"Excerpts from My Life" / 84

One of WRA's goals for including this personal narrative is "to bring women's personal and private experiences into the public realm to make their experiences part of contemporary culture's collective knowledge" (84). As you consider Anne Neeposh Iserhoff's story, think about why it might be important for you to know something about Native American families, triumphs over bringing personal interests to the public for women, and the role of superstitions in the making of our selves. Have you had to fight racism in order to earn your education? Iserhoff shares these things.

The book, Our Own Agendas (1995), shares perspectives on what it means to be a woman in Canada in the 1990s. Themes include relationships, careers, illness, religion, children, sexuality, sexism, violence, misfortune, the arts, and luck (http://www.mcgill.ca/mqup/gilbeer.htm). This is the second collection of essays by McGill University women. The first is called A Fair Shake (1984), about women who battle socially restricting environments. In "Excerpts from My Life," Iserhoff describes growing up in the bush, being taken away to a school in the city, and then later becoming a Cree teacher. You can learn more about the Cree Nation of Mistissini in Quebec at http://www.nation.mistissini.qc.ca, and http://www.ottertooth.com/Native_K/mistissini.htm will direct you to additional readings with similar themes.

Read the supplemental critical readings closely.