Latest news with #DavidARobertson
CBC
4 days ago
- General
- CBC
For David A. Robertson, stories are at the heart of reconciliation
Social Sharing Through his books and public speaking, David A. Robertson has dedicated his career to sharing stories about Indigenous people. Robertson began publishing books in 2010 and has since released 33 titles, including picture books, graphic novels, fiction and memoir. With each of his stories, the Winnipeg author delves into hard truths, always with a gentle touch and a profound sense of hope. His recent book, 52 Ways to Reconcile, is a guide for both Indigenous and non-Indigenous people who want to take action when it comes to reconciliation — and shows how we can work together on the long road ahead. "I really do think it's a community movement and it's not good enough for one [group] to understand the other," he said on Bookends with Mattea Roach. "It's for us to do the work to talk with each other. I can't stress that enough." A two-time Governor General's Literary Award winner and a member of the Norway House Cree Nation, Robertson shared his approach to building community between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people — and why the term "reconciliation" might not be the right word for it. Mattea Roach: I think reconciliation entered the vocabulary for a lot of people when the Truth and Reconciliation Commission was established back in 2008. But that wasn't the first time the word reconciliation was used to talk about Indigenous peoples and their relationship with Canada. What does the word reconciliation mean to you? David A. Robertson: I've been lucky enough to go to schools across Canada to speak to kids, teachers and adults all over the place. As I've done this work, I've come to a better understanding of what we're trying to do. I do think that reconciliation, in the broad sense that people think about it, is a misnomer because we're not trying to return to anything. We're not trying to fix something that was not broken before. The relationship between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Canada has always been broken. So it's not exactly the right word, I don't think. I used it, but I just want people to think critically about everything — so we think critically about this word. What we're trying to do, it's building relationships, it's building community. It's doing that through mutual understanding and respect. What we're trying to do, it's building relationships, it's building community. It's doing that through mutual understanding and respect. - David A. Robertson So we're not trying to build or return to anything. We're trying to build something for the first time. If we keep that in mind, I don't care what you call it, as long as we're doing things properly and with the right kind of vision. I think that conversation hopefully focuses that vision onto the right kind of goals we need to have. You've said that you see reconciliation as a verb. Can you talk more about that concept? It is an action, it is intentionality. We need to continue to think about the actions that we can take in our own capacities and have a long-term view and know that we need to continue to act into the future. My dad used to say that — I'll probably mention my dad every single answer I give — if he did things the right way, he won't see the results of the actions that he's taken in his lifetime. I was given this amazing reminder of that when, after he died, I was giving a personal development session to Indigenous teachers at the Canadian Human Rights Museum in Winnipeg. My dad worked in Indigenous education and after the session, the teachers came up to me and told me that a lot of them were there because of my dad. I saw what he meant there and I wish he was there to see that, but he knew he didn't have to be, he wouldn't be. We have a long road to go and a lot of actions need to be taken and will need to be taken for the foreseeable future. - David A. Robertson It's a continual action and keeping in mind as well that we're still trying not only to heal from what's happened, but we'll be trying to heal from what is happening now for a long time. We still have colonial systems in this country that are doing damage. That means that the clock hasn't started ticking yet to when we need to start healing as a whole. The foster care system, the education system, justice, all of these systems are still in place that are doing harm. So we have a long road to go and a lot of actions need to be taken and will need to be taken for the foreseeable future. If we take them with intentionality and with the knowledge that we all do have a role and we all can take an action and we should take an action, that's when we change this word into a verb. And that verb is a motivational factor for us to continue to do the work together as a community. You say that stories are at the heart of reconciliation. Why is that for you? Reconciliation is inexorably linked with truth. You can't get healing, whatever way you want to talk about it, without truth. And the truth lies in the stories that we tell. My dad and I used to talk about reconciliation as a conversation. It's not a one way conversation. It's like what we're doing now, sitting across the table and talking to each other and listening, really listening to each other and working to understand each other and come to respect through understanding. That's what it is. Then, through that, we see two things. One of them is that we're all people. We share the human condition. And the other thing is that the things that set us apart, the differences, make us stronger as a community. There's a teaching of non-interference in the Cree culture and that is that you don't interfere with how someone else lives. You try to model a good life through how you live. I think that's a really good way to go about anything.
