Image courtesy of Thompson Rivers University.
Richard Wagamese - author, journalist, and educator, was born on October 14th, 1955 in Northwestern Ontario, on the traditional territory of the Anishinaabe (Ojibwe) Nation; died on March 10, 2017, in Kamloops, BC, on the traditional territory of the Tk̓emlúps te Secwépemc Nation.
Wagamese was one of the best-known and highest-regarded writers in Canada. Wagamese won several awards for his writing career including the National Newspaper Award (1991), the Canada Council for the Arts Molson Prize (2013) and the Writers’ Trust of Canada’s Matt Cohen Award (2015). Wagamese received an Honorary Doctor of Letters degree recognizing his distinguished, award-winning career as an author from Thompson Rivers University in 2010.
Wagamese's writing is credited with helping to enlighten "Settler Colonialists" regarding the negative impact that they (and their predecessors) have had upon Indigenous people since "first contact" with Settlers occurred more than 500 years ago.
His writing brought many issues regarding Indigenous identity, culture and truth and reconciliation from the periphery into the mainstream of Canadian social dialogue.
It is fair to state that Wagamese is a beloved writer, his works have inspired both Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples and writers.
