Northern Light: Power, Land, and the Memory of Water

Kazim Ali was born to Indian parents who moved to Pakistan following the Partition .From there they moved to London, where the author was born, and eventually to Winnipeg. His father was an engineer and was hired to work on a hydro electric plant in northern Manitoba. They, and some members of their greater family, lived in a settlement of pre-fab houses among the members of the Pimichipamuk community. This is a unique memoir weaving in his childhood connection to the land and the ecological repercussions of the dam. The loss of stream habitat and silt build- up affected the whole food chain resulting in the loss of fishing and hunting. The author befriended and interviewed many Indigenous people and relates their ongoing struggles with show more issues such as trying to get a hospital built.. Kazim is an able writer and researcher. In addition to having a deep attachment to this area he also has a knack for introducing the people of Cross Lake and their challenging lives. I was lucky to somehow have stumbled upon this book. show less

It's funny — I picked this book up for a Queer Your Year prompt based off of someone's not-so-impressed review in the Discord. They explained why it didn't work for them (mostly because it covered a lot of ground on First People issues in Canada that they already knew about), but the concept was interesting enough that I picked it up from the library immediately.

The personal anchor for this story keeps it from having to reckon with all of First Nations history, and it was interesting reading two other books on the Bakken oil boom and seeing the commonalities (and constrasts) or resource extraction from Native lands.

It did at some times feel a little ruminative — like Ali needed a little more time/research/perspective to let these show more ideas simmer into something a little more fully formed, but I was certainly happy to have read this. show less