Bernard Assiniwi

Bernard Assiniwi (pseudonym: "Chagnan" born July 31, 1935 in Montreal; died September 4, 2000) was a writer of French-Canadian, Cree & Algonquin Extraction.[1][2] In addition to that he was a researcher in Aboriginal History,[3] a producer, and an actor.[4] One of his best known works is La Saga des Béothuks or The Beothuk Saga in the English translation by Wayne Grady.[5]

Bernard Assiniwi
BornBernard Assiniwi
(1935-08-31)31 August 1935
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Died4 September 2000(2000-09-04) (aged 65)
Cantley, Quebec, Canada
OccupationNovelist, actor, journalist
LanguageFrench
Alma materUniversity of Guelph
Genres
Notable worksLa Saga des Béothuks (1997)
Notable awardsFrench- Quebec Jean-Hamelin literature prize 1997
SpouseMarina Assiniwi
RelativesMarc-André Assiniwi

Biography

Bernard Assiniwi was born on July 31, 1935 and died on 4 September 2000. Son of Églantine Bleau and Joseph-Leonidas Zephirin Lapierre, from Algonquin, Cree and Quebecois heritage.[6] As a child he spoke Cree but French was the language of his schooling.[7]

He graduated from the University of Guelph, obtaining a BScA in animal science.[8]

He went on to follow a variety of careers. He was involved with the beginning of the cultural section of the Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development from 1965 to 1968. In 1965, he also appeared in the film "La vie heureuse de Léopold Z". Other film appearances were "Les smattes" (1972) and "Les forges de Saint-Maurice" (1973).[9] He also served as curator of the Easter Subarctic Cultural area of the Canadian Museum of Civilization until his death in 2000.[6]

From 1968, Assiniwi published over 30 books, as well as writing journal articles, and writing and producing radio programs.[10] He is considered an important contributor to Canadian Literature from a French Canadian Indigenous perspective, paving the way for other Indigenous authors to follow. In 1971, he was one of the first Indigenous authors to write a French language work that was largely read throughout Québec (Anish-nah-be: Contes adultes du pays algonkin, published by Leméac), For this book, he received a mention in the Prix littéraire de la Ville de Montréal. Assiniwi went to work for Leméac, from 1972 à 1976, as a director.[7] In 1999, The University of Québec and Trois-Rivières bestowed upon Bernard Assiniwi an honorary doctorate for his literary contributions.[11]

Bernard Assiniwi married Marina Assiniwi and they had three sons : Marc-André Assiniwi (actor), Christian Assiniwi and Jean-Yves Assiniwi.

Benard Assiniwi died at age 65, from a heart attack following heart surgery.[12]

In 2001 Land Insights created the prix Dr. Bernard-Chagnan-Assiniwi, awarded for the first time in 2001 to Indigenous artists or creators whose work had contributes to their original culture.[2]

Awards

He won the Jean-Hamelin literature prize[13] for French and Quebecois authors in 1997. He as also shortlisted for the Governor General prize of Canada in the same year.[7]

Published works
YearTitlePublisher
1972Recettes Typiques des Indiens (Standard Indian Recipes)Éditions Leméac
1972Survie en Forêt (Survival in the Bush)Éditions Leméac
1972Survival in the Bush (Eng. tr. of Survie en Forêt)Copp-Clark
1971Anish-Nah-Be: Contes Adultes du Pays Algonkin (Anishnabe: Adult Tales of the Algonquians)Éditions Leméac
1972Indian Recipes
1972A l'Indienne (To the Indian Woman)Éditions Leméac
1973L'Histoire des Indiens de Haut et Bas Canada (The History of the Indians of Upper and Lower Canada (3 Volumes)Éditions Leméac
1973Lexique Des Noms Indiens En Amerique: Tome 1 Noms Geographiques (Lexicon of Indian Names in America: Volume 1, Geographic Names)Éditions Leméac
1973Lexique Des Noms Indiens En Amerique: Tome 2 ? (Lexicon of Indian Names in America: Volume 2, ?)Éditions Leméac
1973Makwa, Le Petit Algonquin (Makwa, the Little Algonquian) (children's book)Éditions Leméac
1979Les Cris des Marais (The Cries of the Marais)Éditions Leméac
1979Les Montagnais et les Naskapi (The Montagnais and Naskapi Indians)Éditions Leméac
1979Le Guerrier aux Pieds Agiles (The Fleet-footed Warrior)Éditions Leméac
1983Il n'y a Plus d'Indiens (There Are No More Indians)Éditions Leméac
1985Contes Adultes des Territoires Algonkins (Adult Tales of the Algonquian Territories, re-release of 1971 edition Anish-Nah-Be)Éditions Leméac
1987, 1994Faites Votre Vin Vous-même (Make Your Own Wine)Éditions Leméac, Bibliothèque Québécoise
1994Odawa Pontiac (Ottawa Pontiac)Éditions XYZ
1996Lexique des Noms Indiens de Canada: Les Noms Géographiques (Lexicon of Canadian Indian Names (2 Volumes): Volume 1, Geographic Names)Éditions Leméac
1997La Saga des BéothuksÉditions Leméac
1998Ikwé, la Femme Algonquienne (Ikwé, Algonquian Woman)Vents d'Ouest
1998Windigo et la Naissance du Monde (Windigo and the birth of the world)Vents d'Ouest
2000The Beothuk Saga (Eng. tr. of La Saga des Béothuks by Wayne Grady)McClelland & Stewart
2008Le Bras Coupé (The Cut Arm)Bibliothèque Québécoise

References
  1. Françoise Besson; Claire Omhovère; Héliane Ventura (12 June 2014). The Memory of Nature in Aboriginal, Canadian and American Contexts. Cambridge Scholars Publishing. p. 5. ISBN 978-1-4438-6161-8.
  2. "Bernard Assiniwi". Land InSights. Terres en Vues. Retrieved 2020-03-05.
  3. Paul Robert Magocsi (1 February 2015). Encyclopedia of Canada's Peoples. University of Toronto Press, Scholarly Publishing Division. p. 1119. ISBN 978-1-4426-5582-9.
  4. Bernard Roy; Katia Fecteau (2005). Empowering Words of First Nations Women: Manual for Speaking Out about Life, Health And- Diabetes. Presses Université Laval. pp. 41 & 53. ISBN 978-2-7637-8217-1.
  5. Kirkus Reviews
  6. New, William H. (2002). Encyclopedia of Literature in Canada. University of Toronto Press. ISBN 978-0-8020-0761-2.
  7. Gatti, Maurizio (2010). "La Saga de Bernard Assiniwi, ou comment faire revivre les Béothuks". Revue Internationale d'Études Canadiennes (in French) (41): 279–296. doi:10.7202/044171ar. ISSN 1180-3991.
  8. "Recherche - L'Île". www.litterature.org. Retrieved 2020-03-05.
  9. "Bernard Assiniwi". IMDb. Retrieved 2020-03-05.
  10. "Anish-Nah-Be, l'homme amérindien-Légendes indiennes". Autochtones, l'autre histoire (in French). 2014-07-11. Retrieved 2020-03-05.
  11. "Bernard Assiniwi". Kwahiatonhk! (in French). Retrieved 2020-03-05.
  12. "Sobres funérailles pour l'écrivain Bernard Assiniwi". TVA Nouvelles. Retrieved 2020-03-05.
  13. "Prix Jean-Hamelin", Wikipédia (in French), 2020-01-14, retrieved 2020-03-02
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