[CORRECTED] Informative Article on Richard Wagamese

Maryam Al-Rubaiee 

Mr. Cohen

ENG3U

February 2nd, 2026

The Gentle Soul of Richard Wagamese

Richard Wagamese was often described to be generous, kind, selfless, among other things. He often welcomed the people of his culture with open arms, understanding their struggles and where they are coming from. A Saskatchewan Order of Merit holder Carol Rose GoldenEagle, from multi-award winning magazine Montecristo, confirms: “He spoke with such reverence that I found myself feeling silly for having been uncomfortable at all. Richard talked about how, in reconnecting with his own Ojibway roots, he’d found strength and purpose in his life. He hoped I would find the same” (GoldenEagle). Wagamese would make sure to guide the people who planned to reconnect with their cultures with his knowledge. Afterall, he called himself a second-generation survivor of the programs that were government-sponsored: these were known as the Sixties Scoop. From as early as 3 years old, Wagamese faced hardships alongside his 3 siblings due to their parents separating from them. Shortly after seeking shelter from the cold and from hunger, he and the siblings were taken in by a provincial policeman to one of these programs; they were aggressively “scooped” away from their lives and into the foster care system. It took Richard Wagamese about 25 years, after his placement in foster care to reunite with his birth family. He retained too much mental turmoil regarding his life choices, especially pertaining in his teenage years. The trusted author Jules Lewis wrote in The Canadian Encyclopedia, a commonly used resource that is encouraged in school systems, that: “Wagamese had dropped out of high school and was living on the streets, or with friends, doing whatever he could to survive. It was around this time that he began his literary education” (Lewis). Although, with his diagnosis of PTSD, he had felt relief due to the fact he had something to treat his troubles. 

Despite everything he persisted through during his teenage years, from homelessness, to struggling with addiction, this was the time Richard Wagamese began to develop an interest in literature. He has reiterated multiple times during his career how important it is to read and to learn, as that was what lead him to become the successful writer he was: 

The only thing I’ve taken is the open opportunity that lay between the open covers of a book, and I read and I read, and by sheer volume alone, I found out what a good sentence was and how a strong paragraph is constructed and how a great narrative arc is carried through the course of a long and lengthy story (Wagamese).

Wagamese had been a professional writer since 1979, ever since he got his first reporter job in an Indigenous newspaper, and he would go on to win and accept multiple awards such as: the Alberta Writers Guild Best Novel Award in 1995, the Canadian Authors Association Award for his novel Dream Wheel in 2007, and the George Ryga Award for Social Awareness in Literature for his memoir, One Story, One Song, in 2011.

Richard Wagamese’s writing style can be described as emotionally direct. He makes sure that it’s deeply rooted in storytelling. His body of work includes a number of novels, non-fiction, and even a book of poetry. His earlier work can be found in newspaper columns, memoirs, and more. It is safe to say that his writing style is incredibly versatile, as he’s been able to take on many different writing styles. A clarifying detail of his writing is his focus on healing and reconciliation. It’s a misconception how his writing is focused on trauma, when he only touches on it in a way that is connected to relieving said trauma.

Works Cited

GoldenEagle, Carol. “How Indigenous Author Richard Wagamese Helped Me Reconnect to My Cree Culture.” Montecristo Magazine, 14 February 2020, https://montecristomagazine.com/magazine/winter-2019/richard-wagamese?authuser=0#gsc.tab=0. Accessed 2 February 2026.

Lewis, Jules. “Richard Wagamese.” The Canadian Encyclopedia, 18 April 2017, https://thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/richard-wagamese?authuser=0. Accessed 2 February 2026.

“Ojibway author Richard Wagamese dead at 61.” CBC, 17 March 2017, https://www.cbc.ca/news/indigenous/richard-wagamese-obit-1.4020899. Accessed 2 February 2026.