FINDING COMMON GROUND
Join in with the Harmony festival
HARMONY ARTS FESTIVAL
July 29-Aug. 7 | Argyle Avenue, from 14th Street to 16th Street, West Vancouver Info: harmonyarts.ca
Canadian author and activist Joseph Boyden says when he does Q & As during readings one question always seems to come up.
“They always ask me how do you fix the world,” laughed the awardwinning, outspoken writer who will appear at the Harmony Arts Festival’s Readings in the Park program in West Vancouver on Aug. 4. So, how would he fix the world? “I think fear is at the heart of so many of our problems and the heart of many of the situations we are facing,” said Boyden during a recent phone interview.
“It’s fear of the unknown, fear of the outsider. Fear of the indigenous person because they’ve never met one. I think that really is at the heart of a lot of the problems we have. I think we have to continually fight that idea of fear.”
It is fear, he says, that is being peddled around the globe by politicians, most famously U.S. Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump.
“I was amazed at Trump’s first public ... announcement, the going-to-run-for-president speech where he said basically that Mexicans are rapists and murderers. I thought to myself, ‘oh look at that, he just sunk his whole campaign,’” said Boyden who hash ada home in New Orleans since 1992.
“What happened was the complete opposite. I was shocked. He didn’t sink his campaign, it went ballistic. Suddenly he was a contender. I think it shocked not just me but a lot of people.”
With the U.S. embroiled in the politics of fear, Boyden is hopeful that his home and native land is facing today’s challenges with a more collective open mind. He thinks Prime Minister Justin Trudeau avoiding fear tactics and remaining “optimistic,” during the campaign helped him to land his majority government.
“I have great hope; actually, it kind of feels like the dark days are over,” said Boyden, who openly criticized the previous Conservative government of Stephen Harper.
“Especially for indigenous people. Things are not perfect and it is going to take a lot of work for us to become a country that is truly inclusive but I think we are on our way to doing that. I think we are doing the opposite of what the rest of the world is doing. While every-
It’s fear of the unknown, fear of the outsider. Fear of the indigenous person because they’ve never met one.
one else is screaming ‘no more immigrants,’ we are saying ‘bring us more immigrants.’”
An advocate for First Nations culture and issues, Boyden — who has Irish, Scottish and Anishinaabe heritage — is most well known for his award-winning novels Three Day Road, Through Black Spruce and The Orenda. He has also collaborated with The Winnipeg Ballet on the groundbreaking First Nations focused ballet Going Home Star — Truth and Reconciliation.
When Boyden takes to the stage at the Harmony festival he will be reading from some new works, including his novella Wenjack, about a young boy who runs away from a residential school (which is to be released in October.)
“That will be really fun, because I haven’t done that in awhile. I’ve been giving a lot of talks,” said Boyden, who also has a full novel set for release in 2017.
If you are planning on checking out Boyden live, expect energy, directness and some tough talk. He is not a fan of Harper and the approach his government took when it came to First Nations issues.
Boyden says that, after talking with Trudeau, he feels changes are on the way. He met with the PM just before Trudeau headed to Washington for a state dinner with President Obama. Trudeau was asked to bring a book he felt represented Canada: he chose Boyden’s Three Day Road.
“I was so honoured,” said Boyden, who said he and the PM talked about indigenous issues including Attawapiskat, in Northern Ontario.
“Trudeau is really open to ideas. He has proven to be anything but just the hair,” he added, laughing.
Boyden, who spends most of his time in New Orleans but has a home in Northern Ontario, says he tries to get to Canada as much as possible. It is his northern home that keeps him grounded, positive and full of perspective.
“I come home to Canada and fill up the well. I go back to New Orleans, where then I have enough of a physical and geographic distance from Canada, the country that I love to write about,” said Boyden.