Canadian
Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...
Toronto Star
The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. The newspaper is the country's largest daily newspaper by circulation. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part ...
'', November 13, 2013. Vermette is of Métis descent and originates from
Winnipeg
Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749,6 ...
,
Manitoba
Manitoba ( ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population o ...
. She was an MFA student in creative writing at the
University of British Columbia
The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a public university, public research university with campuses near Vancouver and in Kelowna, British Columbia. Established in 1908, it is British Columbia's oldest university. The university ranks a ...
.
In addition to writing, vermette advocates for the equality of Indigenous peoples in Canada, vocalizing her dissatisfaction with the Canadian government and media’s apathy and neglect to Indigenous rights.
Early life
Born to a
Métis
The Métis ( ; Canadian ) are Indigenous peoples who inhabit Canada's three Prairie Provinces, as well as parts of British Columbia, the Northwest Territories, and the Northern United States. They have a shared history and culture which derives ...
father and
Mennonite
Mennonites are groups of Anabaptist Christian church communities of denominations. The name is derived from the founder of the movement, Menno Simons (1496–1561) of Friesland. Through his writings about Reformed Christianity during the Radic ...
Winnipeg
Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749,6 ...
,
Manitoba
Manitoba ( ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population o ...
, a neighbourhood distinguished by a relatively high population of
Indigenous
Indigenous may refer to:
*Indigenous peoples
*Indigenous (ecology), presence in a region as the result of only natural processes, with no human intervention
*Indigenous (band), an American blues-rock band
*Indigenous (horse), a Hong Kong racehorse ...
people (approximately 25%), primarily
First Nations
First Nations or first peoples may refer to:
* Indigenous peoples, for ethnic groups who are the earliest known inhabitants of an area.
Indigenous groups
*First Nations is commonly used to describe some Indigenous groups including:
**First Natio ...
and Métis people. Winnipeg, a city often singled out for its high rate of reported crimes, garners further negative outsider attention in its North End because of its dense number of reported crimes. In an interview with
CBC Radio
CBC Radio is the English-language radio operations of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. The CBC operates a number of radio networks serving different audiences and programming niches, all of which (regardless of language) are outlined below ...
, vermette described her childhood as not being "picturesque", in the usual sense of the word. For vermette, growing up in the North End of Winnipeg meant that things were not always simple and, from a young age, she bore witness to the kind of injustice and prejudice that young people are typically spared from. An example of this injustice came when a 14-year-old vermette lost her older brother, the just 18 year-old Donovan, who was missing for six months prior to being found dead. Vermette asserts that the combination of Donovan's young age, the circumstance at his having been at a bar with friends prior to his disappearance, and because he was
Cree
The Cree ( cr, néhinaw, script=Latn, , etc.; french: link=no, Cri) are a Indigenous peoples of the Americas, North American Indigenous people. They live primarily in Canada, where they form one of the country's largest First Nations in Canada ...
meant that his disappearance did not get adequate coverage by the media. Vermette cites the general apathy shown by the people of her community and the media surrounding her brother's disappearance as being the factor which instigated her own sense of the unfairness of the discrimination against Indigenous peoples by settler Canadians, leading to her desire to activate for change.
Career
Katherena vermette is known primarily for her poetry, although she is also a writer of prose. From her viewpoint, vermette's penchant for poetry stems from the fluidity and complexity of it as a medium; it combines singing, storytelling, and even painting, yet is something entirely different.
''North End Love Songs''
Vermette's first published volume of poetry, ''North End Love Songs'' functions as an ode to the place she grew up, Winnipeg's North End, and her intimate perspective on a place that is looked down upon for its high levels of reported crime. In the work, she describes her neighbourhood with respect to nature, highlighting the animals, foliage and rivers that coexist within it. In writing ''North End Love Songs'', vermette sought to replace the prejudiced perceptions held by people outside of the North End with the beautiful way that she knows her community. The collection depicts a "young girl or woman struggling with identity and place," says vermette. This conflict between a simultaneous deep sense of affection and of defiance to one's place of origin is precisely what constitutes the idea of home, in vermette's view.
