2 UBC alumni
awarded the 2024
Indspire Awards
April 18, 2024
Eden Robinson | LittD 2018 (Honorary), MFA 1995
Award category: Arts
“Fiction, good fiction, allows you to live another life. You get to see the world through someone else’s eyes. Reports and testimony can give you facts and feelings. Fiction can immerse you on levels that other mediums can’t.”
For nearly 30 years, Eden Robinson has been changing the world through storytelling. This award-winning author of five novels and a short story collection has had her works published around the world, translated into multiple languages, and adapted for film. She has served as a role model and mentor to other Indigenous authors.
After graduating from the University of Victoria with a B.A. in creative writing in 1992, Eden went on to receive an M.F.A. from the University of British Columbia’s Dept. of Creative Writing in 1995, along with an honorary Ph.D. from the same institution in 2018.
Eden’s work blends the supernatural with elements of contemporary Indigenous experiences in Canada. Her infusion of traditional Haisla and Heiltsuk stories and motifs into contemporary settings makes her work innovative and wholly unique.
Her first work, Traplines, a collection of short stories, received national and international acclaim; it was a New York Times Notable Book and won the Winifred Holtby Memorial Prize. Monkey Beach, her first novel, won the Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize and was shortlisted for the Governor General’s Literary Award (Fiction) and the Scotiabank Giller Prize. A national bestseller, it was adapted as a feature film in 2020.
Eden is perhaps best known for her acclaimed Trickster Trilogy: Son of a Trickster, Trickster Drift, and Return of the Trickster. Son of a Trickster was shortlisted for the Scotiabank Giller Prize; it was also adapted into a popular TV series and was a contender for the 2020 edition of Canada Reads. Each book in the trilogy was a national bestseller and appeared on numerous ‘best of’ lists.
Eden’s legacy is not merely her published works; it is also the gifts she has given to Indigenous communities and readers across Turtle Island – and around the world – as a respected and beloved storyteller.
Ronald Eric Ignace | BA 1974, MA 1980
Award category: Language
“I’m always hopeful that the government will recognize that if they are to achieve reconciliation that they have to invest in our languages and in the revitalization of our languages, because our languages are tied to the land and are important to our life.”
Ronald Ignace is a living embodiment of the strength of language and culture. Raised traditionally and coming from a long line of hereditary chiefs, Ron was forced to attend the Kamloops Indian Residential School. Not only did he defy all attempts to destroy his language, but he also went on to teach new generations – and, in 2021, became Canada’s first-ever Indigenous Languages Commissioner.
With a B.A. and an M.A. in sociology from the University of British Columbia (UBC), Commissioner Ignace returned to his community after graduation and began to serve as elected Kukwpi7 (Chief) – a position which he held for over 30 years. He was also chairman of the Shuswap Nation Tribal Council and president of its cultural society.
Commissioner Ignace has a Ph.D. in anthropology from Simon Fraser University (SFU), with his dissertation focusing on Secwépemc oral history. With his partner, Dr. Marianne Ignace, he co-wrote the groundbreaking Secwépemc People, Land and Laws: Yeri7 re Stsq’ey’s-kucw, a seminal work which covers 10,000 years of Secwépemc history and law. It received multiple accolades and was instrumental in the Ignaces winning the Governor General’s Innovation Award in 2019.
Commissioner Ignace has taught Secwepemctsín through a partnership he, Marianne, and other community leaders established with SFU in 1988, which continues to exist as the SFU Indigenous Languages Program, enabling new generations to gain fluency in Indigenous languages.
Commissioner Ignace served as chair of the Department of Canadian Heritage’s 2003-2005 Task Force on Aboriginal Languages and Cultures (TFALC) and co-chaired the Assembly of First Nations’ Chiefs Committee on Languages, where in 2015-19 he played an instrumental role in the development and passage of Bill C-91, the Indigenous Languages Act.
As a leader, historian, speaker, and advocate, Commissioner Ignace’s contributions to Indigenous language-learning and well-being have spanned decades and created change in multiple areas.
Award accolades are sourced directly from the awards webpage. To learn more about this award please visit: https://indspire.ca/events/indspire-awards/