Honorary Degree Recipient 2014

Richard Wagamese
Doctor of Letters
Biography

Richard Wagamese is one of Canada’s leading Aboriginal authors and journalists known for his gripping stories about the joys and sorrows of Aboriginal life. Richard is Ojibway from the Wabaseemoong First Nation, and much of his writing, including his widely-acclaimed 2012 novel Indian Horse, is set in Northwestern Ontario.

Richard’s parents were survivors of the residential school system, and the legacy of the trauma they endured was passed on to their son. Brought up in foster care, he was unable to complete high school and has suffered from post-traumatic stress. Nevertheless, he achieved his dream of becoming a professional writer and has produced an impressive body of work including seven novels, three memoirs, and a book of poetry.

His first novel, Keeper’n Me, published in 1994, earned the Best Novel Award from the Writers’ Guild of Alberta. In 2007, his third novel, Dream Wheels, won the Canadian Authors Association Award for fiction. In 2011, his memoir One Story, One Song received the George Ryga Award for Social Awareness in Literature.

Indian Horse brought Richard to the attention of a national and international audience. It portrays the horrific abuse suffered by students at a residential school while also celebrating the game of hockey and the power of the human spirit. Indian Horse was a finalist in the 2013 CBC Canada Reads competition and won the inaugural Burt Award for First Nations, Métis, and Inuit Literature for young people. In addition, Indian Horse was a longlist finalist for the 2014 IMPAC Dublin Literary Award, a prestigious international prize.

His latest novel, Medicine Walk, is the story of a young man who journeys through the Rocky Mountains with his dying father.

Richard has had a successful career as a print, radio, and television journalist. In 1991, he became the first Aboriginal Canadian to win a National Newspaper Award. He has twice won the Native American Press Association Award and was honoured with an Aboriginal Achievement Award for Media and Communications.

In 2010, Richard Wagamese received an Honorary Doctor of Letters from Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops, British Columbia, where he currently resides.