As it Happened: The Archive Edition - Richard Wagamese on his 2014 novel Medicine Walk
For the late author, the traditional Ojibway ritual of a journey on foot offered a path to redemption
For Richard Wagamese, life and story were one and the same.
"All that we are is story. From the moment we are born to the time we continue on our spirit journey, we are involved in the creation of the story of our time here. It is what we arrive with. It is all we leave behind," he wrote.
The Ojibway author died in 2017. He was 61.
In his 2014 novel, Medicine Walk, Wagamese told the story of a dying father's attempts to reconcile with his estranged son by embarking on a journey into the B.C. mountains — where he hoped his son would give him a traditional Ojibway warrior's burial.
After it was published, Wagamese joined As it Happens host Carol Off for a feature interview. Here are some highlights from that conversation.
What is a medicine walk?
"In Ojibway teachings, a medicine walk is a journey that you undertake upon the land to gather everything that you need for sustenance on your overall journey.
"And those could be roots or herbs. Sometimes they're stones. Sometimes they're just objects that call to you as you're making this very, very mindful journey.
"And it's meant to be the medicines that you gather that strengthen you. And in our way of looking at things, medicines are those things that bring you closer to the centre of your being. And so in context of the story, the medicine walk that Franklin, the young boy, takes, is gathering the elements of his father's story that he's never had before. And for Eldon, the medicine walk in is the giving away of that history to his son.
"So it's a very strong and powerful ritual symbol — and very, very necessary for both of the characters."
On the 1,600-km walk to Ottawa undertaken by a group of Cree youth
"It's a very, very powerful thing — because what it gives you is the opportunity to be in touch with the land. It gives you a chance with each foot plant to actually feel the spirit of it, to feel the critical joining that you have with it.
"And for those young people who made that journey, it was about centring themselves and in a very mindful way — so the message that they carried to the prime minister [Stephen Harper] would be one that came from a spiritual and emotional place.
"And I was really, really saddened that the prime minister actually chose to listen to panda bears other than his own people when they made that journey to see him.
"I think that the whole Idle No More movement has reawakened and rekindled a desire for people to strengthen themselves — both ceremonially, ritually, spiritually and culturally.
"And the young people who have stood at the drums and sang their hearts out have been really, really touched by the ideology of that movement. And so their voices have become a whole lot more active and a whole lot more profound.
"And I think it's more than time."
On the process of reclamation
"[We're] talking about those young people who did that walk, and we're talking about people who are finding their way out from the rubble of residential schools, and the Sixties Scoop and all of the things that have troubled and perplexed and bothered our people for generations now.
"There's a younger generation that's coming out of that that's stronger, because of the dark and twisted history.
"And they're being able to reclaim themselves and their identity — through a retouching and a reclaiming of their roots that sink deep into the land of Canada.
"But I think it's a deeper issue. I think it's us as a people, us as Aboriginal Peoples, reaching out to our Canadian neighbours with the truth of our story, of our journey here and trying to create a sense of political and spiritual and community unity across the country so that we can all work together — not only for the betterment of Canada itself, but betterment of the environment and the betterment of the planet."
On Truth and Reconciliation
"In terms of Canada, after 140-some years of Confederation, it's time that we all heard the whole story of the development of the country.
"And I know that in my own sense, that until I could look at my own personal history and its wholeness in its entirety — and embrace even dark and bruised places — up until that point, I wasn't capable of healing and recovering myself. But I'm able to nowadays, because I embrace the whole story.
"What we're asking Canadians to do is not to own any guilt or own any shame for what the mechanics of history has allowed to happen here, but to be able to say yes to the story — rather than obfuscate and cloud it behind history as it's written.
"And I think that when we can do that, we get a greater idea of where our country has been. And we also get a greater idea collectively of where we're able to go.
"What the novel asks people to consider is whether the reclamation of a personal history is either a triumph or a sorrow, or both. And in discovering that answer for ourselves as individuals, we discover a sense of our own personal history — a really, really valid and necessary one.
"Because of my post-traumatic stress disorder that I carried for years, it manifested itself primarily in alcoholism. And my alcoholism was the reason that their mothers chose to separate me from my sons. And until I could find a ways and a means to get in touch with my own personal history, find a device that would allow me to generate my own healing, I wasn't able to be a productive part of the lives of my sons.
"We have to close the circle individually. If we know that we bear pain and trauma, we have to be willing to address all of it. We have to be willing to go to therapy, we have to be brave enough to confront our demons, we have to be brave enough to be honest and say, 'Yes, because of that, this is what I did.'
"And we can do that as individuals. We can do that as communities. If we can do that as communities, we can do that as nations. If we do that as nations, we can do that as a society.
"And I think, more importantly, the big upshot of that whole thing is that if we can do that on that scale, we can do that as a human species."
On staying optimistic
"I mean, it's the only way that I find any comfort. I've been a journalist for 35 years. I've written about virtually every First Nations and Aboriginal issue in the country — not once, not twice, not four times, but many, many, many times.
"And it would have been easy to have become jaded.
"But because of the rich and vibrant ceremonial and spiritual life that still exists in our communities, there is a way to see the light in the darkness and to keep on working towards that. And that philosophy — that view — is the way that you march toward it."