Book Review

Slash

Kelsey Brown

September 21, 2011

APA Entry:

#1526 Slash ISBN-9781894778459 Jeannette Armstrong

Adult Ed./Teacher Resource, Grade 9 - 12

I chose this novel because I want to include a lesson plan for a Grade 12 ELA classroom in my Indigenous Inquiry Kit. This novel seemed an appropriate length for a senior high school student and addressed issues that would stimulate deep class discussion. I also felt from the summary that this would be a piece of literature that could apply to many subject areas in a high school. Because the book describes fairly recent political events I thought that it might be a good way to make the reading relevant to the students’ lives.

Summary:

The novel is written as a memoir of a fictional character who becomes deeply involved in political activism concerning Native American rights. The protagonist, Tommy Kelasket, grows up in a traditional home. He lives on his family’s farm and is brought up to observe and respect the ways of his people. His uncle, Joe, is a medicine man and teaches Tommy about Indian life and spirituality. As a teenager though, Tommy begins to drink and smoke marijuana. He gets lost in the party scene for a number of years until he becomes involved in political activism. He attends several demonstrations including the occupation of Wounded Knee, the Trail of Tears, the occupation of the Bureau of Indian Affairs office, the demonstration at Okanagan Falls, the protest rally at the Parliament Buildings in Victoria, and the caravan to protest the removal of Indian children from Indian homes. Tommy eventually discovers the truth and power of his culture’s traditional ways and finds his role in rebuilding his people.

Quotes from Slash:

· “Ever since those young people went to school away from home, they are changed. They don’t like our ways. They are ashamed of everything Indian…They got no pride.”

· “When leaders from other countries come to Washington, they get the red carpet. Us Indians, our leaders are no different…but we get the rat treatment and a bunch of people getting pressured not to help out.”

· “I saw things them months that really told me just how cheap the life of an Indian is to a white man whose status quo is threatened.”

· “Them spirits are crying out to the people, the young people, because the land is in pitiful shape and with it, our people. Just don’t let the drink and the drugs and the hate win you over.”

· “it’s okay to be an Indian. We had to tell them that it’s okay to dress and talk differently and especially that it’s okay to practice caring for each other in our customs.”

· “I realized then that…we had to rebuild our people. My part was that I had to find out what things were left of the old ways in my own Tribe and make it useable in our modern Indian lives.”

Grade/Subject Area:

Grade 12 – ELA

GLO 1. Students will listen, speak, read, write, view, and represent to explore thoughts, ideas, feelings, and experiences

Ie. Write from perspective of Tommy, read reviews of Slash, class discussion

GLO 2. Students will listen, speak, read, write, view, and represent to comprehend and respond personally and critically to oral, print, and other media texts

Ie. Reflection journal, group/class discussion, review novel

GLO 3. Students will listen, speak, read, write, view, and represent to manage ideas and information

Ie. concept map of themes in novel, write a news article

GLO 5. Students will listen, speak, read, write, view, and represent to celebrate and build community

Ie. present research project on novel

Grade 12 – Social Studies/World Issues

GLO 1. Develop a greater understanding of world issues

Ie. Read section of novel, research events presented in novel

GLO 2. Examine the historical, current, and future implications of world issues

Ie. class discussion, reflection/prediction journal

GLO 3. Analyze the effects of world issues on quality of life within different political, social, and economic systems

Ie. analyze reserve life

GLO 4. Explore various perspectives on world issues

Ie. read news articles, letters, websites, listen to speeches/blogs

GLO 5. Gain informed opinions on world issues

Ie. class discussion, persuasion essay

Reflection:

This novel was very dense with information, it was a little hard to comprehend without knowing the history of the events that enter into the book. I learned a lot about the Indian activism movement even though this is a piece of fiction. It was eye-opening because it presents a section of Canada’s history that isn’t talked about much. In school we are taught about the initial meeting of the European and Aboriginal people, but not much about what came after. I think that we should also inform our students about the Native American’s struggle to be heard by the government when fighting for their rights.

Through this book I also came to understand why Aboriginal people are struggling with their loss of culture. Their old way of life is not always relevant to their modern setting. There was a generation that was trapped between the traditional ways and the effort to copy the white lifestyle. They did not want to give up their traditions, but they weren’t sure how to be Indian in this new world the white man created. I felt a lot of sympathy for this group of people represented in the novel. Becoming an adult and defining who you are is difficult enough without having to reclaim your culture.

I think that the Canadian government should have responded better to the demonstrations and rallies. These events didn’t call for military involvement, they called for recognition of the problems. The government should have held meetings with the tribal leaders and heard their issues. They should have worked together to find solutions. Above all, the government should have respected the culture and supported those who were trying to bring their people hope for a new way of doing things.

Additional Thoughts:

I think that this novel would make students more aware of how the government continued to ignore the problems that began with dishonouring treaties. We need to teach our students the mistakes of the past so that they are not repeated in the future.

Using this novel as a teaching resource would also communicate to Aboriginal students that we are aware of these mistakes and do not condone them. It is a way of respecting their culture and teaching them more about their history. This may make students more motivated in participating in the unit.

This novel would also provide material for class discussions. Many topics that we should discuss with our students are introduced in Slash; discrimination, stereotypes, poverty, corruption in government groups, culture, and respect for elders are all present in the novel.

I would recommend this book for readers with a high reading comprehension level.