This beautiful story was written about the author's great grandmother, who became apart of the Innu culture in Quebec, Canada. It depicts how she adapted to a practically nomadic lifestyle through farming, hunting, and fishing, and learned the language and culture. It was a bit heartbreaking reading about the plight of many native people as society progresses.
Thank you to NetGalley and Arachnide Editions for the ARC of this extraordinary book.

Pro:
* The map
* Young people often cross cultural barriers
* Shares a time and life unknown to many readers
Con:
* In the romantic components, It’s obvious that it is a man trying to write a woman’s voice
* Romantic overkill
* Moves very slowly

Thank you to Michel Jean (author), Susan Ouriou (translator), House of Anansi Press, and NetGalley for an advance reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

Almanda, an orphan raised by her aunt and uncle, grew up in a world of sameness...a wood settler's cabin, rocky soil that produced tasteless vegetables. She couldn't fathom an eventual life as a farmer's wife. Evenings, with pail in hand, she headed to the pasture to milk the cows. What a surprise to see a young man in a birchbark canoe with his catch of wild geese. Where did he come from? Did people live on the other side of Pekuakami (Lac Saint Jean)?

"With no one around me but people who were prisoners of their land, I had suddenly come across someone who was free." "(Thomas) spoke almost no French and I, no Innu-aimun...but at the seasoned age of fifteen, for the first time in my life I felt I had found my place...it began with a meal (of grilled meat) between the forest and the lake...".

Almanda and Thomas's story was a love story. "Small step by small step, my body and spirit were adapting to the daily travel of nomadic existence...hunting...laying nets to catch fish... walking without making a sound (my lumbering step scared off the animals)." Everyone labored, everyone had a task.

Embraced by the Innu community as one of their own, Almanda and Thomas Simeon raised their children based on traditional ways. "One day, men would rob us of the forest and its rivers. All that remains of that treasure ...is Pekuakami." Drastic life changes would include the loss of their land and confinement to reserves. Parents were forced to relinquish the care of their children to residential schools. "Innu-aimun is not an easy language to learn...It is not just a different language from French but a different way of communicating...For Innu-aimun to be spoken properly, it needs to be learned on the land." Children returning from school spoke French. "They grew up blind to their past...".

"Kukum" by Michel Jean is a fascinating read that recounts the life of the author's great-grandmother, Almanda Simeon. The family photos included added depth to the story. A Quebec bestseller, this compassionate tome has been translated into English by Susan Ouriou. A tiny snapshot of nomadic life is an Innu tea doll. Everyone, including young children, helped to transport essential goods to the summer or winter camps. Innu women made intricate dolls from caribou hides...they filled the dolls with tea. Young girls could play with the dolls while carrying the important tea long distances. The community worked as one, for the survival of all. Ancestral values and stories such as this one need to be shared with present and future generations. A highly recommended read.

Thank you House of Anansi Press/Arachnide Editions and Net Galley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thanks to NetGalley and House of Anansi Press Inc for access to this title. All opinions expressed are my own. I am auto-approved for House of Anansi Press Inc.

It is a tremendous honor to read the English translation of Michel Jean's 2019 bestseller. It is the story of the author's great-grandmother, Almanda Siméon covers over a century of personal family history. Subjects discussed in the book focus on a changing Quebec, married life in the Pekuakami Innu community, the loss of the traditional way of life, the confinement of indigenous people to the reserves, and the residential school system. As well, the barriers imposed on indigenous women in Quebec and Canada.

Many of the place names were familiar to me as I teach on the unceded territory of the Nitassinan people (specifically, in the city of Sept-Iles)and also camp with my boyfriend's family in Lac-Saint-Jean, near Roberval, which is featured heavily in this book as well. I already know a great many French language teachers that have added this title to their classroom libraries. Hopefully, a release of an English translation will help all teachers in Quebec and Canada follow their lead.

The story is from the first-person perspective of Almanda Siméon and reads very much like a diary. The chapters are short and concise, dotted from time to time with family pictures. I was most impressed with the story of Almanda's journey to Quebec City and her meeting with Premier Maurice Duplessis. I imagine if Almanda were alive today, she would have a similar conversation with Premier Francois Legault. A very important story!

*Mon écriture en français est limitée. Un classique québécois immédiat, j'ai lu la version anglaise qui sort aujourd'hui en librairie. Fantastique! Une femme formidable! *


#Kukum #NetGalley.


Publication Date 11/07/23
Goodreads Review 12/07/23

Michel Jean wrote Kukum about his great-grandmother, Almanda Siméon, a white girl in Quebec who completely assimilated into the Innu culture and way of life. Almanda was an Irish orphan raised by her aunt and uncle on a small farm in Quebec. When she was fifteen, Almanda began talking to a young Innu man who passed by the pasture where she cared for the farm's cows. After a short time, she fell in love, introduced Thomas to her aunt and uncle, married him, and went to live with his Pekuakami Innu family. The book is stunningly descriptive, and the reader can visualize the beautiful yet perilous wilderness where the Innu lived, fished, trapped, and hunted. Almanda adapted rapidly to nomadic life. She learned to hunt and trap and to tan hides with her sisters-in-law. As she learned the language, she gathered much wisdom from her husband's father. Later, she advocated for the Innu people as white settlers and commerce usurped the Innu's lands and way of life.
The book covers nearly a century and details the significant changes, then end, to the traditional way of life for the Innu. It is heartbreaking to read of Almanda and her family watching as their forests are chopped down, the Innu are confined to reserves, and their children are taken away to residential schools. How dispiriting it must have been for these nomadic people who loved and had a spiritual connection to their wilderness to have land and the ability to roam forcibly wrested from their lives! This is the plight of many native people as society progresses.
Michel Jean has not only documented the life of his great-grandmother and the offenses against her Innu people, but he has also written a book of astonishing beauty and impactful emotion. Everyone should read this story.
Thank you to NetGalley and Arachnide Editions for the ARC of this extraordinary book.