Bobbi Lee Maracle (born Marguerite Aline Carter; July 2, 1950November 11, 2021) was an

Indigenous Canadian Indigenous peoples in Canada (also known as Aboriginals) are the Indigenous peoples of the Americas, Indigenous peoples within the boundaries of Canada. They comprise the First Nations in Canada, First Nations, Inuit, and Métis#Métis people in ...

writer and academic of the

Stó꞉lō The Stó꞉lō (), alternately written as Sto꞉lo, Stó꞉lô, or Stó꞉lõ, historically as Staulo, Stalo or Stahlo, and historically known and commonly referred to in ethnographic literature as the Fraser River Indians or Lower Fraser Salish, ...

nation. Born in North Vancouver, British Columbia, she left formal education after grade 8 to travel across North America, attending

Simon Fraser University Simon Fraser University (SFU) is a Public university, public research university in British Columbia, Canada. It maintains three campuses in Greater Vancouver, respectively located in Burnaby (main campus), Surrey, British Columbia, Surrey, and ...

on her return to Canada. Her first book, an autobiography called ''Bobbi Lee: Indian Rebel'', was published in 1975. She wrote fiction, non-fiction, and criticism and held various academic positions. Maracle's work focused on the lives of

Indigenous people There is no generally accepted definition of Indigenous peoples, although in the 21st century the focus has been on self-identification, cultural difference from other groups in a state, a special relationship with their traditional territ ...

, particularly women, in contemporary North America. As an influential writer and speaker, Maracle fought for those oppressed by sexism, racism, and capitalist exploitation.

Early life and education

The granddaughter of

Tsleil-Waututh The Tsleil-Waututh Nation (, ), formerly known as the Burrard Indian Band or Burrard Inlet Indian Band, is a First Nations band government in the Canadian province of British Columbia. The Tsleil-Waututh Nation ("TWN") are Coast Salish peoples w ...

Chief Dan George Chief Dan George (born Geswanouth Slahoot; July 24, 1899 – September 23, 1981) was a chief of the Tsleil-Waututh Nation, a Coast Salish band whose Indian reserve is located on Burrard Inlet in the southeast area of the District of No ...

, Marguerite Aline Carter was born on July 2, 1950, in North Vancouver, British Columbia. "Lee" was a nickname for "Aline". She grew up in North Vancouver, raised mainly by her mother, Jean (Croutze) Carter. Maracle dropped out of school after grade 8 and went from California, where she did various jobs that included producing films and doing stand-up comedy, to Toronto. After returning to Canada, she attended

. In the 1970s, she became involved with the

Red Power movement The Red Power movement was a social movement which was led by Native American youth who demanded self-determination for Native Americans in the United States. Organizations that were part of the Red Power Movement include the American Indian ...

in Vancouver.

Writing

Maracle's writing explores the experience of Indigenous women, critiquing

patriarchy Patriarchy is a social system in which positions of authority are primarily held by men. The term ''patriarchy'' is used both in anthropology to describe a family or clan controlled by the father or eldest male or group of males, and in fem ...

and

white supremacy White supremacy is the belief that white people are superior to those of other races. The belief favors the maintenance and defense of any power and privilege held by white people. White supremacy has roots in the now-discredited doctrine ...

. Her first book was an

autobiography An autobiography, sometimes informally called an autobio, is a self-written account of one's own life, providing a personal narrative that reflects on the author's experiences, memories, and insights. This genre allows individuals to share thei ...

: ''Bobbi Lee: Indian Rebel'', published in 1975. The book began as an assignment in a course about writing life histories. Critic Harmut Lutz describes ''Indian Rebel'' as "a celebration of Native survival", comparing it to the works of

Maria Campbell Maria Campbell (born April 26, 1939 near Park Valley, Saskatchewan) is a Métis author, playwright, broadcaster, filmmaker, and Elder. Campbell is a fluent speaker of four languages: Cree, Michif, Western Ojibwa, and English. Four of her publis ...

and

Howard Adams Howard Adams (September 8, 1921 – September 8, 2001) was a twentieth century Métis academic and activist. Life He was born in St. Louis, Saskatchewan, Canada, on September 8, 1921, the son of Olive Elizabeth McDougall, a French Métis m ...

