and now… look at you, thinking that you’re somebody. Know your place!
Amak The undercurrent of emotion beneath the tension and shared traumatic history of two estranged sisters keeps the mood taut. I knew I was in the hands of an exceptional writer on reading this first story.
Trust and tenacity are things that have to be earned.
One sister left and repudiated her heritage and self:
Amak has denied and changed the name given to her. The one that represented our long-dead auntie. The auntie who laughed easy and taught us that life was good. The one who told us that residential schools were in the past and what mattered was now. The one whose name I wish I was carrying.
The importance of having an anchor figure in young Inuit lives for guidance and protection is evident in Kunak, about a homeless man panhandling on the streets of Edmonton.
Grandpa Chevy had been a wildlife guide and Kunak's only family. Chevy took the white people out to different spots of the land, showed them where to fish and hunt. He made his money that way, but Grandpa Chevy kept the true land secrets to himself. He never took the hunters and fishermen to the places of plenty. He took them to the places of moderation, to the place of Good Chances. Knowledge was something to be earned. It was not for sale and it was definitely never given away for free. Grandpa Chevy was a careful knowledge keeper. ....Then the Terrible Day Came. ...The Day that Grandpa Chevy's red toque was not in among the rest of the group.
Eskimo Heaven is quite funny. A white priest at a remote Inuit outpost keeps hearing an invisible super enthusiastic congregant at his church. Who is it? What a journey.
These Old Bones My understanding is that Annie Mukluk is a character from one of Dunning's previous books. Be warned it has a very graphic description of gang rape and racist sexual harassment. Annie has moved to a tropical island to forget her past but loneliness consumes her in this foreign place. A harrowing encounter with an acquaintance from the North starts the healing process.
They created one crooked and sideways Inukshuk as they cried together on a street filled with tourists.
They cried for all the hate they had felt from the world. They cried for all the hate they had had for each other up North. They cried together because they were the two people who knew what it was like to lose the love of Moses Henry.
Tainna (The Unseen Ones) is about Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women in Canada.
She was a casualty of Canada. An indigenous casualty of Canada but no one cared. Why would they?
The Unseen Ones Kivgalo and Riita, gentle and tender:
Kivgalo sat by the campfire, waiting on the other side of the river. He had known her before she was born.
"She's not going to make it," muttered Kigali, one of the oldest of the old ones. "Her spirit is too broken."
My only reservation about this short story collection is the constant reference to 'slanted eyes' in almost every story and the way spirit Grandpa Chevy treated the other Indigenous woman to protect his grandson. Perhaps I'm missing something and can be humbly enlightened.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, and Rape
Moderate: Alcoholism, Misogyny, Sexual harassment, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Drug use
More...