An Antane-Kapesh
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An Antane Kapesh (1926-2004), who also went by the French name Anne(-Marie) André, was an Innu writer and activist from Schefferville, Quebec. She was a chief at Schefferville (Matimekosh) from 1965-1967.[1]
In 1976, she published the autobiographical book Je suis une maudite sauvagesse/Eukuan nin matshimanitu innu-iskueu ("I am a damned savage woman") in a bilingual French-Innu edition. This book, which deals with topics such as loss of hunting territory, the residential school system and police brutality, may have been the first French-language book published by a First Nations woman in Quebec. The publication of books such as this, containing Innu text, has also been cited as an important factor in the cultural revival of the language; an Innu-language press (Éditions Innu) was soon founded and existed until 1993.[2]
Kapesh followed this book with another, Tante nana etutamin mitassi? / Qu'as-tu fait de mon pays? ("What have you done with my country?") in 1979, told from the perspective of a fictionalized child. Although her writings would be an inspiration to subsequent Innu writers, they were not well received at the time of publication. According to the publisher, Bernard Assiniwi, Je suis une maudite sauvagesse brought on a negative reaction from the reading public and subsequent planned volumes in the series were canceled.[3]
See also
References
- ^ "Femmes savantes, femmes de science". Press Books. Retrieved 26 April 2018.
{{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|dead-url=(help) - ^ D'Orsi, Annalisa. "Conservation et innovation: Les articulations contemporaines de la tradition innue". Recherches amérindiennes au Québec. XLIII (1, 2013).
- ^ Gatti, Maurizio (2006). Être écrivain amérindien au Québec: indianité et création littéraire. Montreal: Hurtubuise. ISBN 2-89428-943-X.
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