StoryKeepers: Stolen Life

(From a series of reflections by Jennifer David on contemporary Aboriginal fiction in Canada.)

So far, I have reviewed and recommended Aboriginal books of fiction. This time, I highly recommend a non-fiction book called Stolen Life, by Yvonne Johnson. It is a fascinating story - both the story itself, and the tale of how the book came to be written

Yvonne Johnson, a Cree woman, was serving a life sentence for the murder of a young man in Saskatchewan. While in prison, Yvonne wrote a letter to the award-winning Canadian author Rudy Wiebe. Years before, Wiebe had written a biography of Johnson's great-great-grandfather, the legendary Cree leader Big Bear. She reached out to him to ask if he would help her write her memoir. Stolen Life is the result.

"My name is Yvonne Johnson. I am currently an inmate at the Prison for Women in Kingston, Ontario. I am thirty-one years old. I am a Cree from Saskatchewan, that is where my ancestors come from. We were accepted back into my grandmother’s rez after my mother was kicked out for marrying my father, who is a White from Great Falls, Montana. My grandmother Flora was a Baptiste, my grandfather was called John Bear, I lost him a few years back now; and my grandfather’s grandfather was the Cree chief Big Bear."

The book details Johnson's very troubled past of violence and sexual abuse, which led to her part in a drunken attack on a man who was rumoured to be a child molester. In part the book paints a grim picture of the dark underside of some contemporary Aboriginal lives. Yet it is ultimately  a story of hope and a journey of recovery.

I particularly recommend Stolen Life to people who know nothing of Aboriginal history - the people who see 'drunk Indians' on the street and pass judgement. This book is an eye-opener to the history of oppression, racism, lateral violence and generations of shame and injustice in the shadow of colonialism and residential schools.

Be warned, there are some very graphic scenes in the book that may be difficult for some people to read.

Johnson does not justify her crimes, but only tries to understand herself. In doing so, and with the skilled assistance of a sympathetic co-author, we, as readers also begin to understand a little bit more about the complicated and difficult lives of many Aboriginal people, and the ways in which redemption is possible.