Sarita Ambawatte / Edge reporter
Rez Dogs, a heartfelt novel, was written by the renowned American writer and storyteller Joseph Bruchac. An author of over 120 books, Joseph has been creating poetry, short stories, novels, anthologies, and music, reflecting Native American traditions for over 30 years. Being an English major, Bruchac also gained a master’s degree in literature and creative writing from Syracuse University and earned a PhD in comparative literature from the Union Institute.
“I’m a person of mixed ancestry… My grandfather… was Abenaki Indian but was one of those people who in his generation did not talk about being Native American…As a child I was aware of these ancestries, but wasn’t really given a lot of information about them…Mohawk and Abenaki elders were very generous… I always loved to listen to stories… When I was a child, there really were no books about Native Americans… Maybe it was that lack of those books that spurred me on the write the books I would later write”.
– Joseph Bruchac on Colorin Colorado
With awards like the American Book Award for Breaking Silence, and honors such as Rockefeller Humanities fellowship and The Cherokee Nation Prose Award, Joseph has been one of the best-selling authors and set the bar high for his writing within indigenous storytelling.
Throughout this book we dive into the exploration of character and are constantly reminded of the old-time stories past down, integrating the family bond. Rez dogs meets its initial idea to hear indigenous voices and “think about what we are doing now and how it will affect the world seven generation from today”, says Joseph himself.
Storytelling in the indigenous communities was originally used as a means of sharing information to one another and being to teach younger generations the rules and values of life. Not only does this book follow a storyline of finding yourself, but portrays the history behind storytelling and how treasurable its elements are.
Rez Dogs by Joseph Bruchac, symbolizes the process of understanding the value behind cultural identity through a heartfelt book written in verse. As we glide through this middle grade short book, we discover how a little girl named Malian, perceives her Penacook heritage while stuck with her grandparents on the Wabanaki reserve from the Coronavirus pandemic lockdown. While sheltering, she is faced with a large rez dog that mysteriously showed up at their home, to serve as a friend and protector.
Coming from Boston, and away from her parents in the city, Malian overcomes adversity while she spends her time with her Grandparents who share their old tales through cultural connection. From this, she finds herself exploring hidden aspects that pull in her curiosity.
On the doorstep of her Grandparents house on the reservation, ‘Malsum’ – meaning “wolf”, Malian’s new-found friend had created a sense of belonging and home. The dog had chosen Malian, and was there to accompany her through the months locked away. Not only did Malsum take care of Malian but in turn, both the dog and Malian looked after her Grandparents through the hard time.
Difficulties with connection to her online classes led Malian to spend more time with her elders that shared their stories and painted a picture on the life they used to live. This greatly affected her view on her own life, and contributes to her expressing these ideas to her classmates in the city. Malian eventually uncovers her voice to confidently illustrate the hardships in indigenous communities.This book braids traditional stories and cultural experience into a light-hearted story that can relate to younger generations in a deeper way. Rez dogs processes valuable life lessons and personal understanding, and depicts it in an insightful setting.
I find the style of writing brings a different approach to convey the meaningful story. By writing in verse, and short chapters, it’s easy to follow along while still being able to have the same pull as any other style.
Joseph Bruchac highlights the community in a powerful manner, and provides embracement of diversity in a way that easy to follow and can powerfully impact mindsets of the younger generations that might read this book.
As the setting of this book is familiar and relatable, much like the rest of the storyline, I believe that many children who come across Rez Dogs can find the story of Malian and how she discover more about her heritage is comparable to themselves and their own divergent stories.
I enjoyed reading the book as I found the way Bruchac took the discussion of tough topics, and turned it into an insightful story that transformed into it’s own form of storytelling.
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