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In his article in this anthology, Greg Young - Ing claims that 'by creating a recognized school of [non - aboriginal] experts who are a relatively "low risk" to publishers, and by saturating the market with a wave of books about Aboriginal peoples, [the 1980s and 1990s] wave of academic writing has the effect of ultimately blocking - out the Aboriginal Voice.' Indeed, Looking at the Words of Our People is the first all - aboriginal anthology of criticism of this literature -- and here it finds a non - aboriginal reviewer, fitting in the pattern Young - Ing describes. In the United States, several aboriginal critics are getting considerable attention, but Canadian aboriginal authors and critics have found the academy a less than comfortable space, and their voices have not been heard in most universities beyond the odd special lecture or sessional appointment. Thus, while the number of published aboriginal poets, novelists, and playwrights increases, published discussion of their writing has been mainly in the hands of non - aboriginal academics and journalists. Armstrong's anthology indicates not only that this situation has to change, but also that it can change: the aboriginal intellectuals are there to be listened to.
Contributions to the anthology range from reviews of particular books (Maria Campbell's Halfbreed gets a lot of attention, but other works discussed include the poetry of Adrian Louis and Luci Tapahonso, Thomas King's Medicine River, Janet Campbell Hale's Jailing of Cecilia Capture, and Louise Erdrich's Tracks) to articulations of more...