Exploitation, acquisition, expansion, and practice of a territory extending their political power over another is called to attention and held up to its accusations by a novel ripping at the seams with exploration of the complicated and ambiguous relationship between literary works and indigenous activism. This novel- Whisper in Shadows- is set within these boundaries of indigenous activism in the Americas. As a Native American artist and activist, Penny, an Okanagan woman, is enticed from an early age with a fascination of art; and spends most of her time with Tulpa, her grandmother. After she was separated from the father of her three children, Francis and became discouraged with her job stamping crates and picking apples, she then took the opportunity to enroll in a fine arts program at a university. There she becomes acquainted with a woman named Julie, who then becomes a lifelong friend, and starts to get engaged with and form an assessment of the exploitative practices of capitalistic economics. She takes part in environmental protests and attends lectures aimed towards building indigenous strength and politics at a global scale. …show more content…
Years after moving back home to allow herself and her children a chance to reconnect with their extended family, Penny discovers she has developed cancer from the pesticides used on the apples she harvested as a young woman. Much of the novel consists of conversations between characters, a dialogic form of storytelling that emphasizes and encourages engagement with others through negotiation and consensus. Scattered throughout the novel are excerpts-poems, prose fragments, questions, meditations, and stories-from Penny's journals, as well as letters she has written to her sister Lena and her