Ruby Slipperjack, or Ruby Slipperjack-Farrell, (born 1952) is an

Ojibwe The Ojibwe, Ojibwa, Chippewa, or Saulteaux are an Anishinaabe people in what is currently southern Canada, the northern Midwestern United States, and Northern Plains. According to the U.S. census, in the United States Ojibwe people are one of ...

writer and painter. Her work discusses traditional religious and social customs of the Ojibwe in northern

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

, as well as the incursion of modernity on their culture. She is a member of

Eabametoong First Nation Eabametoong, also known as Fort Hope or Eabamet Lake by Canada Post, is an Ojibwe First Nations band government in Kenora District, Ontario, Canada. Located on the shore of Eabamet Lake in the Albany River system, the community is located approxi ...

Background

Ruby Slipperjack-Farrell is a Professor and the Chair of the Department of Indigenous Learning at

Lakehead University Lakehead University is a public research university with campuses in Thunder Bay and Orillia, Ontario, Canada. Lakehead University, shortened to 'Lakehead U', is non-denominational and provincially supported. It has undergraduate programs, grad ...

Thunder Bay Thunder Bay is a city in and the seat of Thunder Bay District, Ontario, Canada. It is the most populous municipality in Northwestern Ontario and the second most populous (after Greater Sudbury) municipality in Northern Ontario; its population ...

. Slipperjack-Farrell spent her formative years on her father's trap line on

Whitewater Lake Whitewater Lake is a lake in the city of Sudbury, Ontario. The community of Azilda borders its eastern shore. The lake is host to a number of amateur fishing tournaments, and it was the site of an annual powerboat racing championship. It is the s ...

. Slipperjack learned traditional stories and crafts from her family and has retained much of the traditional religion and heritage of her people. Her family later moved to a community along the railway mainline. She went to residential school for several years, finished high-school in Thunder Bay. After graduating from high school Slipperjack-Farrell successfully completed a B.A. (History) in 1988; a B.Ed in 1989; and a Master of Education in 1993. In 2005, she completed a Doctoral program at the

University of Western Ontario The University of Western Ontario (UWO), also known as Western University or Western, is a Public university, public research university in London, Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on of land, surrounded by resident ...

. Her prior novels include ''Honour the Sun'', ''Silent Words'', ''Weesquachak and the Lost Ones'', ''Little Voice'', ''Weesquachak and Dog Tracks.'' She contributed stories to the Dear Canada anthologies ''Hoping for Home: Stories of Arrival'' and ''A Time for Giving: Ten Tales of Christmas''. Slipperjack-Farrell has retained much of the traditional religion and heritage of her people, all of which inform her writing. Her first novel, ''Honour the Sun'', about a young girl growing up in a tiny Ojibwa community in northern Ontario, earned rave reviews and is widely used schools. Slipperjack-Farrell is also an accomplished visual artist and a certified First Nations hunter. Her work discusses traditional religious and social customs of the Ojibwe in northern Ontario, as well as the incursion of modernity on their culture.

Awards

* Vicky Metcalf Award for Literature for Young People

Bibliography

* ''Honour the Sun'', Pemmican Pub., 1987. * ''Silent Words, Fifth House Books'', 1992. * ''Weesquachak and the Lost Ones'', Theytus Books, 1998. * ''Little Voice'', Coteau Books, 2001. * ''Dog Tracks'', Fifth House Books, 2008. * ''These are my Words'', Scholastic Canada, 2016

Chapters, forewords, and translations

*''Hoping for Home''. (2011). . Markham, ON: Scholastic Canada. *''A Time for Giving: Ten Tales of Christmas''. (2015). . Markham, ON: Scholastic Canada. * ''Les mots qu'il me reste''. tr. (2016). . Markham, ON: Éditions Scholastic. Translation of ''These Are My Words'' (2016).

References

Sources

* Kratzert, M. "Native American Literature: Expanding the Canon", ''Collection Building'' Vol. 17, 1, 1998, p. 4 {{DEFAULTSORT:Slipperjack, Ruby 1952 births Living people First Nations women writers Academic staff of Lakehead University University of Western Ontario alumni Canadian women painters 20th-century First Nations painters 20th-century Canadian novelists First Nations novelists 20th-century Canadian women writers Canadian women novelists 20th-century First Nations writers 21st-century First Nations writers 20th-century Canadian women artists 21st-century Canadian women artists 21st-century Canadian women writers First Nations women artists