(Vancouver) Indigenous writer Lee Maracle, who shed light on Indigenous women’s stories to change the face of Canadian literature, has passed away.
Family friend Michaela Washburn said the poet and teacher died in a Vancouver hospital on Thursday at the age of 71.
Peers and admirers have highlighted her literary qualities, activism and mentorship on social media, with many hailing her as a pioneer of Indigenous feminist literature.
One of the first Indigenous authors to be published in Canada in the early 1970s, Lee Maracle blended fiction, non-fiction, poetry and traditional storytelling to produce a prolific body of work, including seminal titles. like Bobbi lee, I am woman and Ravensong.
She has relentlessly challenged the colonial and patriarchal foundations in Canada, with several of her books depicting Indigenous women struggling against these cultural myths to reclaim their own stories.
A member of the Stó: lō Nation, she has held positions at several Canadian universities and won accolades including the Premier of Ontario’s Award for Excellence in the Arts, the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal and the Order of Canada.