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Windspeaker.com Books Feature Writer
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Miali Coley-Sudlovenick laughs at the idea of giving her new children’s book, Being Different, to adults who inquire about her Indigeneity.
“I don't know the book answers (the questions) to the point that they hope,” she said. “I think, definitely, it's a nice way to say, ‘I have this book. If you're curious, this may give you some insight’.”
That insight happens to deal with Coley-Sudlovenick’s heritage, which is an Inuk mother and a Jamaican-born Black father.
The book reflects on all the ways Coley-Sudlovenick was different from her Inuk classmates as she grew up in Iqaluit and all the questions she faced about her curly hair, large eyes, long legs and darker skin.
“The questions are often either in innocence or curiosity and as a way to place me and so those are experiences similar to…what I've encountered personally growing up as a child,” said Coley-Sudlovenick.
She still receives questions about her Indigeneity, but now from adults.
She operates Allurvik, a consulting business in Iqaluit focused on teaching Inuktitut, Inuit culture and education.
“When (people) get to know me or realize that I'm Inuk, they are often surprised…(and) confused based off of my features because I don't have, for them, what is a typical looking Inuk,” she said.
The usual conversation is a series of questions: Where are you from? Where are you really from? Where were your parents from?
“It often creates these conversations that can sometimes be out of innocence, curiosity, but depending on the space and the situation, can sometimes feel a little bit uncomfortable,” said Coley-Sudlovenick.
“Being Different is a combination of a reflection of my upbringing, questions that I've either received or heard in passing, and then ones that I've had to have conversations through with my own children.”
Coley-Sudlovenick shares two daughters with her Inuk husband.
In Being Different, Ilataaq comes home from her first day in Grade 3 in a new town and tells her mother about all the questions her school mates asked her. She wonders why they have so many questions.
Anaana, the Inuktitut word for “mother”, responds: “They see what makes you different. It makes them wonder and ask questions.” She reassures Ilataaq that “your differences are wonderful. They are part of who you are. We love all the things that make you different.”
Writing the book has allowed Coley-Sudlovenick to revisit her grade school years and process thoughts and feelings she hadn’t dealt with or understood at the time.
“If somebody said a mean thing to me about being Black, I couldn't quite place that because I saw myself as Inuk and I spoke the language. I very much identified with my Inuk upbringing,” she said. It wasn’t until later in her life she connected with her father’s Jamaican side.
“I had a lot of very deflected experiences that I didn't actually get to understand until I was an adult. I would question, ‘Why would they say that?’ And my mom would say, ‘You're an Inuk, so you don't need to worry about that,’” said Coley-Sudlovenick. “I experienced racism that was very much against who I was, and my mom would deflect that by saying, ‘Well, they don't know that you're Inuk.’”
It wasn’t until later that she understood the “mean things” that were said to her were based in racism.
With her own daughters, Coley-Sudlovenick reassures them that “sometimes questions are just questions. They just want to know where we come from, who we are. And among Inuit, we often say, ‘Who are your parents?’ So that we know that's who you're related to.”
She said her daughters face less challenges in their Iqaluit classrooms because their schoolmates are more racially diverse.
Being Different, aimed at children six to eight years of age, is written in both Inuktitut and English with the languages sharing space on the same page. The layout was a choice made by Coley-Sudlovenick.
“When we're reading to our kids, often my husband and I usually read to them in Inuktitut, and then sometimes we're reading to them in English, and sometimes it's just nice to know that we have the option to go back and forth if we wanted to. Like in conversations that we often do,” she said. “Part of that is in reflection of our own bilingual household, but also allowing others to have hopefully those similar experiences.”
Coley-Sudlovenick asked for an Inuk artist, but none were available. She then requested an Afro-Indigenous artist or a Black artist. She was teamed with Alex Aldrich Barrett, who is of mixed heritage which includes a Jamaican background. Coley-Sudlovenick is pleased with the soothing watercolour illustrations in the book.
Being Different is published by Inhabit Media and is available through https://www.indigo.ca/products/being-different-inuktitut-roman-edition. It will be released Oct. 27.