. ''Indian Rebel'' was "one of the first Indigenous works published in Canada". ''I Am Woman'' (1988) applies

feminist theory Feminist theory is the extension of feminism into theoretical, fictional, or Philosophy, philosophical discourse. It aims to understand the nature of gender inequality. It examines women's and men's Gender role, social roles, experiences, intere ...

to the situation of Indigenous women, describing women's sexual victimization at the hands of Indigenous and white men alike while reflecting on her own struggle for liberation. ''Sojourner's Truth'' (1990), a collection of short stories, describes the everyday lives of Indigenous people dealing with a "

Eurocentric Eurocentrism (also Eurocentricity or Western-centrism) refers to viewing the West as the center of world events or superior to other cultures. The exact scope of Eurocentrism varies from the entire Western world to just the continent of Euro ...

culture". Her poetry book, ''Hope Matters'', was written in conjunction with her daughters

Columpa Bobb Columpa C. Bobb (born 1971) is a Canadian photographer, actress, playwright, poet and teacher of Coastal Salish descent. She has been performing, writing plays, and teaching for 20 years. Career Bobb, who is originally from Vancouver, has writt ...

and Tania Carter, and was published in 2019. ''Sundogs'', 1992, Maracle's first novel, touches on remembering Native heritage and recollecting cultural roots. ''Ravensong'', (1993), speaks of blending oral tradition and holistic oneness with living while tackling the barriers of racism, sexism, and class.

Academic positions

Maracle was one of the founders of the En'owkin International School of Writing in

Penticton, British Columbia Penticton ( ) is a city in the Okanagan, Okanagan Valley of the British Columbia, Canada, situated between Okanagan Lake, Okanagan and Skaha Lake, Skaha lakes. In the 2021 Canadian Census, its population was 36,885, while its Census geographic un ...

. She was the cultural director of the

Centre for Indigenous Theatre The Centre for Indigenous Theatre is a non-profit theater educational institution located in Toronto, Ontario. It focuses on performance art from an Indigenous cultural foundation. The goal of the Centre "is to develop and implement education ...

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

, Ontario, from 1998 to 2000. Maracle taught at the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university whose main campus is located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded by ...

University of Waterloo The University of Waterloo (UWaterloo, UW, or Waterloo) is a Public university, public research university located in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is on of land adjacent to uptown Waterloo and Waterloo Park. The university also op ...

, and

Southern Oregon University Southern Oregon University (SOU) is a public university in Ashland, Oregon. It was founded in 1872 as the Ashland Academy, has been in its current location since 1926, and was known by nine other names before assuming its current name in 1997.Kre ...

, and was a professor of Canadian culture at

Western Washington University Western Washington University (WWU or Western) is a public university in Bellingham, Washington, United States. The northernmost university in the contiguous United States, WWU was founded in 1893 as the state-funded New Whatcom Normal School, s ...

. She lived in Toronto, teaching at the University of Toronto First Nations House. She was the writer-in-residence at the

University of Guelph The University of Guelph (abbreviated U of G) is a comprehensive Public university, public research university in Guelph, Ontario, Canada. It was established in 1964 after the amalgamation of Ontario Agricultural College (1874), the MacDonald I ...

Personal life

Maracle belonged to the

nation and had

Salish Salish () may refer to: * Salish peoples, a group of First Nations/Native Americans ** Coast Salish peoples, several First Nations/Native American groups in the coastal regions of the Pacific Northwest ** Interior Salish peoples, several First Na ...

and

Cree The Cree, or nehinaw (, ), are a Indigenous peoples of the Americas, North American Indigenous people, numbering more than 350,000 in Canada, where they form one of the country's largest First Nations in Canada, First Nations. They live prim ...

ancestry. She has been described as

Métis The Métis ( , , , ) are a mixed-race Indigenous people whose historical homelands include Canada's three Prairie Provinces extending into parts of Ontario, British Columbia, the Northwest Territories and the northwest United States. They ha ...

