Basil H. Johnston

Basil Johnston
Born (1929-07-13)July 13, 1929
Parry Island Indian Reserve
Died September 8, 2015(2015-09-08) (aged 86)
Wiarton, Ontario
Notable awards Order of Ontario, Stephen Leacock Memorial Medal for Humour

Basil H. Johnston OOnt (13 July 1929 – 8 September 2015) was a Canadian writer, storyteller, language teacher and scholar.

Biography

St. Peter Claver School for Boys

Johnston was born July 13, 1929 on the Parry Island Indian Reserve to Rufus and Mary (née Lafrenière) Johnston.[1][2] He was a member of the Chippewas of Nawash Unceded First Nation, formerly Cape Croker (Neyaashiinigmiing), in the Bruce Penninsula.[3][4][5]

Johnston was educated in reserve schools in Cape Croker and later sent, along with his sister Marilyn, to residential school in Spanish, Ontario. He wrote about his experience as a student at St. Peter Claver School for Boys in his 1988 book Indian School Day.[3] After graduating high school as class valedictorian, he earned his B.A. with Honors from Loyola College (1954) and a high school teaching certificate from the Ontario College of Education (1962).[6] In 1959, Johnston married Lucie Desroches, with whom he had three children - Miriam, Tibby and Geoffery.[7]

Johnston died in 2015 at Wiarton, Ontario.[8] Prior to his death he donated his papers, including photographs, correspondence and manuscripts to the McMaster University Library for use by researchers in the William Ready Division of Archives and Research Collections.[9]

Teaching

Johnston taught high school at Earl Haig Secondary School in North York, Ontario, from 1962 to 1969, before taking a position in the Ethnology Department of the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto.[10][6] Part of his focus during his 25 years with the museum was the regeneration of the language, values and beliefs of Anishinaabe heritage.[11] He developed an extensive series of Ojibwa language courses on tape and in print, believing that traditional language education was essential to understanding Indigenous culture.[6] In the 1990 essay "One Generation From Extinction"[12] he examined the essential role Indigenous language and literature play in restoring lost "Indianness". Of the impacts of lost language he explains:

There is cause to lament but it is the native peoples who have the most cause to lament the passing of their languages. They lose not only the ability to express the simplest of daily sentiments and needs but they can no longer understand the ideas, concepts, insights, attitudes, rituals, ceremonies, institutions brought into being by their ancestors; and, having lost the power to understand, cannot sustain, enrich, or pass on their heritage. No longer will they think Indian or feel Indian.

Writing

Johnston wrote extensively in both English and Ojibwa.[6] Though he went on to publish numerous books, articles and poems, publishing companies were initially reluctant to release Johnston's work. While publishers recognized the authenticity of his writing, they questioned whether there was a market for it. His first book Ojibway Heritage was published in 1976 thanks to the support of Jack McClelland and Anna Porter of McClelland & Stewart. In 1978 Porter proved equally instrumental, fighting for the publication of Johnston's second book, Moose Meat and Wild Rice, after a McClelland & Stewart editor suggested the publisher pass on the title, in part, because stories of its kind were "currently passé."[7] The book, which was nominated for a Stephen Leacock Memorial Medal for Humour, comprised 22 fictional short-stories and offered satirical comment about the relationship between Indigenous peoples, government officials and the nature of acculturation.[13]

Awards

Johnston was honoured with numerous awards for his work in preserving Ojibwa language and culture in addition to Honorary Doctorates from the University of Toronto, Laurentian University and Brandon University.[8][14][15]

Bibliography

Filmography

References

  1. ↑ Stoffman, Judy (26 September 2015). "Writer Basil Johnston paved way for First Nations literature". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 8 March 2016.
  2. ↑ New, William H. (2002). Encyclopedia of Literature in Canada. University of Toronto Press. p. 555. ISBN 9780802007612. Retrieved 5 November 2016.
  3. 1 2 Edwards, Brendan F.R. "Basil H. Johnston". The Canadian Encyclopedia. Historica Canada. Retrieved 28 October 2016.
  4. ↑ "Ontario Regional Chief Offers Condolences to the Family of Author and Educator Basil Johnston". www.chiefs-of-ontario.org. Chiefs of Ontario. 10 September 2015. Retrieved 28 October 2016.
  5. ↑ Robertson, Becky (11 September 2015). "Anishnaabe author Basil H. Johnston dies at 86 | Quill and Quire". quillandquire.com. Quill and Quire. Retrieved 28 October 2016.
  6. 1 2 3 4 Petrone, Penny (2006). Benson, Eugene; Toye, William, eds. The Oxford companion to Canadian literature (2. ed. ed.). Oxford: Oxford Univ. Press. ISBN 9780195411676.
  7. 1 2 Meilie, Dianne (2015). "Basil Johnston Editor wrote 'Indians are passe' on author's manuscript". Windspeaker. 33 (7): 26. Retrieved 8 March 2016.
  8. 1 2 Langlois, Denis (10 September 2015). "Esteemed Anishinaabe author Basil Johnston dies". wiartonecho.com. Wiarton Echo. Retrieved 8 March 2016.
  9. ↑ Nolan, Daniel (26 September 2013). "Ojibwa author Johnson donates papers to McMaster". Hamilton Spectator. Retrieved 4 November 2016.
  10. ↑ Fitzgerald, Judith (16 July 1983). "Johnston avoids Indian stereotypes: An Ojibway writes about his own". Toronto: The Globe & Mail. Retrieved 8 March 2016.
  11. ↑ "Anishinabek remember storyteller Basil Johnston". Anishinabek News. 10 September 2015. Retrieved 29 March 2016.
  12. ↑ Johnston, Basil H. (1990). "One Generation from Extinction". In New, William H. Native writers and Canadian writing Canadian literature special issue (Special issue, reprinted. ed.). Vancouver [B.C.]: UBC Press. ISBN 0774803703.
  13. ↑ Petrone, S. Penny (2004). Benson, Eugene; Conolly, L.W., eds. Encyclopedia of Post-Colonial Literatures in English. Routledge. ISBN 9781134468485. Retrieved 5 November 2016.
  14. 1 2 3 "Basil Johnston receives 2013 Ontario Arts Council Aboriginal Arts Award". www.arts.on.ca. Retrieved 28 October 2016.
  15. 1 2 3 Brown, Lynne. "Sacred Fire. In Memorium. Basil H. Johnston 1929-2015 | SaultOnline.com". saultonline.com. Retrieved 28 October 2016.
  16. ↑ "Nineteen honored With Order of Ontario". Toronto: The Globe & Mail. 19 April 1989. Retrieved 8 March 2016.
  17. ↑ Switzer, Maurice. "Basil Johnston could tell -- and write -- stories". BayToday.ca. Retrieved 28 October 2016.

External links

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