Beloved Storyteller Richard Wagamese Leaves Us with Embers

Beloved storyteller, award winning author and journalist Richard Wagamese died March 10, 2017 at the age of 61.  Originally from Northwestern Ontario, Wagamese described himself as second generation survivor of residential school  because of the trauma that was passed down by his parents who attended residential school.  Part of the sixties scoop, Wagamese was in foster care and then raisied by a non-Indigenous family in southern Ontario.  He worked across Canada and called Kamloops home in his later years.

Author of many books of fiction, many based on autobiographical themes as well as non-fiction, essays and poetry, he was first and foremost a storyteller.  “He loved stories and stories loved him,” said Kim Wheeler of the CBC.

Wagamese always wrote from the heart and his voice is one that inspired many others.  Shelagh Rogers of the CBC was his `chosen sister`.  You can hear her speak about him here.   She called him “love on legs”. He told painful stories with a generosity of spirit that opened people`s hearts and minds, remembered Rogers.

The CBC show Unreserved paid tribute to him.   You can listen to the podcast of that edition here. In that special show, author Thomas King said that Wagamese could cross cultures by writing from a vulnerable position.  Author Waubgeshig Rice said, “We’ve lost a vibrant spirit and a beautiful voice.”  Speaking of Wagamese’s legacy, Rice said, “At the core of that legacy is the resilience of the human spirit which transcends all of our differences.” 

I had just received Richard Wagamese’s last book, Embers, One Ojibways Meditations as a gift, when he died. It is a collection of his writings when he started each day in silence with sweetgrass, cedar, tobacco and sage burning and it is a beautiful way to start your own day.

He will be terribly missed by many Canadians including the authors he mentored but we will be comforted by the work that he has left behind. If you haven`t read any of his work, it is available in stores, on-line and in libraries.  If you want to hear his voice, you can see a video of him receiving the 2015 Matt Cohen Award with the Writer`s Trust and hear him speak about his relationship with story here. 

Here are some passages from Embers that turned out to be his last gift.

Richard Wagamsese (2016) Embers. Madiera Park, BC: Douglas & McIntyre.

“In the darker depths of long winter nights, spirits slumber, too, and allow their stories to be told – these are the storytelling moons.  Elders and storytellers who have been given tales to carry speak softly, reverentially and the people hear them.  The people do not merely listen – they hear.  To hear is to have a spiritual, mental, emotional or physical reaction to the words.  Sometimes at very special times, you have all four reactions and are changed forever.  Share stories, fill cold nights with the warmth of your connections, your relationships, here each other and be much more.  That is the power of storytelling.” (Embers p.100)

“Life is something hard.  There are challenges.  There are difficulties.  There is pain.  As a younger man, I sought to avoid pain and difficulty and only caused myself more of the same.  These days, I choose to face life head on – and I have become a comet.  I arc across the sky of my life and the hard times are the friction that shaves off the worn and tired bits.  The more I travel head-on, the more I am shaped, and the things that no longer work or are unnecessary drop away.  It’s a good way to travel.  I believe eventually I will wear away all resilience, until all that’s left of me is light.” (Embers p.133)

“To tell.  To use the act of breathing to shape air into sounds that take on the context of language that lifts and transports those who hear it, takes them beyond what they think and know and feel and empowers them to think and feel and know even more.  We’re all storytellers, really.  That’s what we do.  That is our power as human beings.  Not to tell people how to think and feel and therefore know – but through our stories allow them to discover questions within themselves.  Turn off your TV and your devices and talk to each other.  Share stories.  Be joined, transported and transformed.” (Embers p.72)

 On CBC’s Unreserved author Waubgeshig Rice said it best:

 “Baamaapii Richard.  Chi Meegwetch.”