Brian Maracle (also known as Owennatekha;[1] born 1947) is a Mohawk writer and broadcaster from Canada.[1] He is most noted as a two-time nominee for the Writers' Trust of Canada's Gordon Montador Award, for his books Crazywater: Native Voices on Addiction and Recovery in 1994[2] and Back on the Rez in 1997.[3]

A member of the Six Nations of the Grand River, Maracle was raised Ohsweken, Ontario and in New York before being educated at Dartmouth College.[1] He then worked for indigenous organizations in Canada before returning to school, studying journalism at Carleton University, and then worked as a journalist on indigenous issues for The Globe and Mail and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, most notably hosting the radio series Our Native Land.[1] He published Crazywater: Native Voices on Addiction and Recovery, an extensive study of addiction issues in First Nations communities, in 1993, and Back to the Rez, a memoir of his own experiences moving back to Ohsweken after having spent many years living and working in the wider world, in 1996.[1]

After moving back to Ohsweken, he established a Mohawk language immersion school in the community, and hosted the radio program Tewatonhwehsen! on community radio station CKRZ-FM.[1] He has also collaborated with his daughter, filmmaker Zoe Leigh Hopkins, on the 2012 sound art piece Karenniyohston – Old Songs Made Good.[1]

References

edit
  1. ^ a b c d e f g Laura Neilson Bonikowsky, "Brian Maracle" Archived 2020-03-28 at the Wayback Machine. The Canadian Encyclopedia, April 23, 2013.
  2. ^ "Books nominated". Toronto Star, May 3, 1994.
  3. ^ "Globe writer on shortlist for Montador award". The Globe and Mail, May 17, 1997.