A Mind Spread Out on the Ground by Alicia Elliott

After loving Alicia Elliott’s book And Then She Fell I decided to read everything she wrote starting with A Mind Spread Out on the Ground. Turns out I’m Smitten for Nonfiction too.

For author bio and content warnings visit the blog post for this book:

Welcome, or Welcome back! My name is Amanda and this is where I share spoiler-free book reviews and other bookish things. Thanks for visiting. Let’s get Smitten For Fiction.

“Full of beautiful prose, poignant insights and raw memories that Elliott is able to expertly weave together to critique systems of oppression impacting Indigenous peoples across Turtle Island.” —Shondaland

About The Book 📚

Title: A Mind Spread Out on the Ground

Author: Alicia Elliott

Publication Date: 2019

Publisher: Doubleday Canada

Genre: Literary, Autobiography, Essays

Pages: 240

Content Warnings: mental illness, racism, abuse, sexual assault, alcoholism, addiction, suicidal thoughts, pregnancy, misogyny, xenophobia, cultural appropriation, classism, bullying, chronic illness, suicide, death, grief

About The Author

Alicia Elliott is a Tuscarora writer from Six Nations of the Grand River territory
She lives in Brantford, Ontario with her husband, son and dog
She has written for The Globe and Mail, CBC, Hazlitt, and many others
She’s had numerous essays nominated for National Magazine Awards
Her short fiction was selected for Best American Short Stories 2018, Best Canadian Stories 2018, and The Journey Prize Stories 30
Chosen by Tanya Talaga as 2018 recipient of the RBC Taylor Emerging Writer Award
Her first book, A Mind Spread Out on the Ground (an essay collection) won the Forest of Reading Evergreen Award

My Review

› I loved this book. Alicia Elliott is fearless and I am incredibly grateful that she shared her experiences. I’d like to start by talking about the Six Nations and give some information to those who, like me, don’t know about it.

What is Tuscarora?
According to Wikipedia, the Tuscarora are “an Indigenous people of the Northeastern Woodlands in Canada and the United States. They are an Iroquoian Native American and First Nations people, based in New York and Ontario.”

What is Six Nations?
“Located along the banks of the Grand River, Six Nations is the only reserve in North America where all six Haudenosaunee nations live together.” https://www.sixnations.ca

“SNGR land includes only a small fraction of the land promised by the Treaty of Haldimand. Keep up to date on our land claims actions.”

“The Haldimand Treaty unequivocally promised that a tract of land six miles deep on each side of the Grand River from the rivers mouth to its source was to be enjoyed by Six Nations and their posterity forever.” “Today, Six Nations of the Grand River lands comprise of less than 5% of what was originally granted.” https://www.sixnations.ca/key-issues/land-rights https://www.sixnations.ca/key-issues/land-rights

Here is an audiobook excerpt from A Mind Spread Out on the Ground: https://youtu.be/VBRaHkd4WQE?si=nySLo4ljNtlkYYZz

A Mind Spread Out On The Ground is a collection of Nonfiction essays by Alicia Elliott. In interviews, she talked about a creative writing course about Creative Nonfiction sparked the idea for this book.

“Being both Haudenosaunee and White wasn’t a curse meant to tear me in two; it was a call to uphold the different responsibilities that came with each part of me.”

› The Mohawk phrase for “depression” means “a mind spread out on the ground”.

› Elliott uses her personal experiences as examples for topics such as mental illness, colonization, racism, poverty, indigenous genocide, sexual assault, authenticity, and reconciliation.

› Now I know…Suicide and depression for indigenous people are twice the national average. For 15-24 year-olds the suicide rate is seven times higher than the national average. However, they have lower suicide rates in indigenous communities who self-govern.

“In other words, the less Canada maintains its historical role as the abusive father, micromanaging and undermining First Nations at every turn, the better off the people are.”

› Now I know…The Americas were “discovered” in 1492, however, one-fifth of the world’s population had been living there for centuries.

“It takes a certain kind of arrogance to assume that an entire continent didn’t exist before you chose to see it.”

