The Return Of The Sun

Inuit have among the highest suicide rates in the world - ten times the national average. Inuit narratives of suicide provide clues as to what can and in some cases has been done to combat the problem, but until recently they have not circulated far beyond Inuit communities themselves. At the same time, academic researchers have studied suicide among Indigenous peoples, but have stopped short of analyzing narrative accounts for their themes of cultural survival. Based on two decades of participatory action and ethnographic research, The Return of the Sun is a historical and anthropological examination of suicide among Inuit youth in Arctic Canada. Conceptualizing suicide among Inuit as a response to colonial disruption of family and interpersonal relationships and examining how the community has addressed the issue, Kral draws on research from psychology, anthropology, Indigenous studies, and social justice to understand and address this population. Central to the book are narrative accounts by Inuit of their experiences and perceptions of suicide, and the lives of youth and their community action for change. As these Indigenous community success stories have not previously been widely retold, The Return of the Sun gives voice to a historically ignored community. Kral also locates this community action within the larger Inuit movement toward self-determination and self-governance. This important volume will be of interest to a broad range of social scientists, as well as researchers and practitioners in the mental health fields.

"The book first describes the significant cultural changes experienced by Inuit since the Canadian government took over their lives in the 1950s. The government moved Inuit from their family camps to crowded settlements run by White government officers, took their children away to residential/boarding and day schools, and began a wage economy that created poverty. The greatest change took place in the Inuit family. This is a family-based collectivist culture, so when the family is dramatically changed everything will go wrong. Generations were segregated where family life meant being very close across generations, parenting changed, children became much more independent. The generation that was placed in the boarding and day schools developed problems with alcohol, domestic violence, and romantic relationships. Their children beginning in the 1980s started killing themselves. Suicide among youth has become an epidemic, with Inuit having among the highest suicide rates in the world. I trace suicide and other social problems to the imperialism/colonialism of the government. But then the book turns to how Inuit are preventing suicide by developing and running their own programs and activities. Government suicide prevention has not worked, but when Inuit are in control it does appear to work quite well. The actions by a group of youth in one community are detailed, showing how they organized themselves and started a youth center that seems to have stopped many suicides. The aspirations and challenges of Inuit youth are described, and their futures are outlined."--Provided by publisher.

Amaterasu, Return of the Sun (PB)

This book is a selection of 25 poems, inspired by experiences, events and observations from our surroundings, as well as by works of literature and art. Though not arranged in chronological order, these pieces were written at different periods spanning about a decade and a half. This compilation is accompanied with watercolour illustrations produced by the author.

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER LONGLISTED FOR THE 2021 BOOKER PRIZE NAMED A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR BY THE NEW YORK TIMES, THE GLOBE AND MAIL, THE GUARDIAN, ESQUIRE, VOGUE, TIME, THE WASHINGTON POST, THE TIMES (UK), VULTURE, THE ECONOMIST, NPR, AND BOOKRIOT ON PRESIDENT OBAMA’S SUMMER 2021 READING LIST The magnificent new novel from Nobel laureate Kazuo Ishiguro--author of Never Let Me Go and the Booker Prize-winning The Remains of the Day. “The Sun always has ways to reach us.” From her place in the store, Klara, an Artificial Friend with outstanding observational qualities, watches carefully the behaviour of those who come in to browse, and of those who pass in the street outside. She remains hopeful a customer will soon choose her, but when the possibility emerges that her circumstances may change forever, Klara is warned not to invest too much in the promises of humans. In Klara and the Sun, Kazuo Ishiguro looks at our rapidly changing modern world through the eyes of an unforgettable narrator to explore a fundamental question: what does it mean to love?

Reproduction of the original: The Voyage of the Vega round Asia and Europe by A.E. Nordenskieold