Decolonial Animal Ethic in Eden Robinsonʼs Trickster Trilogy

Abstract

Indigenous epistemologies are full of warnings against human destructiveness and many contemporary Indigenous authors write provocative Anthropocene stories that question the centrality of humans in the world. In her latest work “Trickster Trilogy” (2017, 2018, 2021), the award-winning “Haisla/Heiltsuk” writer Eden Robinson disrupts traditional anthropocentric narratives by giving agency to her nonhuman characters. While she gives voice to silenced groups, she does not speak for but rather with nonhuman animals by connecting their ongoing oppression in the settler-colonial context to the position of Indigenous peoples, echoing Billy-Ray Belcourt (Driftpile Cree) and his decolonial animal ethic that sees colonization of Indigenous peoples and nonhuman animals as interconnected. Robinson sheds light on the precarious lives nonhuman animals lead in the Anthropocene and condemns environmental destruction and injustice that she links to expansive colonialism and thirst for profit, power, and status. “Trickster Trilogy” offers hope to both human and nonhuman animals as it enriches the conversation on decolonization and, as such, it constitutes an important addition to decolonial narratives that challenge the traditional colonial anthropocentric worldview.