Bobbi Lee Indian Rebel
CBC Books | Posted: June 6, 2018 4:59 PM | Last Updated: June 12, 2018
Lee Maracle
Lee Maracle's Bobbi Lee Indian Rebel tells the narrative of an Indigenous woman raised in North America who finds her strength despite the forces that challenge and oppress her. Grippingly honest, Lee's autobiographical exploration of post-colonial tensions in Toronto circa 1960-1980 sheds light on the existing racist and sexist sentiments affecting Indigenous women. Reflective of the struggles Indigenous communities face today, this book continues to hold a place within contemporary Indigenous and women's studies classrooms. (From Women's Press)
From the book:
I was born in Vancouver on July 2nd, 1950, and raised on the North Shore mud flats about two miles east of Second Narrows Bridge. My first memory is of something that happened when I was about two years old. My brother Roger and I were playing down on the flats, catching wee little crabs and putting them in a quart-sized jar — which seemed huge to us because we were so small. Suddenly, I knocked over the jar and all the crabs when scurrying away. Roger yelled: "Babe!" — they all called me "Babe" then — "Go and get them!" Well, I ran behind a log where they had headed and got stuck in some deep mud. Roger was scared. He thought I was in real trouble and bolted up the trail from the beach to get mom and dad. Dad came down, picked me up out of the mud and patted me; he was so strong it seemed he was spanking me and I wondered why.
From Bobbi Lee Indian Rebel by Lee Maracle ©1990. Published by Women's Press.