Sharron Proulx-Turner
Born(1953-04-21)April 21, 1953
Metcalfe, Ontario
Died2016(2016-00-00) (aged 62–63)
Calgary, Alberta
Occupation(s)Writer, Poet, Teacher, Mother
ChildrenTwo, Barb and Graham. Three grandchildren, Jessinia, Ariston, Rey-J

Sharron Proulx-Turner (pseudonym, Becky Lane; d. November 2016)[1] was a two-spirit Métis writer. She investigated themes of Métis storytelling and was recognized as a mentor to other writers.

Early life and education

Sharron Proulx-Turner was born on April 21, 1953, in Metcalfe, Ontario, and her ancestry is of Mohawk, Huron-Wendat, Anishinaabe, Algonquian, Ojibwe, Mi’kmaw, French, Scottish, and Irish peoples.[1] Proulx-Turner was diagnosed with dyslexia and other learning challenges as a young girl, but on her fourth birthday, Proulx-Turner received a dictionary from her "Nokomis," which in Ojibwe translates to grandmother.[2] Proulx-Turner would point to a word and her, grandmother would tell her a story. This was when Proulx-Turner learned to love language.[3]

Proulx-Turner earned her undergraduate and Master's degrees in English, focusing on Feminist Bio-theory, at the University of Calgary.

Career

Her first publication, Where the Rivers Join: A Personal Account of Healing from Ritual Abuse, was published under the pseudonym Becky Lane to protect her identity as her life was still endangered.

Her writing covers a variety of genres: poetry, memoir, and mixed-genre historical fiction. She is widely anthologized, appearing in Double Lives: Writing and Motherhood,[4] Crisp Blue Edges: Indigenous Creative Non-Fiction,[5] My Home as I Remember,[6] and An Anthology of Canadian Native Literature in English.[7] Proulx-Turner acted as a mentor to writers in the Canadian literature community, particularly for emerging Indigenous writers,[7] and advocated on behalf of the field of Indigenous literature and its writers.[8] She created opportunities for Two-Spirit and gender non-conforming people in ceremony and in writing communities.[8] Spirituality was an integral part of Proulx-Turner's writing process.[3]

In the fourth-grade, Proulx-Turner wrote her first poem and went on to publish a memoir, collections of poetry and a mixed genre historical fiction.[1] Proulx-Turner has also been published in several anthologies and literary journals throughout her career[1][9] before her death from cancer in 2016. In 2017, her final publication was released posthumously by Kegedonce Press, in honor of her.[1] Since then, she has had a dedication to her written in the Auto/Biography Studies Journal.[10]

Death and legacy

After she was diagnosed with cancer, the Indigenous Studies Literary Studies Association hosted a roundtable on her works: "Decolonial Solidarities and the Work of Sharron Proulx-Turner" which brought together writers to reflect on her influence as an activist, editor, and mentor.[11] After her death in 2016, the themes in her writing were the focus of a symposium held in her honour,[12] entitled creole métisse of french canada, me, and held November 23–24, 2018 at the University of Calgary.[13]

As she wrote in her book, One Bead at a Time, the purpose of her writing is to: "...give back to the women and children whose stories so often go untold. To give back to the spirits of the Indigenous children that have been and are still missing."

Selected works

Publications & ContributionsPublication DateDescription
creole métisse of french canada, me2017
One Bead at a Time: A Memoir by Beverly Little Thunder2016This memoir is an oral narrative of Beverly Little Thunder's stories that have been transcribed by Proulx-Turner.
Anthology of Canadian Native Literature In English[3] 2013 Her poem "a horse's nest egg is very large" was featured with an introduction from Proulx-Turner describing her relationship with her Métis grandmother.
the trees are still bending south2012
Salish Seas: an anthology of text + image2011
iLit Remix: A Revolution of Text Forms[14]2011 Aug
iLit Strength and Struggle: Perspectives From First Nations, Inuit, and Métis Peoples in Canada [15]2011 May
She is Reading Her Blanket with Her Hands: The Dedication Poems2008Dedicated to Proulx-Turner's Mother
she walks for days inside a thousand eyes: a two-spirit story[16]2008A book of poems, that delve into life a two-spirited woman.
What the auntys say [17]2002
Where the Rivers Join: A Personal Account of Healing from Ritual Abuse1995Proulx-Turner published under her pseudonym, Becky Lane. Her memoir was the first book she published after graduating from the University of Calgary.