CBC
21-05-2025
- Entertainment
- CBC
The 5 books that saved David A. Robertson's life
Picking favourites can be very challenging for many book lovers — but for prize-winning author David A. Robertson, it's a question he's always excited to answer. "I like doing stuff like that," he told Antonio Michael Downing on The Next Chapter. "I'm a list guy. This is right up my alley. It's my bag." Robertson, a member of the Norway House Cree Nation, has written 30 books for both children and adults. His most recent work is All The Little Monsters, a memoir in which he opens up about his experiences with anxiety as a way to accept and heal. In honour of its release, he joined Downing to share the stories that shaped his life and writing and have helped him feel less alone. "I would say that in many ways, art has saved my life, including these works of literature," he said. Nine Stories by J.D. Salinger J.D. Salinger's short story collection Nine Stories is a formative book for Robertson — so much so that he carries it around with him wherever he goes. "I have it in my backpack," he said. "I actually have multiple copies too, because I sometimes give it away or lend it out for other people to read." Robertson cited Salinger as one of his inspirations while working on his short story collection, The Evolution of Alice. "I just found myself absorbing so much of his storytelling techniques, structure, voice, and the incredibly subtle but powerful ways that he worked towards the climax of these stories in such a short amount of time." Robertson's favourite story of the collection is called A Perfect Day for Banana Fish and features a phone conversation between a woman and her mom, a young boy playing on the beach, and an unexpected ending. "It's like this huge, surprising, shocking ending that you don't really see coming," he said. How to Stop Worrying and Start Living by Dale Carnegie Another important book for Robertson is the 1948 self-help book by the late American writer Dale Carnegie, How to Stop Worrying and Start Living. "[Carnegie] had a very analytical way of approaching mental health struggles, in particular anxiety, and it spoke to me in a way that I needed to hear because one of the interventions for me among many is this ability to look at your anxiety objectively and really to rationalize it," he said. Robertson came across the title during a frantic Google search when he was experiencing a mental health breakdown — and he listened to the audiobook during his son's hockey practices. "It's become such an important text for me and how I'm able to sometimes do the same thing that he instructed in this story — try to rationalize your anxiety so that you can live with it better." Swing Low by Miriam Toews Canadian writer Miriam Toews is one of Robertson's favourite living writers — and her book Swing Low really resonated with him. In Swing Low, Toews writes her father's memoir after he dies by suicide. Telling the story from his perspective, she recounts his diagnosis with bipolar disorder at age 17, his psychiatrist's grim prediction for his life, and how he overcame that to marry his high school sweetheart, have three daughters and become a teacher for 40 years. "We all have this kind of similarity in our struggles when we have mental health that I was able to find healing," said Robertson. "That book, even though it's a profoundly sad book, it's also profoundly beautiful." "It's this power of story and it's how when we share our stories, we realize that even though we think we're alone, we're not as alone as we thought we are and I think that is the healing power of stories, especially within the context of mental health." Tom's Midnight Garden by Philippa Pearce Perhaps best known for his bestselling middle-grade fantasy series the Misewa Saga, Robertson was inspired by Tom's Midnight Garden 's approach to time travel when crafting his own novels. Tom's Midnight Garden tells the story of a boy named Tom who's quarantined with the measles. He's bored in his flat with nothing to do, but when the clock strikes 13, he can open the back door to this beautiful garden that isn't there in the so-called "real world." He goes there every night and meets a girl named Hattie at all different times in her life — and they develop an amazing friendship. "It's just like the construct of it, the storytelling, the beautiful way in which this friendship develops and how Philipa Pearce plays with time travel is really familiar, but also incredibly unique." An Anthology of Monsters by Cherie Dimaline "I love, first of all, that Cherie and I both describe our anxiety as a monster that lives with us, but she connects this experience with living with this monster to stories," said Robertson. In An Anthology of Monsters, Cherie Dimaline explores her experience with anxiety and how the stories we tell ourselves can help us reshape the ways in which we think, cope and survive. She uses examples from her books, her mother and her own life to reveal how to collect and curate stories to elicit difficult and beautiful conversations. She also reflects on how family and community can be a source of strength and a place of refuge.
