The Ink Book Club just met with author and filmmaker Julian Brave NoiseCat to talk about his book We Survived the Night and his film (co-directed with Emily Kassie) Sugarcane. NoiseCat told us about how, at age 28, he decided — following a chain of surprising and providential coincidences — to change his life entirely, reconnect with his father, and take on making a documentary and writing a memoir, even though he’d never worked in film or written a book before. NoiseCat talked to us about:
How he rediscovered the lost, discarded, and suppressed stories of Coyote — the trickster figure of so many Native traditions — and how they transformed his work and helped him understand everything from patriarchy to politics
The power of traditional, preliterate stories to capture natural and human history — and why it needs to be taken just as seriously as written scholarship
How Native American culture and traditions shaped America from the beginning, and how they continue to impact culture worldwide
How he decided to foreground a cross-national Native perspective in his work, and why Canada and the United States developed such different relationships with their indigenous peoples
And why it’s so critical to think generationally to understand the world, and tell stories that are memorable enough to move people
You won’t want to miss any of it. Just click on the video player above to watch the entire conversation.
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How to participate in the Book Club
Each week, we’ll post questions — our discussion guide — on Sunday, and every other Wednesday we’ll meet for a discussion with the Club or a visit from an author or other special guest. Look out for posts with further details. In between, we also host chat threads to get your insight on key questions in advance of our meetings. We’ll meet again with author and filmmaker Julian Brave NoiseCat on Wednesday, December 3, also at 12:30 p.m. Eastern, for an “ask the author anything” session — so keep those questions in mind!
To participate in our meetings and author talks on Substack Live, join from your phone or tablet with the Substack app. You can watch on desktop at The Ink, and comment and ask questions in our chat, but you won’t be able to join the live video discussion. Book Club meetings are open to paid subscribers to The Ink, so if you haven’t become part of our community, join us today!
