Looks Like Daylight: Voices of Indigenous Kids by Deborah Ellis (review)
Buy Issue for $25 at JHUP- Looks Like Daylight: Voices of Indigenous Kids by Deborah Ellis
Canadian author Ellis has collected brief interviews with forty-five young Indigenous people, ages nine to eighteen, from across North America in this accessible but wideranging volume, foregrounding their voices in an overview of contemporary Native and First Nations lives and issues. Many of the interviewees have interfaced with foster-care systems and have lost family in one way or another to drugs or alcohol; many have also found ways in which their people’s traditions and cultures bring them life. They are skateboarders, environmental activists, totem carvers, detainees in juvenile justice facilities, horse trainers, budding scientists, artists, and lacrosse players; their lives have been altered by disability, sexual assault, gangs, powwows, Indigenous language classes, homophobia, pollution, pan-Indian activism, and racial epithets. Following an author’s note and historical introduction that focuses on residential schools, the interviews—often simultaneously heartbreaking and hopeful in the span of just a few pages—are each introduced with a brief note by Ellis that often offers historical facts, additional context, and tribal specificity for the chapter, in addition to information about the kid who’s talking. Although the interview responses leave traces of the questions that Ellis clearly asked, her voice does not distract from the subject’s, and both Ellis’ setup and the children’s knowledge make connections between current injustices and the violent legacies of colonialism and racism that prevent this from falling into the trap of sensationalism. Unflinching and informative, this volume will appeal to a broad range of readers, and it offers plenty of opportunities for incorporation of diverse viewpoints into curricula in social studies, writing, and even environmental science. A foreword by former ALA president Loriene Roy introduces the book; a list of resources includes information about organizations working on many of the issues raised in the book is included. [End Page 151]
