National Art Centre’s book club finds unique ways to share Indigenous stories amid the pandemic

Open this photo in gallery:

Michelle Porter and Tai Amy Grauman had never spoken before they met online to talk about Ms. Porter’s 2020 book, Approaching Fire, which traces the life of the author’s great-grandfather, a Métis fiddler. But when they did, as part of a virtual book club showcasing Indigenous literature, the connections they shared became immediately apparent.

Ms. Porter, who is Red River Métis, said the history that the book explores is rooted in her family losing their traditional land in Manitoba. “It really was a selling of the hope of one day getting the promised land,” Ms. Porter said, referring to the fraudulent selling of Métis scrip, a system of land claim that ended up leaving many Métis, including Ms. Porter’s family, without land of their own.

“There is that land that’s just part of the story, that calls you back home and makes you feel that you’re a part of the people, the community,” she said in their online discussion. “That’s how it was for me growing up. There was always this imagined land, this place that one day we would go.”

Ms. Grauman, a theatre artist who is Métis, Cree and Haudenosaunee, said she understood. “My settlement doesn’t exist anymore. The French tore [it] down, pushed us into the bush,” she said. “It’s happened to so many of us.”

Ms. Porter and Ms. Grauman shared other difficult conversations throughout the event, but they also laughed together about the blending of Métis and English family terms, which was something they could both relate to.

“I don’t feel like I was moderating,” Ms. Grauman said later in an interview. “It just felt like I was having a conversation with her.”

Exchanges like these are typical for the National Arts Centre’s Indigenous book club. Though the initiative began as a way for the NAC’s Indigenous theatre department to continue cultural programming during the pandemic, organizers say they’ve discovered real benefits to hosting Indigenous stories in an online format. Among other things, it’s created a forum that fosters in-depth discussions of Indigenous experiences.

Launched in January, the monthly book club, called Our Stories, features a book by an Indigenous writer and a discussion moderated by an Indigenous artist. The series is a partnership between the Centre for Indigenous Theatre at the NAC and the Ottawa Public Library, and features works of fiction, poetry, memoirs and plays.

Though online events are often seen as poor replacements for in-person ones, organizers of this book club say the format has allowed them to create more intimate discussions rooted in lived experiences. It’s also let them share programming with people across the country who would otherwise not have access to them.

“When everything went into lockdown, we were trying to figure out ways to still connect Indigenous stories to the audience without having stories on our stages,” said Mairi Brascoupé, Indigenous cultural resident at the theatre department. Ms. Brascoupé is Algonquin Anishinaabe, and the driving force behind the book club.

“We always remind ourselves we’re the national arts centre,” said Ms. Brascoupé. “Bringing a program nationally is really important.”

Hosting it online, she said, gave them almost unlimited options for their choice of authors and moderators, which ended up being a key factor in fostering unique, in-depth conversations about Indigenous experiences.

“By having it online, you can find the right person,” Ms. Grauman said, adding that this is especially important when talking about Indigenous books. “It leaves space to be specific about who’s connecting with who, and who understands whose stories.”

Ms. Grauman moderated the conversation from Alberta, while Ms. Porter attended from Newfoundland and Labrador. Both, however, grew up in Alberta. “It was really interesting to be connecting with her, just talking to her about place,” Ms. Grauman said.

In addition to connecting over ideas of land and place, Ms. Grauman and Ms. Porter also bonded over trying to trace the roots of the women in their family. The two compared their experience with researching the history of their female ancestors, and how it was much more difficult to track down the stories of women than the stories of men. Ms. Porter’s next project is focused on her female relatives, and Ms. Grauman is also uncovering the stories of women in her family for work in her degree.

“We ended up having a lot of things in common when we got down to it,” Ms. Grauman said.

The author-moderator pairings also allow for conversation about specific ideas, such as Ms. Grauman’s and Ms. Porter’s family experiences with the scrip system, that can help set distinctions between different Indigenous communities.

This was also evident in March’s event, which featured a book of French poetry, Uiesh = Quelque part, by Joséphine Bacon. Both the author and moderator, poet and actor Natasha Kanapé Fontaine, spoke Innu in addition to French, and in some instances switched between languages.

While live events at the NAC can be difficult for those outside Ottawa to attend and have limited space, the online book club has an audience across the country. Some sessions have been viewed thousands of times. Lysanne Fox, a supervising librarian at the OPL who also works on the book club, said that March’s session in French has even been viewed from France and Haiti.

Having the programs online “reaches an additional audience that would not necessarily have been able to participate if it was an in-person program,” said Ms. Fox. She said they’ve also added closed captions to increase accessibility, and that recording the event makes it accessible to people in different time zones.

The recordings also give remote communities, which may have difficulties accessing internet at particular times, a chance to experience Indigenous programming.

“The mood of a lot of them is almost like people sitting around their kitchen table talking,” she said.

The book club’s final session in June will feature What I Remember, What I Know: The Life of a High Arctic Exile by Larry Audlaluk.

Ms. Brascoupé said she hopes to continue the book club into a second season, and may also explore options for a children or youth series. Though they may host some live events when things reopen, she said she wants to still offer an online version, and hopes the unique appeal of the online event remains.

“We’ve made these connections with people across the country,” she said. “We don’t want to take it away from them.”

Know what is happening in the halls of power with the day’s top political headlines and commentary as selected by Globe editors (subscribers only). Sign up today.