Unreconciled: Family, Truth, and Indigenous Resistance
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- Create Date：2021-09-20 10:51:10
- Update Date：2025-09-06
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- Author：Jesse Wente
- ISBN：0735235732
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Summary
Unreconciled is one hell of a good book。 Jesse Wente's narrative moves effortlessly from the personal to the historical to the contemporary。 Very powerful， and a joy to read。
--Thomas King， author of The Inconvenient Indian and Sufferance
A prominent Indigenous voice uncovers the lies and myths that affect relations between white and Indigenous peoples and the power of narrative to emphasize truth over comfort。
Part memoir and part manifesto， Unreconciled is a stirring call to arms to put truth over the flawed concept of reconciliation， and to build a new， respectful relationship between the nation of Canada and Indigenous peoples。
Jesse Wente remembers the exact moment he realized that he was a certain kind of Indian--a stereotypical cartoon Indian。 He was playing softball as a child when the opposing team began to war-whoop when he was at bat。 It was just one of many incidents that formed Wente's understanding of what it means to be a modern Indigenous person in a society still overwhelmingly colonial in its attitudes and institutions。
As the child of an American father and an Anishinaabe mother， Wente grew up in Toronto with frequent visits to the reserve where his maternal relations lived。 By exploring his family's history， including his grandmother's experience in residential school， and citing his own frequent incidents of racial profiling by police who'd stop him on the streets， Wente unpacks the discrepancies between his personal identity and how non-Indigenous people view him。
Wente analyzes and gives voice to the differences between Hollywood portrayals of Indigenous peoples and lived culture。 Through the lens of art， pop culture， and personal stories， and with disarming humour， he links his love of baseball and movies to such issues as cultural appropriation， Indigenous representation and identity， and Indigenous narrative sovereignty。 Indeed， he argues that storytelling in all its forms is one of Indigenous peoples' best weapons in the fight to reclaim their rightful place。
Wente explores and exposes the lies that Canada tells itself， unravels the two founding nations myth， and insists that the notion of reconciliation is not a realistic path forward。 Peace between First Nations and the state of Canada can't be recovered through reconciliation--because no such relationship ever existed。
--Thomas King， author of The Inconvenient Indian and Sufferance
A prominent Indigenous voice uncovers the lies and myths that affect relations between white and Indigenous peoples and the power of narrative to emphasize truth over comfort。
Part memoir and part manifesto， Unreconciled is a stirring call to arms to put truth over the flawed concept of reconciliation， and to build a new， respectful relationship between the nation of Canada and Indigenous peoples。
Jesse Wente remembers the exact moment he realized that he was a certain kind of Indian--a stereotypical cartoon Indian。 He was playing softball as a child when the opposing team began to war-whoop when he was at bat。 It was just one of many incidents that formed Wente's understanding of what it means to be a modern Indigenous person in a society still overwhelmingly colonial in its attitudes and institutions。
As the child of an American father and an Anishinaabe mother， Wente grew up in Toronto with frequent visits to the reserve where his maternal relations lived。 By exploring his family's history， including his grandmother's experience in residential school， and citing his own frequent incidents of racial profiling by police who'd stop him on the streets， Wente unpacks the discrepancies between his personal identity and how non-Indigenous people view him。
Wente analyzes and gives voice to the differences between Hollywood portrayals of Indigenous peoples and lived culture。 Through the lens of art， pop culture， and personal stories， and with disarming humour， he links his love of baseball and movies to such issues as cultural appropriation， Indigenous representation and identity， and Indigenous narrative sovereignty。 Indeed， he argues that storytelling in all its forms is one of Indigenous peoples' best weapons in the fight to reclaim their rightful place。
Wente explores and exposes the lies that Canada tells itself， unravels the two founding nations myth， and insists that the notion of reconciliation is not a realistic path forward。 Peace between First Nations and the state of Canada can't be recovered through reconciliation--because no such relationship ever existed。
Reviews
Jasmine
，
