DREW HAYDON TAYLOR AT THE BELLEVILLE LIBRARY

I feel comfortable in the world of Canada's First Nations peoples. For me there are memories of soft summer days at powwows watching dancers, listening to the drum singers and chatting at the edge of forest and lake. It is a place where one can joke and laugh.

I thought about that as Drew Haydon Taylor, a Curve Lake FN Anishinabe, drew us into his world of writing with an aboriginal perspective. National Aboriginal Day June 21 approaches and a related Belleville Public Library event began with a presentation from a group of women from Tyendinaga First Nation praying in the language of the Mohawk people and singing.

Tyendinaga borders Belleville to the East. The leader of the group spoke eloquently of the history of the Mohawk band originally from northern New York state. Another woman in the group, darker complexioned with long black hair, supported her with a smile that lifted our hearts and communicated delight.  I should always travel with my camera.

Haydon Taylor started by saying that he was happy to be here on Tyendinaga Iroquois territory. He then hesitated and corrected himself. Had Belleville not been Nishnabe land? I felt happy that he got that piece of history correct. I puzzle about the British assigning the Mohawk band land in the Deseronto area so close to an Ojibway reserve. Cathy thinks maybe it was colonial strategy -- "Divide and conquer."

The Canadian writer, Peter C. Newman, has recently moved to Belleville with his wife. His plan is to write about the Loyalists. I hope his research will shed light on the historical puzzles of this place.

Haydon Taylor explained that he is a writer (who hates to write), a person with no day job, someone who has been able to make a living from writing. He recalled asking his Grade 11 English teacher whether a person could make a living from creative writing. The teacher answered with a curt "No." Haydon Taylor noted that when he speaks to high school students he emphasizes that his one piece of advice to them is -- "Don't listen to your Grade 11 English teacher." We clapped as the author informed us he was on his 23rd published book.

Haydon Taylor says he woke one day to find that he was a playwright. He has written some 16 plays and there have been numerous stage productions of his work. He talks of a phone call from a professor at the University of Venice asking for permission to translate and present one of his plays at the unversity. He is popular with Germans. 

He reminded us of the old joke -- What do you call a vegetarian Indian? Answer: A really lousy hunter.

Haydon Taylor noted that Aboriginal literature has gained a reputation as dark and serious and focused on the pain of a people ridding themselves of the poison of oppression. He has seen this not just with North American peoples but with the Maori of New Zealand and the Dalits of India. Raised at Curve Lake First Nation with childhood memories of elders telling wild stories and falling asleep to the sounds of their laughter, Haydon Taylor has opened another path.

Cathy and I agreed that it was a very enjoyable evening thanks to both the Tyendinaga women and Drew Haydon Taylor.