The comparison of dark matter and racism is a masterpiece.

“Racism, for many people, seems to occupy space in very much the same way as dark matter: it forms the skeleton of our world, yet remains ultimately invisible, undetectable.”

› Now I Know…Cash crops provide cheap food lacking nutrition and this impacts people of colour more than white people because one-fifth of racialized families live in poverty, compared to 1/20 white families.

Genocide: “the deliberate and systematic destruction of a racial, political, or cultural group”

› Indigenous Nations were forcefully displaced, children were stolen by residential schools and social workers, and basic necessities were (and are still) withheld. It was deliberate and it was systematic. Many people talk about these things as if they are in the distant past, but they are ongoing today. The Canadian government violated treaty agreements and they must return the land and increase the percentage of land under indigenous control.

“True reconciliation with Native peoples requires Canada to stop its paternalistic, discriminatory policies and, most important, stop interfering with our sovereignty over our identities, communities and lands.”

› Now I Know…Indigenous genocide altered DNA. Residential school diets caused metabolic changes and still affect indigenous descendants today. For example, it led to an increase in type 2 diabetes.

“Corn, beans, and squash were once all my people needed. They were so essential to our everyday lives that we referred to them as our sisters. We would preserve each plant’s seeds and pass them on to our children, knowing that with this gift, they would be able to provide the same nutritious food for their families that we provided for them. This was an act of absolute, undiminished intergenerational love. And if intergenerational trauma can alter DNA, why can’t intergenerational love?”

Did you know…

“Sexual assault has one of the smallest conviction rates of violent crime in Canada.”

› I love that Alicia Elliott said you have the choice to share your assault or intentionally forget it. I don’t know if I’ve ever heard that anywhere else. You hear people say you have to be brave and share it, and you have a responsibility to share your traumatic experiences. You have the power to decide that for yourself. You can choose what you want to share, with whom, where, and how.

“Another person’s decision to commit a crime against us should never cost us more dearly than it costs the person who committed the crime.”

› Elliott shares commentary on the criticisms some people say about what Native authors can write about or if it can be considered indigenous work. Atwood’s comments about Pauline Johnson are disappointing. How can a non-Native person decide if something or someone is authentically Native?

The essay about pictures, videos, and ownership of our images was enlightening and unique and the essay at the end where Elliott asks questions stopped me in my tracks.

“According to a 2014 survey of 2,542 women aged eighteen to thirty-five, nearly 60 percent had experienced abuse. Knowing this, can you think of members of your family or any of your friends who have been abused?”

The way she talks to her husband about their marriage and how they respect each other mirrors how white people and the Canadian government can provide real reparations and create a better future.

“We untangle the threads of history and treat the wounds we find underneath. We listen to one another, support one another, resist our impulses to rewrite one another, to steer one another. We try to understand our distinct physical, emotional, spiritual and mental needs and meet them as best we can.”

Authors Elliott mentions:
Leanne Betasamosake Simpson
Tania Canas
Pauline Johnson
Gwen Benaway
Waubgeshig Rice
Tracey Lindberg
Eden Robinson
Katherena Vermette
Billy-Ray Belcourt
Joshua Whitehead
Lindsay Nixon
Kateri Akiwenzie Damm
Cherie Dimaline
Lee Maracle
Erica Violet Lee
Thomas King
Richard Wagamese
Tomson Highway

Remembering Colten Boushie

Remembering Tina Fontaine

Canada: Search the landfills and return Indigenous women’s remains home

Canada says that 85% of the TRC Calls to Action are either complete or well under way. Really?

› I usually give a rating out of ten and convert that to a star rating, but I’d like to try a new way of doing reviews. I’m not going to give a star rating here on my blog. I will continue to do that on Goodreads and The Story Graph.

› Final Thoughts
• A Mind Spread Out On The Ground is an eye-opening collection of essays about trauma, oppression, racism, parenthood, mental illness, poverty, sexual assault, residential schools, identity, authenticity, and love. I will try to never forget the things I have learned from this book. It reminded me of Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer. I highly recommend this to all readers 14 years old +.