Joseph Kakwinokanasum and Marty Wilson-Trudeau win $5K awards recognizing Indigenous literature
The PMC Indigenous Literature Awards recognize the best of Indigenous literature
Books by Joseph Kakwinokanasum and Marty Wilson-Trudeau won the 2023 PMC Indigenous Literature Awards.
The awards encourage intergenerational storytelling and family literacy. The winners are chosen by a jury of Indigenous librarians from across Ontario, and recognize the best of Indigenous literature.
Each winner will receive $5,000.
Kakwinokanasum won the young adult/adult category for My Indian Summer.
My Indian Summer is a novel about reconciliation, survival and identity set during the summer of 1979. When his mother returns home only to collect the last two months' welfare cheques, Hunter Frank is left behind in Red Rock with his two siblings to fend for themselves. The siblings become involved in an adventure involving a trio of elders and a stash of cash hidden in the 12-year-old Hunter's mattress.
The coming-of-age story is based loosely on Kakwinokanasum's childhood, exploring intergenerational trauma and the understanding that some villains are also victims. My Indian Summer is Kakwinokanasum's debut novel.
Kakwinokanasum is a member of James Smith Cree Nation and a writer based in the Lower Mainland of British Columbia. He received a Canada Council for the Arts creation grant for Aboriginal peoples, writers and storytellers in 2014.
He was one of five writers named as 2022 Canada Trust Rising Stars, and was also published in the anthology, Resonance: Essays on the Craft and Life of Writing in early 2022. Kakwinokanasum's story Ray Says was a finalist for the 2020 CBC Nonfiction Prize.
The Cree-Austrian writer told CBC Books that to receive this award is incredibly precious as it comes from within his community.
"You can get validation from the Gillers and Pulitzers, but this type of validation that I get from this particular award is overwhelming because it's Indigenous communities that are reading these books and deciding. To be chosen by my peers and librarians, it's hard to quantify something like this for me," Kakwinokanasum said. "It's an emotional punch in the chest that just took the wind right out of me."
Kakwinokanasum said he didn't have books like this growing up as a kid.
"There were no books out there to explain why my mom was so angry all the time, why everyone drank so much, or why there was so much abuse. There were no books to teach us. I mean, we weren't allowed to speak our language at school or even at home," he said.
"It goes beyond the erasure of Indigenous culture and people. It's part of the genocide to make people forget about it. You know, out of sight, out of mind. And where's that truth? Why didn't we learn that in school? So to have this book as young adult material winning this award, well, the coin is flipped."
Wilson-Trudeau won the children's category for Phoenix Gets Greater.
The book was written with her son, Phoenix Wilson, and illustrated by Inuk illustrator and painter, Megan Kyak-Monteith.
Based on the childhood experiences of her son, Phoenix Gets Greater is a story about the importance of family acceptance. Phoenix is an Anishinaabe child who loves to play with dolls and especially loves to dance, whether it is ballet or Pow Wow dancing. While he sometimes gets bullied and struggles with feeling different, his mother and brother are there to show him just how special he is. With their help, Phoenix learns about Two Spirit/Niizh Manidoowag in his culture, and the difference a loving and supportive family can make.
Wilson-Trudeau is an Anishinaabe Kwe writer originally from M'Chigeeng, Ont, and a post-secondary drama teacher in Sudbury, Ont.
Her son Phoenix is an Anishinaabe actor and dancer. Wilson has appeared onscreen in Longmire, Letterkenny and Wild Indian.
After watching her son's struggles in primary school, Wilson-Trudeau wanted to write a story that would help other children in similar situations. When she asked Wilson if he would like to help her write Phoenix Gets Greater, the now 17-year-old was all for it if it meant helping even one other child accept themselves for who they are, she told CBC Books.
While Wilson-Trudeau wrote this book with the intention of allowing other families to reach out to their children, she soon realized that Phoenix Gets Greater had the potential to reach a wider audience and teach them about Two Spirit people.
"They've always been in our culture. It was always just known and always just accepted," she said.
LISTEN | Why Phoenix Wilson and Marty Wilson-Trudeau wrote a book together:
Wilson-Trudeau believes that it is important to promote Indigenous voices and experiences within literature.
"For hundreds of years, we've been silenced. By mainstream Canadian culture, by mainstream Canadian governments, by mainstream Canadian people. So it's important that our voices – Indigenous, Native, Inuit – tell stories because we have been silenced for so long," she said.
For her, winning this award feels surreal.
"Oh, it means so much. I'm so honoured and humbled because the book was in the running with so many other wonderful books written by absolutely inspiring people. This is truly an honour," Wilson-Trudeau said.
The PMC Indigenous Literature Award was inspired by the First Nations Communities READ program.
The First Nations Communities READ was launched in 2003 by the First Nations Public Library Community in Ontario. The program emphasizes the importance of First Nation, Métis and Inuit writing, illustration and publishing.
"This is such a useful program and I'm just so grateful for this to be in the world. Awards like this are so important," Kakwinokanasum said.
Last year's winners of the award were Carol Anne Hilton for Indigenomics: Taking a Seat at the Economic Table, S.P. Joseph Lyons for Little Bear in Foster Care and Lisa Boivin for We Dream Medicine Dreams.
Other past winners include It's a Mitig! by Bridget George, Chasing Painted Horses by Drew Hayden Taylor and The Bear's Medicine by Clayton Gauthier.
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