Living on the Borderlines

February 1, 2019
In her first story collection, Michal, of Seneca descent, offers powerful images of indigenous life on and off the reservation juxtaposed with painterly descriptions of the natural world. In the opening story, a Mohawk man gazes across the St. Lawrence River, pondering why borders have been forced on his people when such lines never mattered as they traveled from one village to another. A Haida totem carver and his wife, a weaver, are held together by their art and the traditions that infuse their lives, even though she is white. Cultural traditions passed on for generations are woven into each story, whether they are fiercely honored or carelessly discarded in an attempt to fit into the modern, nonindigenous world. This is most graphically described in a story of four siblings raised in a Seneca household who, after their mother's death, finally meet the sister who was given up for adoption as an infant and who was never told of her Seneca heritage. Enlightening and thought-provoking, Michal's stories are a pleasure to read and absorb.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)