Recovering Identity: Angeline Boulley Calls for a Reckoning

On Today's Show

• "I think there's recognition that publishing is better the more voices are heard, and the more diverse those rooms can be as well –that it's not just a matter of changing the skin tone of a character, it's that culture is all these things that are seen and unseen, and it's in your world building." - Angeline Boulley 

Angeline Boulley was born into story-telling people. As a member of the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians, she was first introduced to the art through generational oral tradition. Yet during her childhood, Angeline struggled with her biracial indigenous identity. In searching for representation through the stories in books she was reading, she realized that the examples she found lacked depth and true experience. 

It wasn’t until her mid-forties that she realized she could write her own experience into existence. For nearly three decades, Angeline had mulled over a story idea, until she decided it was time to write this story. After another decade of working full-time (like really full-time as a mom of three with a big-time DC job) and seeking out time to write, she debuted with her award-winning novel, “Firekeeper’s Daughter.”

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Keep up with Jordan and The Reading Culture on Instagram @thereadingculturepod and Angeline @AngelineBoulley

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In this episode, Angeline explores her long journey to becoming an author and the themes in her latest work, “Warrior Girl Unearthed.” As Angeline says, it is time for a reckoning with the inhumane treatment of indigenous people’s remains still not repatriated throughout the United States. She shares how writing about her relationship to her culture helped her uncover her true identity and her goal to provide younger generations with authentic ideas of indigenous culture. 

For her reading challenge, Still Here, Angeline encourages readers to explore contemporary indigenous writers. While reading these modern stories, she challenges us to compare and contrast what has been taught previously about native cultures. I invite you to check it out, and for Beanstack clients, use the challenge on your site! Reading challenges are always available at thereadingculturepod.com.

In this episode, we’re changing things up for our Beanstack featured librarian. Today we give the mic to Lessa Kananiʻopua Pelayo-Lozada, the current American Library Association president, to share more about the upcoming ALA conference and exhibition. Zoobean has proudly participated in ALA exhibitions for the last eight years! 

Contents

Chapter 1 - Over the horizon (2:16)

Chapter 2 - Summers in Sault Ste. Marie (6:35)

Chapter 3 - Stranger With My Face (12:10)

Chapter 4 - The Fire behind “Firekeeper's Daughter” (16:41)

Chapter 5 - We want our ancestors back (20:49)

Chapter 6 - A Collection of Scalps (24:41)

Chapter 7 - The weight of educating others (27:40)

Chapter 8 - Casting Call (29:46)

Chapter 9 - Reading Challenge (33:37)

Chapter 10 - Beanstack Featured Librarian (34:45)

Links

• The Reading Culture: thereadingculturepod.com
• Angeline’s Boulley: https://angelineboulley.com/
• Angeline’s Books: https://angelineboulley.com/books.html
• The Reading Culture on Instagram (for giveaways and extra content): https://instagram.com/thereadingculturepod  
• Beanstack resources to build your community’s reading culture: Beanstack
• Letter from Shannon O’Loughlin (Choctaw) to Harvard University: http://www.indian-affairs.org/uploads/8/7/3/8/87380358/2021-02-18_harvard_letter_repatriation.pdf 
• Karl May, whose museum Angeline visited in Dresden: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karl_May 
• Lessa Kananiʻopua Pelayo-Lozada: https://www.lessaforlibraries.com/
• The Children’s Book Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-childrens-book-podcast/
  
  

Host: Jordan Lloyd Bookey

Producer: Jackie Lamport and Lower Street Media

Script Editors: Josia Lamberto-Egan, Jackie Lamport, Jordan Lloyd Bookey