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EDUCATION & ACCOMPLISHMENTS

THE REZ SISTERS

DRY LIPS OUGHTA MOVE

TO KAPUSKASING

From childhood through adolescence Tomson Highway attended a traditional Roman Catholic residential school for which he calls boarding school.

KISS OF THE FUR QUEEN

  • Highway's first and only novel
  • Resembles the life of his brother's and his life growing up
  • The story focuses on a pair of brothers, Jeremiah and Gabriel Okimasis, and their journey from birth to adulthood
  • This novel takes place over the course of 35 years; looking at how Natives were treated in Catholic residential schools, sexuality, art, and family. It traces the brothers artistic destinies and their lifelong triumph over tragedy
  • Prominent Themes:
  • Weesageechak (Native mythological trickster)
  • Effects of Colonization on Indigenous People
  • The Rez Sisters' counterpart piece
  • About 7 First Nations men struggling with preoccupations
  • Prominent Themes:
  • Disrespect shown to women
  • A turning away from Native culture
  • The power of women
  • Nanabush

After highschool Tomson attended post-secondary to study Music and English Literature at the Universities of Manitoba and Western Ontario. He earned his Bachelors of Music Honours(piano performance major, 1975) and the equivalent of a Bachelor of Arts (English major, 1976)

  • first performed in 1986
  • A play that shows the life of 7 women from a First Nations reserve who display the natural desire to rise above their surroundings and create a better world for their children and each other
  • There are no men in the play except for the coyote trickster Nanabush (a common character from traditional Native mythology)
  • Prominent themes:
  • Appearance
  • Reality
  • Nanabush

(Native mythological trickster)

Awards & Doctorates

Who is he?

Tomson Highway holds 10 honorary doctorates:

Carlton University (Ottawa)

Thornloe University (Sudbury)

Brandon University (London)

University of Winnipeg (London)

University of Western Ontario (London)

University of Windsor (Sudbury)

Laurention University (Sudbury)

Lakehead University (Thunder Bay)

l'Universite de Montreal

University of Toronto

...in addition

The Royal Conservatory of Music (Toronto)

The National Theatre School (Montreal)

Pianist/Songwriter

Playwright

Novelist

Best known works...

PLAYS:

“The Rez Sisters” (1986)

“Dry Lips Oughta Move to Kapuskasing” (1989)

“Rose” (2003)

“Ernestine Shuswap Gets Her Trout” (2005)

BEST-SELLING NOVEL:

“Kiss of the Fur Queen.” (1998)

CHILDREN'S STORYBOOKS:

Caribou Song (2001)

Dragonfly Kites (2002)

Fox on the Ice (2003)

OCCUPATIONS LEADING TO SIGNIFICANCE

For seven years Highway worked in the field of native social work with other Native social workers and acitivists, with Native visual artists, writers, healers, Elders, politicians, women, 2-spirts etc.

He worked on native reserves and in urban centres across Ontario and later on, Canada, though he was based almost always at head offices in Toronto.

At 30, he decided to put his artistic training and native social work together and started writing music, plays and books.

Tomson Highway's Philosophy

The Rez Sisters, Dry Lips Oughta Move to Kapuskasing, and Kiss of the Fur Queen realistically attempt to depict the identities and culture of Native Canadian men and women respectively as they parallel each other in the negative and damaging depictions of the Native Canadian identity and experience within Canadian identity and experience within the Canadian landscape. Highway's works faithfully highlight the issues that have only recently come to light. Depicting these true stories or encounters in a fictional way (to an extent) allow for the Aboriginal or "victim's" voice to be heard and not ignored like it has been over the history of the Canadian landscape. The sexuality that is present portrays and exposes the oppression that has been placed on Native Canadian people, as well as their culture and spirituality that they so highly regard.

Helping Native people survive in Canadian cities, and helping non-Natives to understand Native viewpoints.

1986-1992

  • Native Earth Performing Arts
  • Aboriginal Theatre industry
  • "Native Show Biz"
  • Nation-wide Native Literary movement

...

Prospectives in Highway's works...

"The dream world of North American Indian mythology is inhabited by the most fantastic creatures, beings, and events. Foremost among these beings is the "Trickster," as pivotal and important a figure in the Native world as Christ is in the realm of Christian mythology. "Weesageechack" in Cree, "Nanabush" in Ojibway," "Raven," in others, "Coyote" in still others, this Trickster goes by many names and many guises. In fact, he can assume any guise he chooses. Essentially a comic, clownish sort of character, he teaches us about the nature and the meaning of existence on the planet Earth; he straddles the consciousness of man and that of God, the Great Spirit.

"Some say that "Nanabush" left this continent when the whiteman came. We believe he is still here among us - albeit a little the worse for wear and tear - having assumed other guises. Without him - and without the spiritual health of this figure - the core of Indian culture would be gone forever" (The Rez Sisters, Fifth House Publishers, 1998, xxi).

BACKGROUND

  • Canadian Literature
  • Aboriginal Literature
  • Canadian drama both Native and non-native
  • World Mythology
  • Aboriginal Mythology
  • Music
  • Diversity in the work place
  • Racial diversity (and harmony) as a Canadian reality, a Canadian value
  • Native residential schools
  • World travel
  • Born December 6, 1951 in Northwestern Manitoba
  • Full-blood Cree
  • Speaks fluent Cree (mother tongue), English, and French

TOMSON HIGHWAY

By: Madalyn Robbins

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