Sydney (Muylaert) Rain ’17, Well of Vengeance
Mage-in-training, Emolin, struggles with her place in the Altava hierarchy and her compassion for those living in servitude, especially the Paran slave, Hajana. If their friendship were ever discovered, it would mean death for both of them. But when a mysterious figure claims Emolin is the one who can cleanse the land of Parans once and for all, she is forced to choose between Hajana or the lives of thousands. Hoping she can find another way, Emolin is forced to head to the other side of the country to rally Alchemist forces for the war against the Parans, leaving Hajana to wonder if the two of them were ever friends to begin with. Can Emolin come up with a plan to prevent the war? Or can Hajana discover a way to save herself?
Theresa Turmel ’98, Mnidoo Bemaasing Bemadiziwin: Reclaiming, Reconnecting and Demystifying ‘Resiliency’ as Life Force Energy for Residential School Survivors
Mnidoo Bemaasing Bemaadiziwin: Reclaiming, Reconnecting, and Demystifying Resiliency as Life Force Energy for Residential School Survivors is by Theresa Turmel, Anishinaabe-kwe from Michpicoten First Nation. Mnidoo Bemaasing Bemaadiziwin is a twenty-five year research and community based book. It brings forward Indigenous thought, history, and acts of resistance as viewed through the survivors of residential school who through certain aspects of their young lives were able to persevere with resiliency, and share their life experiences, teaching us about them, and their understanding of their own resiliency. Through their voices, we hear how they found strength within their own life force energy, or mnidoo bemaasing bemaadiziwin and survived and thrived in spite of aggressive assimilation. It became clear to Dr. Turmell that in their descriptions of resiliency, readers were describing mnidoo bemaasing bemaadiziwin, an innate and holistic energy that can be found within everyone. Mnidoo bemaasing bemaadiziwin manifests within all of our relations: land, animals, plants, ancestors, and other people, and cannot be extinguished but can be severely dampened as was evident in the attempt to assimilate residential school students. From their accounts, we learn that students found ways to nurture their life force energy through relationships and acts of resistance. As they’ve continued on their life path, they have reclaimed their spirit and today, they are telling their stories and keeping this history alive for the benefit of future generations.
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