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The First Water Is The Body By Natalie Diaz

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Unit three was about resistance, highlighting how despite colonialism’s attempts to suppress Indigenous culture, spirit, and identity, their communities are still thriving today. “You Are Earth'' is a short story I wrote to mirror the admirable resilience I have witnessed from Indigenous peoples in this unit. The main character, a young Ojibwe girl named Aki, is abducted from her reserve and taken to attend residential school. There, she experiences harsh treatment and is stripped of her identity, piece by piece. She loses her home, family, appearance, clothes, food, and culture, yet, she resists and remembers her mother’s words, her cultural stories, and her connection to the earth while she plans her escape. The reason I chose to base this …show more content…

When I read Natalie Diaz’s poem, I learned a lot about the way Indigenous peoples associate themselves with the land. Diaz expressed how she felt that the water was within her, and by destroying it, it would hurt her. I incorporated this mindset in Aki’s story as well, where her connection to the environment reminded her of who she was. In addition, while watching Sean Sherman’s TED talk, I had never considered that colonialism had an impact on the food we eat as well. It was really fascinating to learn about the different ways colonization influenced Indigenous ways of life. Furthermore, the episode of The Secret Life of Canada sheds light on many new things regarding the iconic before-and-after residential school photo of Thomas Moore Keesick. The podcast also discussed the possibility that the photo was …show more content…

In the first three stanzas of “Obligations 2,” the poet writes, “As we embrace / resist // the future / the present / the past.” This corresponds to the actions of the main character in “Seven Grandmothers,” as he also resists conformity to Euro-Canadian culture at his school, and then later, when he is sent to a harsher residential school, embraces his fate with open arms, ready to remain resilient. In terms of differences, “Obligations 2” emphasizes the resistance of healing after grief, while in contrast, “Seven Grandmothers” features a different type of resistance, where the main character openly disobeys orders. Furthermore, “Obligations 2” focuses on rebuilding after trauma, while “Seven Grandmothers” focuses on being resilient in the face of hardship. In my short story, I feature a little of both texts. Aki, like the main character in “Seven Grandmothers,” refuses to reject her identity, and as portrayed in “Obligations 2,” strives to escape her grief and trauma at the school. In unit two, we learned about Professor Archibald’s Storywork principles, and unit one was about

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