Maria Campbell

Maria Campbell (born April 26, 1940 in Park Valley in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan ) is a member of the Métis . She works as a writer, is a film director and works on the radio and for the stage. She is one of the elders of the Métis and speaks four languages, namely Cree , Michif , Saulteaux and English. She is a professor at the University of Saskatchewan .

life and work

Park Valley, where Campbell grew up, is around 130 km northwest of Prince Albert . Her father was John (Dan) Campbell and her mother was Dubucque. Her first monograph was her autobiographical work Halfbreed from 1973. Today it is widely used for school lessons.

Her first play, Flight , was Canada's first Native American theater production. This created a mixture of dance, storytelling and dramatic staging that was interwoven with indigenous art forms. Two of her productions have been performed in Scotland, Denmark and Italy. From 1985 to 1997 she ran her own production company, Gabriel Productions . She placed plays such as My Partners My People on the National Film Board of Canada and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation . She is also a member of the Sage Ensemble , an Elders group, and is affiliated with the Saskatchewan Native Theater Company in Saskatoon .

In Canada, she also became known as an advocate for indigenous rights. She was one of the founders of the first Canadian halfway house for women in which rehab could be performed. The same applies to her Women and Children's Emergency Crisis Center in Edmonton . She worked with young people, founded house assemblies, supported artists.

As an Elder, she is a member of the Saskatchewan Aboriginal Justice Commission , as well as the Grandmothers for Justice Society .

Maria Campbell was a lecturer at the University of Saskatchewan from 1991 to 1997 . As a lecturer, she initially worked as an assistant professor, then (until today) as a professor at this university. She went to Brandon University as a visiting professor from 2000 to 2001, and has worked temporarily at Saskatchewan Federated Indian College since 1998 . In 1985 she received an honorary doctorate from the University of Regina, followed by that of York University in 1992, and an honorary doctorate from Athabasca University in 2000 .

In her work she focuses on the history of Métis and the methodology and implementation of research on oral history .

Honors

Campbell received numerous awards, including an appointment as Honorary Chief of the Black Lake First Nations (1978), a National Hero of the Native Council of Canada (1979), the Chalmers Award for Outstanding New Play (1986, for The Book of Jessica ), the Gabriel Dumont Medal of Merit from the Gabriel Dumont Institute (1992). This was followed by the Saskatchewan Achievement Award from the provincial government (1994), the National Aboriginal Achievement Award (1995), the Chief Crowfoot Award from the Department of Native Studies at the University of Calgary (1996), the Nolson Prize from the Canada Council (2004), then the Saskatchewan Order of Merit and the Distinguished Canadian Award (both 2006). In 2008 she became Officer of the Order of Canada .

Works (selection)

Monographs

• Halfbreed (1973)
• People of the Buffalo (1975)
• Riel's People (1976) (see Louis Riel )
• Little Badger and the Fire Spirit (1977)
• The Book of Jessica (co-author) (1987)
• Stories of the Road Allowance People (1995)

Films (mostly as a writer or director)

• Edmonton's Unwanted Women (1968)
• Red Dress (1977)
• Road to Batoche (1985) (see Louis Riel )
• Cumberland House (1986)
• My Partners My People (1987)
• Joseph's Justice (1994)
• La Beau Sha Sho (1994)
• Journey to Healing (1995)

literature

• William H. New: Encyclopedia of literature in Canada , University of Toronto Press 2000, Art. Campbell, Maria , p. 173.
• Lawrence J. Barkwell: Maria Campbell , in: Women of the Metis Nation , Winnipeg: Louis Riel Institute, 2010.

Web links

• Maria Campbell in the Encyclopedia of Saskatchewan, by Bernard Selinger
• Campbell at English-Canadian writers, Athabasca University , by Joseph J. Pivato, 2009

Remarks

1. ↑ Playwrights Canada Press ( Memento February 16, 2011 in the Internet Archive ), archive.org, 2011.
2. ^ Governor General Announces New Appointments to the Order of Canada