. She was married to Raymond Bobb and later to Aiyyana Maracle. She and Raymond had two daughters, including

, and one son, actor Sid Bobb. She died on November 11, 2021, at

Surrey Memorial Hospital Surrey Memorial Hospital (SMH) is a publicly funded hospital owned and operated by Fraser Health in the city of Surrey, British Columbia, Canada, adjacent to King George Boulevard. Overview Surrey Memorial Hospital began operations in early 1959 ...

Surrey, British Columbia Surrey is a city in British Columbia, Canada. It is located south of the Fraser River on the Canada–United States border. It is a member municipality of the Metro Vancouver regional district and metropolitan area. Mainly a suburban city, Surr ...

Awards and honours

Maracle was named an officer of the

Order of Canada The Order of Canada () is a Canadian state order, national order and the second-highest Award, honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the Canadian Centennial, ce ...

in 2018. In 2017, Maracle was presented with the Bonham Centre Award from the Mark S. Bonham Centre for Sexual Diversity Studies, University of Toronto, for her contributions to the advancement and education of issues around sexual identification. She delivered the 2021 Margaret Laurence Lecture on "A Writing Life". In 2020, she was named finalist for the Neustadt International Prize for "Celia's Song".

Publications

Fiction

* ''Sojourner's Truth and Other Stories'' (1990) * ''Sundogs'' – 1992 * '' Ravensong'' – (

Press Gang Publishers Press Gang Publishing was a feminist printing and publishing collective active in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, between the early 1970s and 2002.Pike, Lois. "A Survey of Feminist Publishers and Periodicals in Canada" in ''Women and Words/L ...

, 1993) * ''Daughters Are Forever'' (2002) * ''Will's Garden'' (2002) * ''First Wives Club: Coast Salish Style'' (Theytus Books Publishing, 2010) *

Non-fiction

* ''Bobbi Lee: Indian Rebel'' (1975, reissued 1990) * ''I Am Woman: A Native Perspective on Sociology and Feminism'' (1988;

, 1996) * ''Oratory: Coming to Theory'' (1990) * ''Memory Serves: Oratories'' (2015) * ''My Conversations with Canadians'' (2017)

Poetry

* ''Bent Box'' (2000) *Talking to the Diaspora (2015) ISBN 9781894037655 * (with Columpa Bobb and Tania Carter)

Collaborations

* ''My Home as I Remember'' (2000)'''' * ''We Get Our Living Like Milk from the Land'' (1993) * ''Telling It: Women and Language Across Cultures'' (with Betsy Warland, Sky Lee and

Daphne Marlatt Daphne Marlatt, CM ( Buckle, July 11, 1942), is a Canadian poet and novelist who lives in Vancouver, British Columbia. At a young age, her family moved to Malaysia and at age nine, they moved to British Columbia, where she later attended the Un ...

) (

, 1990)

Citations

General sources

External links

The Canadian Encyclopedia page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Maracle, Lee 1950 births 2021 deaths Poets from Vancouver Canadian women poets Canadian women novelists First Nations feminists Simon Fraser University alumni Southern Oregon University faculty Western Washington University faculty Academic staff of the University of Toronto Academic staff of the University of Waterloo First Nations women writers 20th-century Canadian novelists 21st-century Canadian novelists 20th-century Canadian poets 21st-century Canadian poets 20th-century Canadian women writers 21st-century Canadian women writers First Nations poets First Nations novelists Canadian feminist writers Officers of the Order of Canada 20th-century First Nations writers 21st-century First Nations writers Indigenous Canadian women academics First Nations academics Poets from Ontario Novelists from Ontario Novelists from Vancouver