ONE BEAD AT A TIME

Beverly Little Thunder's transfixing memoir is a melodic collaboration involving three Native women. Wanting to tell her life story as a two-spirit Lakota Elder, the author recounts her memories to two-spirit Métis writer Sharron Proulx-Turner. The resulting published text has become an oral memoir once again through the sensitively attuned narration of filmmaker/writer/actress Jules Koostachin, a band member of Attawapiskat First Nation. Koostachin reflects both the silence and defiance of the author as a child who was trying to survive chronic neglect and sexual abuse. However, Koostachin adds a ray of sunshine to the author's words as she describes discovering her authentic sexuality, and blossoming as a feminist and indigenous activist. The narrator radiates the author's humor, compassion, and dedication to indigenous women's ceremony and community. This production is oral history at its very best. J.T. © AudioFile 2021, Portland, Maine [Published: JANUARY 2021]