Celebrated indigenous author Lee Maracle dies at 71

Noted writer Lee Maracle, one of the first indigenous authors to be published in Canada in the 1970s, died in a Vancouver hospital, a family friend confirmed to The Canadian Press on Thursday. She was 71 years old.

“Lee was a powerhouse,” Cree writer, poet and lawyer Michelle Good wrote to the Star.

“It was not long ago that Canadian publishers did not consider it worthwhile to invest in indigenous authors. Lee played a key role in breaking down those barriers. We are all indebted to her. “

Alicia Elliott, a Mohawk writer, tweeted that when Canadian publishers refused to publish Maracle’s first book, Bobbi Lee Indian Rebel, she gathered signatures on a petition from people who said they would buy her book. Published in 1975, the book became a critical success.

“She swept the space for NDN (Native Indigenous) women,” Elliott tweeted, referring to an Indigenous-led organization dedicated to building Indigenous power.

Playwright Drew Hayden Taylor considered Maracle a friend, co-worker and “matriarch in the world of indigenous literature” who “guided and encouraged so many promising writers over the past decades, it is impossible to measure her significance in this.” industry.”

They recently collaborated on a collection of essays and, this is a little known fact, Maracle acted in some of their works. “But most importantly, it will be her laugh that I will miss. You could find her, through her laughter, (at a) party of a thousand people, ”he wrote to the Star.

Born in North Vancouver, BC of Salish and Cree descent, Maracle produced a prolific body of work, combining fiction, non-fiction, poetry, and traditional storytelling.

He won many awards, including the Order of Canada “for his contributions to the Canadian literary landscape and for his influential voice in cultural relations between indigenous and non-indigenous peoples in Canada.”

In a 1991 interview with The Star, Maracle commented on how her writing addressed the pressing issues facing the indigenous peoples of Canada.

“All my stories are for my own people,” he said. “I realize that New Age spirituality makes us really interesting to a lot of whites, but mostly I want to get to ours.

“We can stop being victims and begin to trace our own humanity.”

Editor Hazel Millar of Toronto’s Book * hug Press said Maracle considered “My Conversations with Canadians,” a finalist for the 2018 Toronto Book Award, her first book for all Canadians. It was published by Book * hug Press and a collection of Maracle poetry written with his daughters, Columpa Bobb and Tania Carter, two of his four children.

Maracle had been teaching at the University of Toronto, but last summer he sold his house and returned to the West Coast, Millar said. “It was her plan to eventually retire there, back to her community. They did that this summer. We were so happy that she knew about that dream she had … that they were realizing it. “

Millar’s partner and co-editor Jay Millar recalled her first meeting with Maracle at a book conference in 2014, where she was the keynote speaker.

“She is larger than life. She just rushed into the conference and made her presence known. Then he spoke for an hour … with very powerful messages about Canada. “

—With files from Simran Singh, Toronto Star, and The Canadian Press



Reference-www.thestar.com

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