A Book Riot and Shelf Awareness "Best Book of 2021 "Places do not
belong to us. We belong to them." The child of South Asian
migrants, Kazim Ali was born in London, lived as a child in the
cities and small towns of Manitoba, and made a life in the United
States. As a man passing through disparate homes, he has never felt
he belonged to a place. And yet, one day, the celebrated poet and
essayist finds himself thinking of the boreal forests and lush
waterways of Jenpeg, a community thrown up around the building of a
hydroelectric dam on the Nelson River, where he once lived for
several years as a child. Does the town still exist, he wonders? Is
the dam still operational? When Ali goes searching, however, he
finds not news of Jenpeg, but of the local Pimicikamak community.
Facing environmental destruction and broken promises from the
Canadian government, they have evicted Manitoba's electric utility
from the dam on Cross Lake. In a place where water is an integral
part of social and cultural life, the community demands
accountability for the harm that the utility has caused. Troubled,
Ali returns north, looking to understand his place in this story
and eager to listen. Over the course of a week, he participates in
community life, speaks with Elders and community members, and
learns about the politics of the dam from Chief Cathy Merrick. He
drinks tea with activists, eats corned beef hash with the Chief,
and learns about the history of the dam, built on land that was
never ceded, and Jenpeg, a town that now exists mostly in his
memory. In building relationships with his former neighbors, Ali
explores questions of land and power and in remembering a lost
connection to this place, finally finds a home he might belong to.
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