An Antane-Kapesh, Date of Birth, Place of Birth, Date of Death
TweetAn Antane-Kapesh
Canadian Writer
Date of Birth: 
Place of Birth: Quebec, Canada
About An Antane-Kapesh
- An Antane Kapesh (1926-2004), who also went by the French name Anne(-Marie) André, was an Innu writer and activist from Schefferville, Quebec.
- She was a chief at Schefferville (Matimekosh) from 1965-1967.In 1976, she published the autobiographical book Je suis une maudite sauvagesse/Eukuan nin matshimanitu innu-iskueu ("I am a damned savage woman") in a bilingual French-Innu edition.
- This book, which deals with topics such as loss of hunting territory, the residential school system and police brutality, may have been the first French-language book published by a First Nations woman in Quebec.
- The publication of books such as this, containing Innu text, has also been cited as an important factor in the cultural revival of the language; an Innu-language press (Éditions Innu) was soon founded and existed until 1993.Kapesh followed this book with another, Tante nana etutamin mitassi? / Qu'as-tu fait de mon pays? ("What have you done with my country?") in 1979, discusses colonization of Turtle Island from the perspective of a fictionalized child.
- In 1981 it was adapted for stage production by Kapesh and Jose Maillot (who also translated her first novel into French).
- Although her writings would be an inspiration to subsequent Innu writers, they were not well received at the time of publication.
- According to the publisher, Bernard Assiniwi, Je suis une maudite sauvagesse brought on a negative reaction from the reading public and subsequent planned volumes in the series were canceled.
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