"Heart"
A poem commissioned by CBC Aboriginal, "Heart" similarly depicts the North End of Winnipeg from vermette's personal point of view. Vermette aims to change the narrative from "''that'' North End", known for being "broken", "tired", a "lost cause", and "beaten", to the way she knows it; rather, a place that is "healing", "working", "seeking or a cause, and "rising". The poem gets its name for being about the North End which, from vermette's perspective, is the "heart of the Métis nation".
''The Seven Teachings Stories''
Vermette's children's picture book series ''The Seven Teachings Stories'' was published by HighWater Press https://www.portageandmainpress.com/Series/T/The-Seven-Teachings-Stories in 2015. Illustrated by Irene Kuziw, the collection aims to present the
Anishnaabe
The Anishinaabeg (adjectival: Anishinaabe) are a group of culturally related Indigenous peoples present in the Great Lakes region of Canada and the United States. They include the Ojibwe (including Saulteaux and Oji-Cree), Odawa, Potawatomi, M ...
Teachings of the Seven Grandfathers
Among the Anishinaabe people, the Teachings of the Seven Grandfathers, also known simply as either the Seven Teachings or Seven Grandfathers, is a set of teachings that demonstrates what it means to live a “Good Life.” They detail human conduc ...
in a way that is easily digestible for young people. The series depicts Indigenous children in a metropolitan context, fostering a sense of representation for historically and continually marginalized Indigenous groups, among those who they are, and have been, marginalized by. The series comprises seven individual volumes: ''The Just Right Gift'', ''Singing Sisters'', ''The First Day'', ''Kode's Quest(ion)'', ''Amik Loves School'', ''Misaabe's Stories'', and ''What is Truth, Betsy?''.
''The Break''
Her debut novel '' The Break'' was published in 2016, and was a shortlisted finalist for that year's
Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize
The Atwood Gibson Writers' Trust Fiction Prize, formerly known as the Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize, is a Canadian literary award presented by the Writers' Trust of Canada after an annual juried competition of works submitted by publishers. A ...
The Globe and Mail
''The Globe and Mail'' is a Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of approximately 2 million in 2015, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on weekdays and Saturdays, although it ...
'', October 4, 2016. In November 2017, it won the
Burt Award for First Nations, Métis and Inuit Literature
Burt is a given name and also a shortened form of other names, such as Burton and Herbert, or a place name.
Burt may refer to:
People
*Burt Alvord (1866–after 1910), American Old West lawman and outlaw
*Burt Bacharach (born 1928), American com ...
.
Film and digital media
In 2015, she and Erika MacPherson co-directed the 20-minute
National Film Board of Canada
The National Film Board of Canada (NFB; french: Office national du film du Canada (ONF)) is Canada's public film and digital media producer and distributor. An agency of the Government of Canada, the NFB produces and distributes documentary f ...
documentary '' This River'', about Canadian Indigenous families that have had to search for family members who have disappeared. Partly based on vermette's own experience, the film received the 2016 Coup de coeur du jury award at Montreal's festival, and premiered in vermette's hometown of Winnipeg on October 5, at the
Winnipeg Art Gallery
The Winnipeg Art Gallery (WAG) is an art museum in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Its permanent collection includes over 24,000 works from Canadian, Indigenous Canadian, and international artists. The museum also holds the world's largest collect ...
. It was named best short documentary at the
5th Canadian Screen Awards
The 5th annual Canadian Screen Awards were held on March 12, 2017, to honour achievements in Canadian film, television, and digital media production in 2016. Nominations were announced on January 17, 2017.
Awards in many of the technical categor ...
. Vermette and NFB producer Alicia Smith also created a related Instagram work, ''What Brings Us Here'', a companion piece to ''The River'', which offers portraits of volunteers behind the community-run Winnipeg search teams the Bear Clan and Drag the Red. Smith has stated that it was vermette's ''North End Love Songs'' which helped draw her attention to the perspectives of indigenous youth from the North End and the experience of having missing family members.
Other work
She is a member of the Aboriginal Writers Collective of Manitoba, and edited the anthology ''xxx ndn: love and lust in ndn country'' in 2011.
