Maria Campbell

Maria Campbell (born April 26, 1940 near Park Valley, SK) is a Métis author, playwright, broadcaster, filmmaker, and Elder. Campbell is a fluent speaker of four languages: Cree, Michif, Saulteaux, and English. Four of her published works have been published in eight countries and translated into four other languages (German, Chinese, French, Italian).

Campbell is the oldest of eight children, and had to drop out of school to care for her siblings when her mother died. She moved to Vancouver at age fifteen, but returned to Saskatchewan in her twenties and became an organizer in her community.^[1] In 1969 she published Many Laws, a handbook that explained the issues faced by Indigenous people who move into cities.^[1]

Campbell's first book was the memoir Halfbreed (1973), which deals with her experience as a Métis woman in Canada, and the sense of identity that is generated by being neither wholly Indigenous nor Anglo.^[2] The text focuses on Campbell's sense of collective Métis identity, emphasizing community belonging and common Metis experiences.^[2] However, Campbell uses the term "halfbreed" over Métis due to ongoing debates about the precise definition of the latter,^[3] and makes a distinction between the identities "Indian" and "halfbreed."^[2] Halfbreed is considered to be a seminal work of indigenous Canadian literature and has been the subject of much scholarly work,^[3] sparking academic debates about pan-Indigeneity, Metis identity, Indigenous status, and the contemporary Indigenous experience in Canada.^[3] It recounts the difficulties Campbell faced in her search for self-discovery, including poverty, substance abuse, sexual abuse, and sex work.^[1] Halfbreed continues to be taught in schools across Canada, and inspires generations of indigenous women and men.

Campbell is also the author of three childrens' books: People of the Buffalo (1975), Little Badger and the Fire Spirit (1977), and Riel's People (1978). All three are meant to teach Métis spirituality and heritage to Métis children.^[4]

Campbell's first professionally produced play, Flight, was the first all Aboriginal theatre production in modern Canada.^[1] Weaving modern dance, storytelling and drama together with traditional Aboriginal art practises, this early work set a stylistic tone that her most recent productions continue to explore. It won the Dora Mavor Moore Award at Toronto's Theatre Passe Muraille in 1986 (where it debuted) and the Best Canadian Production at the Quinzanne International Festival in Quebec City.^[1]

Two of her plays have toured extensively within Canada and abroad to Scotland, Denmark and Italy. From 1985 to 1997 Ms. Campbell owned and operated a production company, Gabriel Productions. She has written and/or directed films by the National Film Board of Canada (NFB) and Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), including My Partners My People, which aired on CTV for 3 years. She is coordinator and member of Sage Ensemble, a community theatre group for Aboriginal elders, and is actively associated with the Saskatchewan Native Theatre Company in Saskatoon.

In addition to her work in the arts, Maria is a volunteer, activist and advocate for Aboriginal rights and the rights of women. She was a founder of the first Women’s Halfway House and the first Women and Children’s Emergency Crisis Centre in Edmonton. She has worked with Aboriginal youths in community theatre; set up food and housing co-ops; facilitated women’s circles; advocated for the hiring and recognition of Native people in the arts, and mentored many indigenous artists working in all forms of the arts. Maria sits as an Elder on the Saskatchewan Aboriginal Justice Commission, and is a member of the Grandmothers for Justice Society. Academically, she has focused on teaching Métis history and Methods in Oral Tradition Research. She has worked as a researcher, meeting with elders to gather and record oral historical evidence of many aspects of aboriginal traditional knowledge, including medical and dietary as well as spiritual, social, and general cultural practices. She earned an M.A. in Native Studies from the University of Saskatchewan and has received honourary degrees from the University of Regina, York University, and Athabasca University.^[1]

Selected works

Honours

Academic career

• Assistant Professor at the University of Saskatchewan (current; cross-appointed in the departments of English, Drama and Native Studies, and as a Special Scholar under the Dean of Arts and Science)
• Stanley Knowles Distinguished Visiting Professorship, Brandon University (2000–01)
• Seasonal Instructor, Saskatchewan Federated Indian College (since 1998)
• Aboriginal Scholar, University of Saskatchewan (1995)
• Lecturer, University of Saskatchewan (1991–1997)

References

External links

• Maria Campbell entry in the Encyclopedia of Literature in Canada
• Maria Campbell entry in the Encyclopedia of Saskatchewan