What a special book! It introducing us to the Ahkwesáhsne community by telling its violent colonisation past, exploring the many generational trauma's resulting from this violent past, but it make us also discover throughout this beautiful story their culture, humour, food, some of their healing process and language (we even get a short class on how to pronounce an Ahkwesáhsne word). It's confronting us with our stereotypes on Indigenous peoples in a thoughts provocative yet funny and accessible way. A must-read for every person interested in learning more about one of those communities in order to work towards ending the inequalities they are suffering for too long. This book will stay with me for a long time, that I know already. Thank you Zando for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

This was everything that was promised in the description, I was so invested in what was going on and how the characters worked in this story. It had that historical element that I wanted and felt for the characters in this story. Aaron John Curtis has a great writing style that worked overall in this world.

"Old School Indian" by Aaron John Curtis is an absolutely remarkable debut novel that shattered and rebuilt me.

The story follows Abe, a man in his forties from Ahkwesáhsne (known as Mohawk in colonizer terms), who returns to his family’s home after living in Miami for a couple of decades.

Abe feels lost; his marriage is coming to an end, and he is grappling with a debilitating, degenerative, and fatal illness. After spending years passing for white in Miami, he is a go-with-the-flow kind of person, despite his concerns about the direction of his life. He feels disconnected and directionless and has unresolved issues.

Back on the Rez, Abe reluctantly reconnects with his family, friends, and his Great Uncle Budge, a healer. His illness creates lesions, which made me recall those during the AIDS crisis, another group of marginalized people left to die. It also threatens to affect his memory. This erasure parallels the loss of his people's culture and language. He is disappearing like the Ahkwesáhsne.

The novel is rich in culture and history, exploring themes of emotional pain, love, and joy. It delves into identity, survival, and the struggle against cultural erasure. Curtis skillfully presents a witty historical perspective while balancing a narrative that offers hope for the future, emphasizing the importance of self-worth and the value of one’s identity. The story is both heartbreaking and hopeful, leaving the reader with much to think about.

I wholeheartedly recommend this novel; it is one of the best I have read this year. I want to thank NetGalley and Zando for the ARC. I will be purchasing this book and recommending it to everyone!