Red River Resistance

By katherena vermette, Scott B. Henderson and Donovan Yaciuk

Echo Desjardins is adjusting to her new home, finding friends, and learning about Métis history. She just can’t stop slipping back and forth in time. One ordinary afternoon in class, Echo finds herself transported to the banks of the Red River in the summer of 1869. All is not well in the territory as Canadian surveyors have arrived to change the face of territory, and Métis families, who have lived there for generations, are losing access to their land. As the Resistance takes hold, Echo fears for her friends and the future of her people in the Red River Valley.

• Language: English
• Publisher: HighWater Press
• Release date: Mar 1, 2019
• ISBN: 9781553797654

katherena vermette

KATHERENA VERMETTE is a Métis writer from Treaty One territory, the heart of the Métis nation, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Her first book, North End Love Songs (The Muses Company), won the Governor General’s Literary Award for Poetry. Her NFB short documentary, this river, won the Coup de Coeur at the Montreal First Peoples Festival and a Canadian Screen Award. Her first novel, The Break, is the winner of three Manitoba Book Awards and the Amazon.ca First Novel Award, and it was a finalist for the Governor General’s Literary Award for Fiction, the Rogers Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize, and CBC Canada Reads.

Reviews for Red River Resistance

[lostinalibrary · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Winston Churchill once said that ‘history is written by the victors’. In Canada, that is certainly true at least in relation to First Nations and the Metis. In elementary and high school, at least when I attended way back when, the so-called Red River Rebellion of 1869-70 was seen as an example of Indigenous peoples fighting the progress that the new Canadian government and, of course, European settlers would bring to the area. Negotiations were held between the Hudson’s Bay Company and Canada for the transfer of what was then known as Rupert’s Land and is now part of the province of Manitoba – the Metis and First Nations who lived there were not consulted. This led to what had been classified as a rebellion by these original inhabitants and to the establishment of a provisional government led by Metis leader, Louis Riel. They were not out to overthrow the government but wanted a guarantee that their rights and way of life would be respected. The government responded to this by sending in the army. The resistance was quickly quashed and Louie Riel would eventually be tried for murder and hanged. The graphic novel, Red River Resistance (A Girl Called Echo #2), tells the story of what has, until recently been seen, as a rebellion from the perspective of the original peoples through this tale of a young 21st c. girl, Echo Desjardine who time travels back and forth between 1869 and the present, and who witnesses the events as they unfold. It is beautifully written by Metis poet and writer, Katherena Vermette and beautifully illustrated by Scott B. Henderson. Although this is clearly aimed at a young audience, this is a side of the story that is rarely told but deserves a much wider audience especially now as Canada is being forced to deal with our sorry history of treatment of First Nations. For anyone who wants to understand the real history of an event that is seen as one of the defining chapters in the country's history as opposed to that written by the victors, I cannot recommend this highly enough.Thanks to Netgalley and Portage & Main Press to the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review

[junipersun · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Another chapter in Metis history. Echo is a student at a new high school who daydreams through her classes, but this class draws her into the events of the past and it's up to the reader to decide if she is time traveling or just tapping into ancestral knowledge or simply daydreaming. Graphicly displays Echo's reactions to her experience of Metis history. Some progression in Echo's attitude as she attends an Indigenous Student Leadership group and makes friends.The history teaching seems more heavy handed in this issue than in #1, but that may be because the history itself was so distressing, with the attacks and murders. Louis Riel is portrayed as an intelligent pacifist, e.g. clearly stating that the surveyors or military has no authority here but "we want no violence".I like the subtle inclusion of human differences: a severely disabled child in her home, an apparently LGBT teacher.

[villemezbrown · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

A Métis teen named Echo still finds herself unstuck in time, bouncing between her history class in the present day and the Red River Resistance (or "Rebellion") of 1869. English-speaking Protestants and French-speaking Catholic Métis led by Louis Riel clash over the terms by which Manitoba will become a province in the new Canadian Confederation. A lot of events and characters are introduced in a few pages, but a timeline of events in the back helps keep everything straight.In the present day, the troubled and previously closed-off Echo is starting to open up a little to those around her.It doesn't feel like there are enough pages to fit all the story the author wants to tell, but I still find Echo and the history engaging. I always think of Canada as a peaceful place, so it is eye-opening to see the dirty laundry aired here.I'm tempted to re-read Chester Brown's Louis Riel graphic novel.