And I am a philosopher who takes great interest in these places, who seeks to research them – preferably also from a place “in between”. I am a philosopher who studies and works in places that are “in between”: between different disciplines, cultures, and methods. This is a reflection of a white woman coming from a very different place feeling a deep connection and at the same time a strong sense of alienation. Although I am referring to an incredible book written by an Inuk artist, the starting point for my reflections is what happened with me reading it. With my article, I would like to share some of my experiences reading Split Tooth as I became curious about myself and my reactions to a story that upset me and fascinated me at the same time.

As social worker and researcher working with juvenile sex offenders, I witnessed the heavy burden of abuse and alcohol as well as suicidal thoughts in midst of a spiritual reality sparked by a natural environment that doesn’t allow for compromise. I used to live in Canada and spent time in Indigenous communities, especially in the Arctic. Reading Tanya Tagaq’s (2018) Split Tooth affected me on a very profound level. She later sits in a language class and watches the teacher and can tell the extent of his abuse by how he holds his body and teaches her peoples language.Trigger Warning: This article includes references to (child) sexual abuse. A scene rolls out of the main character being in a room with another girl whilst a drunk man has sex with the other figure. She discusses the numbness after rape and begins to get high on butane and other chemicals.

The narrator discusses how her body just knows how to walk on the ice and the 'cute boy' in class. During the event, the narrator and her cousin fight a figure in the spirit world which then echoes into moments of disassociation - returning to that spirit world. Our second section follows a few scenes that find the narrator continue experiencing and interacting with the spirit world, experimenting with chemical induced highs, connecting with the land, her peoples culture and mourning the disconnect growing between that culture and the culture being forced on those that go to residential schools.Īfter a brief poem on indifference and sickness, it begins with a scene in an adult free space where children get to be children. I am finding that I love her word choice, her descriptions of people and the back and forth between poetry and prose. I will post a few discussion themes at the bottom but please post any of your thoughts or the parts that made you think or the parts that you enjoyed the rhythm and words of. Again this section was quite a hard read.

Split tooth tanya tagaq