Abstract
Reconciliation and cohabitation of Native peoples and settlers has inevitably been a significant topic of Canadian Aboriginal literature in English since its emergence in 1980's. The paper focuses on reconciliation as depicted in works of the first generation of English writing authors to the generation of authors recently debuting and outlines the differences and changes in their perspectives.
Why was hope for reconciliation replaced by rejection? What else is left if reconciliation fails? Cheerful visions of overcoming sorrowful past and engaging in culturally diverse society enriched by coexistence of Euro Canadian and Native tradition has recently been replaced by criticism of reconciliatory politics. Reconciliation is by some of the artists of younger generation perceived as a false new beginning, as disregarding the complicated past for the sake of removing the guilt of settler colonialism.
Indigenous resurgence and non-metaphorical decolonization has been suggested as an unbiased alternative. Although all concerned by survivance, the approaches and representations of these topics in contemporary Indigenous literature in Canada differ.
Discussing works of First Nation writers (Thomas King, Tomson Highway, Leanne Betasamosake Simpson) and Native scholars (Audra Simpson, Glen Coulthard) the paper addresses current issues of Indigeneity from the point of view of two literary generations.