Another chapter in Metis history. Echo is a student at a new high school who daydreams through her classes, but this class draws her into the events of the past and it's up to the reader to decide if she is time traveling or just tapping into ancestral knowledge or simply daydreaming. Graphicly displays Echo's reactions to her experience of Metis history. Some progression in Echo's attitude as she attends an Indigenous Student Leadership group and makes friends.
The history teaching seems more heavy handed in this issue than in #1, but that may be because the history itself was so distressing, with the attacks and murders. Louis Riel is portrayed as an intelligent pacifist, e.g. clearly stating that the surveyors or military has no authority here but "we want no violence".
I like the subtle inclusion of human differences: a severely disabled child in her home, an apparently LGBT teacher. ( )

A Métis teen named Echo still finds herself unstuck in time, bouncing between her history class in the present day and the Red River Resistance (or "Rebellion") of 1869. English-speaking Protestants and French-speaking Catholic Métis led by Louis Riel clash over the terms by which Manitoba will become a province in the new Canadian Confederation. A lot of events and characters are introduced in a few pages, but a timeline of events in the back helps keep everything straight.

In the present day, the troubled and previously closed-off Echo is starting to open up a little to those around her.

It doesn't feel like there are enough pages to fit all the story the author wants to tell, but I still find Echo and the history engaging. I always think of Canada as a peaceful place, so it is eye-opening to see the dirty laundry aired here.

I'm tempted to re-read Chester Brown's Louis Riel graphic novel. ( )

This continuation of A Girl Called Echo picks up a few weeks and a few decades after the first volume. Echo has started to become more comfortable and outgoing at school and in her new home. The difference in her daily routine in this volume compared to the last one was stark; she's no longer an isolated island amidst a sea of people, but rather engaging with her peers and the people she lives with. Her slips into the past continue, with a skip of about 50 years. There's a lot more dialogue and narration in this volume than in the previous volume, especially in the past. This volume also spends more time in the past than the present. I once again find myself simply wanting more from this story. I eagerly anticipate the next volume. ( )

Winston Churchill once said that ‘history is written by the victors’. In Canada, that is certainly true at least in relation to First Nations and the Metis. In elementary and high school, at least when I attended way back when, the so-called Red River Rebellion of 1869-70 was seen as an example of Indigenous peoples fighting the progress that the new Canadian government and, of course, European settlers would bring to the area. Negotiations were held between the Hudson’s Bay Company and Canada for the transfer of what was then known as Rupert’s Land and is now part of the province of Manitoba – the Metis and First Nations who lived there were not consulted. This led to what had been classified as a rebellion by these original inhabitants and to the establishment of a provisional government led by Metis leader, Louis Riel. They were not out to overthrow the government but wanted a guarantee that their rights and way of life would be respected. The government responded to this by sending in the army. The resistance was quickly quashed and Louie Riel would eventually be tried for murder and hanged.

The graphic novel, Red River Resistance (A Girl Called Echo #2), tells the story of what has, until recently been seen, as a rebellion from the perspective of the original peoples through this tale of a young 21st c. girl, Echo Desjardine who time travels back and forth between 1869 and the present, and who witnesses the events as they unfold. It is beautifully written by Metis poet and writer, Katherena Vermette and beautifully illustrated by Scott B. Henderson. Although this is clearly aimed at a young audience, this is a side of the story that is rarely told but deserves a much wider audience especially now as Canada is being forced to deal with our sorry history of treatment of First Nations. For anyone who wants to understand the real history of an event that is seen as one of the defining chapters in the country's history as opposed to that written by the victors, I cannot recommend this highly enough.

Thanks to Netgalley and Portage & Main Press to the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review ( )