In this part memoir and part historical commentary with contemporary calls-to-action， Jesse Wente has crafted a nonfiction account that is a welcome and necessary addition to Indigenous literature。 Jesse Wente， an Ojibwe man， arts journalist， and more recently the chairperson of the Canada Council for the Arts discusses his personal and professional experiences from an Indigenous perspective。 He covers many topics， but the ones that stood out to me were his family’s experience in residential sch In this part memoir and part historical commentary with contemporary calls-to-action， Jesse Wente has crafted a nonfiction account that is a welcome and necessary addition to Indigenous literature。 Jesse Wente， an Ojibwe man， arts journalist， and more recently the chairperson of the Canada Council for the Arts discusses his personal and professional experiences from an Indigenous perspective。 He covers many topics， but the ones that stood out to me were his family’s experience in residential schools， working in predominantly and historically white spaces， and advocating for Indigenous content by Indigenous creators。 He discusses how some of his privileges gave him the confidence and courage to ask for what he needed in his social justice work。 Growing up with the privilege of having wealthy paternal grandparents， Jesse struggled with the mental burden of feeling like he was not the “right” kind of Indigenous， of not being Indigenous “enough，” or in other cases， of feeling “too” Indigenous in certain social situations。 To my mind， as someone who is Métis and First Nations， if someone identifies as indigenous， then they are indigenous。 So long as it’s not a white person claiming to be a Cherokee princess or to have indigenous ancestry when they do not， not even in the slightest。 There is no “right” kind of indigenous。 Just because you may have more wealth and privileges doesn’t make you any less indigenous， Jesse。 Another interesting topic that came up was something called the “Appropriation Prize。” I had never heard of this before。 I thought the author was calling it that sarcastically， but then I Googled it， and it turns out that that was its actual name。 In 2017， it was a proposed prize for writers， namely white authors， to appropriate knowingly other people’s culture in their writing。 Why anyone thought they were more capable of telling the stories of marginalized voices than said marginalized voices is beyond me。 Imagine waking up one day and asking yourself: ‘whose culture can I capitalize on today to win this prize？’ The audacity。Anyway， I thoroughly enjoyed reading this。 Jesse is a great storyteller; there were several instances when I forgot I was reading nonfiction。 I sometimes struggle to get through nonfiction books， but this one was so engaging that it wasn’t an issue for me this time。 I will be picking up my own copy of this ASAP。 If my review hasn’t convinced you to read this， Thomas King’s should: “Unreconciled is one hell of a good book。”Thank you to Allen Lane/Penguin Random House Canada for the arc provided via Netgalley。 。。。more
Nancy
，
Actually 4。5 stars。 A powerful and moving look at the need to honestly reckon with the history of displacement and genocide of indigenous peoples and how that unreconciled history continues to play out in modern times in Canada and the US。 This was especially impactful after reading Dr。 Clint Smith's How the Word Is Passed。 Highly recommended。 Actually 4。5 stars。 A powerful and moving look at the need to honestly reckon with the history of displacement and genocide of indigenous peoples and how that unreconciled history continues to play out in modern times in Canada and the US。 This was especially impactful after reading Dr。 Clint Smith's How the Word Is Passed。 Highly recommended。 。。。more
Brandon Forsyth
，
A truly fascinating memoir that looks at the challenges of representation as much as it reveals Jesse’s own struggles with his identity。 I know some have critiqued Jesse’s writing in the past for his ego， but I found very little of that here。 This is a clear-eyed look at how we got to where we as a culture got today and offers glimpses of a way forward。 4。5 stars rounded up。
angie
，
I am really glad I read this book。 This book tells the story of an Ojibwe man from childhood to middle age。 Jesse Wente shared his experiences of racism， family trauma， and time working in the Canadian media， all of which relates to his identity as an Indigenous person in Canada。 Near the end of the story， Wente reminds readers that reconciliation cannot happen without truth。 I think that reading stories like this one will help Canadians come to terms with that truth so that we can begin to make I am really glad I read this book。 This book tells the story of an Ojibwe man from childhood to middle age。 Jesse Wente shared his experiences of racism， family trauma， and time working in the Canadian media， all of which relates to his identity as an Indigenous person in Canada。 Near the end of the story， Wente reminds readers that reconciliation cannot happen without truth。 I think that reading stories like this one will help Canadians come to terms with that truth so that we can begin to make progress in the 94 calls to action or the TRC。 As a white Canadian， I think this is a must read for anyone like me。 While extremely informative， it is also interesting and includes a personal touch wherever it is appropriate。 Thank you Penguin Random House and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read this book。 I look forward to recommending it to friends and family！ 。。。more
Carol Ann
，