Further reading

  • Hanson, Aubrey Jean (2018). "On teaching queer indigenous literatures". English in Australia. 53 (2): 68–72. ISSN 0155-2147.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 sarah (2018-06-14). "Sharron Proulx-Turner". SAY Magazine. Retrieved 2019-03-22.
  2. ↑ "June Drenning Holmquist, editor. <italic>They Chose Minnesota: A Survey of the State's Ethnic Groups</italic>. (Publications of the Minnesota Historical Society.) St. Paul: Minnesota Historical Society Press. 1981. Pp. xiii, 614. $45.00". The American Historical Review. April 1983. doi:10.1086/ahr/88.2.487. ISSN 1937-5239.
  3. 1 2 3 Moses, Daniel (2013). An Anthology of Canadian Native Literature in english. Don Mills: Oxford University Press. p. 417. ISBN 978-0-19-544353-0.
  4. ↑ Double lives : writing and motherhood. Stonehouse, Cathy., Lam, Fiona Tinwei, 1964-, Cowan, Shannon, 1973-. Montréal: McGill-Queen's University Press. 2008. ISBN 9780773574595. OCLC 760074087.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  5. ↑ Crisp blue edges : indigenous creative non-fiction. Marsden, Rasunah, 1949-. Penticton, BC: Theytus Books. 2000. ISBN 978-0919441927. OCLC 45190668.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  6. ↑ My home as I remember. Maracle, Lee., Laronde, Sandra. Toronto: Natural Heritage Books. 2000. ISBN 9781554882366. OCLC 649903662.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  7. 1 2 "Supporting Aboriginal writing". Supporting Aboriginal writing. Retrieved 2019-04-23.
  8. 1 2 Justice, Daniel Heath (2018). Why Indigenous literatures matter. Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. ISBN 978-1771121767. OCLC 910987272.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  9. ↑ Wunker, Erin (Spring 2007). "Speaking, Pausing for Breath, and Gardening". Canadian Literature (192): 167–169, 215 – via ProQuest.
  10. ↑ "Dedication". A/B: Auto/Biography Studies. 33: 1. 2018. doi:10.1080/08989575.2018.1389817. S2CID 220309515.
  11. ↑ "2nd Annual Gathering 2016". Indigenous Literary Studies Association. Retrieved 2019-04-23.
  12. ↑ Jacobsen, Mikka (2018-11-02). "Creole Métisse of French Canada, Me: A Symposium in Honour of Sharron Proulx-Turner". The Insurgent Architects' House for Creative Writing. Retrieved 2019-04-23.
  13. ↑ Jacobsen, Mikka (2018-11-02). "Creole Métisse of French Canada, Me: A Symposium in Honour of Sharron Proulx-Turner". The Insurgent Architects' House for Creative Writing. Retrieved 2019-03-27.
  14. ↑ Remix : a revolution in text forms. Cooke, Rachel., Jackson, Lyanda., White, Melanie., Curk, Mary., Barwin, Gary. Whitby, Ont.: McGraw-Hill Ryerson. 2011. ISBN 9780071067010. OCLC 769788421.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  15. ↑ Strength and struggle : perspectives from First Nations, Inuit, and Métis peoples in Canada. Mishenene, Rachel A., Toulouse, Pamela Rose., Augustine, Denise., Atcheson, Joyce. Toronto: McGraw-Hill Ryerson. 2011. ISBN 9780071067034. OCLC 754227277.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  16. ↑ Jacobs, Madelaine (Spring 2011). "Vocations: First Nations Voices". Canadian Literature (208): 160–162, 202. Retrieved 16 April 2019.
  17. ↑ Sing, Pamela (2006). "Intersections of Memory, Ancestral Language, and Imagination; or, the Textual Production of Michif Voices as Cultural Weaponry". Studies in Canadian Literature. 31 (1): 107–108. Retrieved 16 April 2019.
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