Northern Exposure

As one of the characters in Katherena Vermette’s Real Ones says, “You can’t shoot an arrow without hitting a pretendian in a university.” If you’re paying attention to Canadian academia and arts, that seems to be the case. A couple of times a year, someone is exposed for donning “redface” to gain personal, political, or professional advantage. So Vermette’s fourth novel is certainly timely — a must-read for any Métis questioning the validity of their own identity or any person looking to put on a minority mask as if it were a Halloween costume.

Real Ones is the story of June Stranger-Savage and her sister Lyn, told from each of their first-person perspectives in punchy chapters that alternate between the two. Lyn (whose name Vermette styles in lower case) is an artist, currently working on a pottery project, and June holds a doctorate in Indigenous studies. Their Michif heritage has been passed down paternally; their mother, Renee, who produces art...