Decolonial Little Library
Our family is putting a decolonial lens on the Free Little Library game.
I don’t care what colour the Prime Minister’s underwear is - it could be red, or blue, or orange, Federal Politics will never save us nor will it create the meaningful and deep change this country needs for Indigenous peoples to live fulfilled and rewarding lives in our homelands. We cannot program and service our way out of the mess the last 156 years has created.
Indigenous storytelling will change this country forever, and boy, could this country use some changin’. We’re throwing our hat in the free little library space and are happy to announce our Decolonial Little Library project!
Madeline and I dreamed up the Decolonial Little Library project during a morning walk with Sam. While out for our stroll, we noticed that there seemed to be a high number of Free Little Libraries in our neighbourhood. We thought we could put a unique and essential spin on the free little library movement. So we did.
Madeline and I talked about it on our podcast; you can hear about how it all came together in a short, behind-the-scenes audio doc by clicking below:
Indigenous Storytelling, Forever
Since 2016, when Justin Trudeau ushered in the era of reconciliation (whatever that was and is now), you couldn’t walk down the street without tripping on a new Indigenous book, song, podcast, piece of art, poem, documentary, or theatre. In short, Indigenous stories were everywhere.
The beneficiaries of this boom in Indigenous storytelling publishing were the listeners and the makers. Industry support, resources, grants, awards, scholarships, partnerships, readers, listeners, and buyers existed mainly for the first time. What a boom.
Quietly, the buzz, and I think, much of the forward-facing support for the makers, slowly dissipated.
In my grumpy uncle role in the Indigenous creative space, I am quick to remind Indigenous makers that though the new attention to our work was welcomed, we ought not to forget about those that came before us. For every new take on A Tribe Called Red, there is Buffy St. Marie, who was making electronic music in the late 70s. For every Jeremy Dutcher, there was Willie Dunn, who died in obscurity in 2013 in Ottawa. For every Cherie Dimaline, there is a Maria Campbell. For every Ryan McMahon, there is a Charlie Hill. I could go on and on, and maybe I should, but I’ll spare you for now.
Suffice it to say, outside of the reconciliation boom that catapulted our stories up the best-seller charts, our stories have always been here; people were paying attention for the first time. And while the buzz is gone, the stories live on.
We started the Decolonial Little Library project to share Indigenous stories with our neighbours. Indigenous stories are pathways to life, experiences, world views, hopes and dreams, and realities people may not have considered.
Indigenous stories, forever.