Indigenizing the Young Adult Substance-Use Novel: Adam Garnet Jones's Fire Song and Angeline Boulley's Firekeeper's Daughter

Abstract

Abstract: Adam Garnet Jones's Fire Song and Angeline Boulley's Firekeeper's Daughter demonstrate that the alcohol and drug crisis in the Anishinaabe communities in which their narratives are set is a colonial crisis whose root causes urgently need to be addressed. In contrast to mainstream young adult novels dealing with drug addiction, the two novels do not focus on afflicted individuals but on how substance use and the local exploitation of community members' addictions are a product of settler colonialism. As such, addiction is interrelated with other impacts of intergenerational trauma including violence against women and girls, homophobia, and youth suicide. In the spirit of Anishinaabe scholar Leanne Simpson's notion of biskaabiiyang , both novels emphasize the importance of Indigenous ways of healing, reconnection to nation-specific cultural practices, and self-determination. The novels' protagonists are not at risk themselves, despite the personal losses and trauma they experience at an early age, because of their spiritual connection to Anishinaabe teachings and the support of their families and Elders. Each protagonist's own coming of age as a communal experience concurs with the transformative influence they have on their communities. Fire Song and Firekeeper's Daughter thus provide young Indigenous readers with role models and with a powerful vision for a self-determined future.