A Mind Spread Out on the Ground

From the onset of this collection of essays, Alicia Elliott brings up the component of language in discussions about and approaches to mental health. Part of the namesake of this book stems from her exploration of how her Haudenosaunee ancestors worded and understood the depression that she lives with. Looking at Elliott’s essays, how do you understand the relationship between colonialism and language in terms of mental health, particularly considering that First Nations peoples suffer from extremely high rates of depression, suicide, and other mental illness?

Elliott cannot get it out of her head after her professor declares one day that “mothers are the most hated group of people in the world,” (81). Do you agree with this statement? Why or why not? Why do you think none of the students in the class contested this statement? Based on her collection of essays, what does Elliott make of this statement?

Elliott’s fourth essay, “Weight,” is the only essay in this collection that she writes in the second person. Why do you think she chose to write this particular essay in the second person? What is the impact of this