Resistance Literature: Representations of Land and Indigeneity in Indigenous-Authored, Canadian Award-Winning Rural Young Adult and Middle-Grade Fiction

Abstract

Sixty percent of Indigenous people in Canada live rurally and on reserve but are largely absent among young adult and middle-grade fiction. This critical content analysis examines representations of the land and rural places and Indigenous identities in Canadian award-winning fiction written by Indigenous authors for young adult and middle-grade readers. By positioning land, place, and rural Indigenous youth identities and experiences at the center of the analysis, the study contradicts dominant colonizing perspectives of “rural” and “Indigenous” that undervalue and/or disregard the lives, knowledge, and perspectives of rural Indigenous community members. Critical content analysis makes visible the books' complex representations of rural land and identities where Indigenous characters are agentic, resilient, and adaptable in the face of settler colonialism.