Elements of Indigenous Style

Gregory Younging

This book is an important, timely, and well-thoughtout resource. It is an excellent guide for publishers, academics, journalists, students, and anyone else who is interested in writing about Indigenous Peoples. Greg Younging’s extraordinary experience, cultural sensitivity, and knowledge base come through on every page, providing readers with very thoughtful and helpful advice on so many areas of potential difficulty. I can see that this book will have very wide relevance even beyond Canada’s borders, though it is well focused on the Canadian context.

The book is written in an eloquent, intimate style that puts readers at ease and positions them as participants in a conversation—a technique that works exceedingly well for the chosen purpose. There is a great need for a resource of this kind, and Elements of Indigenous Style fits that need in a resoundingly positive and productive way. Over time, I feel that this book will make a significant difference in the fair and equitable representation of Indigenous Peoples, and this will lead to empowerment and pride among Indigenous community members.

In addition to the invaluable advice contained in the book’s editorial principles, the word-usage examples are extremely helpful. The discussion of rights, intellectual property, and the public domain is excellent, as is the material on Métis identity and community history. Throughout the book, the discussion of problematic practices is done in a clear and thoughtful way, explaining why a particular practice is disrespectful or inaccurate. Thus, it comes across not as a prescriptive and authoritarian book (as some writing textbooks do), but rather as a teaching text that informs readers of why certain editorial practices are problematic, and how these situations can be avoided. This book provides solutions rather than solely identifying problems.

Possibly the most important ethos of this book is contained in the advice that there is no substitute for engaging in a relationship with the Indigenous Peoples who are represented in a text. This book foregrounds the Indigenous methodology of working from the basis of relationships, and thus it is an excellent example of decolonial scholarship.

This guide features:

• Twenty-two succinct style principles.

• Advice on culturally appropriate publishing practices, including how to collaborate with Indigenous Peoples, when and how to seek the advice of Elders, and how to respect Indigenous Oral Traditions and Traditional Knowledge.

• Terminology to use and to avoid.

• Advice on specific editing issues, such as biased language, capitalization, and quoting from historical sources and archives.

• Case studies of projects that illustrate best practices.

The foreword, by Warren Cariou, is excerpted from Elements of Indigenous Style by Gregory Younging, published by Brush Education. Reproduced by permission of the publisher.

Copyright © 2018 Gregory Younging