In addition to her own publications, her work has also been published in the literary anthology ''Manitowapow: Aboriginal Writings from the Land of Water''.
Accolades
In 2013, vermette won the
Governor General's Literary Award
The Governor General's Awards are a collection of annual awards presented by the Governor General of Canada, recognizing distinction in numerous academic, artistic, and social fields.
The first award was conceived and inaugurated in 1937 by the ...
for poetry, for her collection ''North End Love Songs'', an accolade she dubbed a "goal" for poetry, as well as being "completely unexpected". In an interview with CBC Radio, vermette discussed having considered not accepting the award, as a means of protesting the
Canadian government
The government of Canada (french: gouvernement du Canada) is the body responsible for the federal administration of Canada. A constitutional monarchy, the Crown is the corporation sole, assuming distinct roles: the executive, as the ''Crown-in-C ...
’s treatment of the many missing and murdered Aboriginal women at the time, and disagreeing with the government’s policies in general. After consideration, Vermette decided to accept the award because the people who voted for ''North End Love Songs'' were a collection of her literary peers, making it a reflection of the Canadian poetry community, rather than the Canadian government.
In 2017, vermette won the
Amazon.ca First Novel Award
The Amazon.ca First Novel Award, formerly the Books in Canada First Novel Award, is a Canadian literary award, co-presented by Amazon.ca and ''The Walrus'' to the best first novel in English language, English published the previous year by a citize ...
for ''The Break''. Its French translation, ''Ligne brisée'', was defended by
Naomi Fontaine
Naomi Fontaine is a Canadian writer from Quebec, noted as one of the most prominent First Nations writers in contemporary francophone Canadian literature. She is a member of the Innu nation.
Biography
A member of the Innu nation from Uashat, ...
in the 2018 edition of ''
Le Combat des livres
''Le Combat des livres'' is an annual "battle of the books" competition organized and broadcast by Ici Radio-Canada Première in Canada. A French edition of the ''Canada Reads'' competition, the program was launched in 2004. It aired annually from ...
CBC Books
CBC Arts (french: Radio-Canada Arts) is the division of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation that creates and curates written articles, short documentaries, non-fiction series and interactive projects that represent the excellence of Canada's div ...
, April 24, 2018. where it won the competition.
Her novel ''The Strangers'' was the winner of the 2021
Atwood Gibson Writers' Trust Fiction Prize
The Atwood Gibson Writers' Trust Fiction Prize, formerly known as the Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize, is a Canadian literary award presented by the Writers' Trust of Canada after an annual juried competition of works submitted by publishers. ...
CBC Books
CBC Arts (french: Radio-Canada Arts) is the division of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation that creates and curates written articles, short documentaries, non-fiction series and interactive projects that represent the excellence of Canada's div ...
, November 3, 2021.
Activism
In addition to writing herself, vermette also works with young people, ostracized for their circumstances and labelled as being "at risk". This workshop focuses on utilizing writing as a means of coping with the struggles associated with growing up marginalized because of that which makes one different from the majority. Vermette seeks to promote the development in young people's artistic voice, through the medium of poetry.
Vermette has described her writing as motivated by an
activist
Activism (or Advocacy) consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived greater good. Forms of activism range fro ...
spirit, particularly on
First Nations
First Nations or first peoples may refer to:
* Indigenous peoples, for ethnic groups who are the earliest known inhabitants of an area.
Indigenous groups
*First Nations is commonly used to describe some Indigenous groups including:
**First Natio ...
issues.Interview with Katherena Vermette. ''
As It Happens
''As It Happens'' is a Canadian interview show that airs on CBC Radio One in Canada and various public radio stations in the United States through Public Radio Exchange. Its 50th anniversary was celebrated on-air on November 16, 2018. It has been ...
'', November 13, 2013.
Works
*''North End Love Songs'' (2012, poetry)
*''The Seven Teachings Stories'' (2015, children's)
*''The Break'' (2016, novel)
*''river woman'' (2018, poetry)
*''The Girl and the Wolf'' (2019, children's)
*''The Strangers'' (2021, novel)