As editor of The Fiddlehead, I apologize for the insensitive and ignorant review of Emily Riddle’s The Big Melt that appeared on our website. It should never have been published and we have removed it. The Fiddlehead has contributed to exactly the kind of colonial destructiveness that we should be working against. We should be supporting healing and resistance, not perpetuating racism and pain.
I have apologized to Emily Riddle. Here I also apologize to other Indigenous, Métis and Inuk writers and readers and to their wider communities. We are still figuring out the best ways of making amends and preventing any such work from being published by us again. We are so far committed to:
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reprinting and redistributing the print issue, which will no longer include the review
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soliciting and publishing a competent review of The Big Melt by an Indigenous reviewer
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hiring a new reviews editor
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not publishing any other work by the reviewer of The Big Melt
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restructuring our process for soliciting and publishing reviews
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securing sensitivity training with regard to Indigenous culture and allyship for everyone at The Fiddlehead
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improving Indigenous representation among our editors
If anyone has further thoughts they want to share, please get in touch with me at sue.sinclair@unb.ca. This a truly sorry way in which to approach the National Day of Truth and Reconciliation. I am truly sorry. We will do better.
Sue Sinclair, Editor
