Ezzy and Grey are two Métis cousins, the former just trying to survive and the latter a passionate activist for indigenous rights. Grey comes up with a plan that is a little crazy, to abduct the bison living in a national park and release them in downtown Edmonton (the capital city of Alberta, Canada.) Ezzy likes Grey and is along for the ride, gradually becoming more involved in Grey’s activist world. Hijinks ensue; things don’t quite go as planned. Ezzy and Grey have to figure out how to live with the results.
This is the summary but it doesn’t really do it justice. Kerr starts with a scene from 1870 where the tribes are on their annual hunt, and the bison herds reach all the way to the horizon. He lays a firm foundation for the reader, conveying the indigenous relationship with the land in only a few pages. Ezzy and Grey, over a hundred years later, still feel that relationship despite the vast changes, broken treaties, and suffering that have taken place. As they fight against these change (which of course are actually capitalism, patriarchy, Western power structures…) they and the reader have to come to terms with the murky limits of activism, the power (or not) of one person’s decisions, the restrictions that simple human nature and inertia can place on truly righteous causes.
The book does not shy away from tough topics that tough the Métis existence to this day: incarceration, manslaughter, lack of opportunity, racial profiling, empty political promises. But for the tough topics, this is a very sweet and contemplative book. Ezzy and Grey are easy to root for, and their relationship is realistic and touching. Kerr tells this in alternating first person chronological order – that is, first it’s Ezzy, and then Grey takes over where Ezzy leaves off, and then Ezzy again, etc. This was a great choice; you can see each character struggle not only with their activism, but also with their own personalities, personal history, hang-ups and self-doubt, exes…there’s a lot of action but it feels like a slow book, in a good way. Definitely recommend, especially if you are looking for more indigenous novels!
