Cree poet Margaret Sam-Cromarty is excited that her writings will soon be reaching new readers through an upcoming 288-page compilation to be published by the University of Manitoba Press, titled James Bay Memoirs and Other Stories. An official book launch in Montreal was held on June 7, which will be followed by a summer launch in Chisasibi.
The project was initiated by editors Isabella Huberman and Élise Couture-Grondin, who have been collaborating since meeting in 2012 as grad students in Indigenous literature. Despite both studying the subject in Quebec for decades, it wasn’t until Couture-Grondin stumbled upon Sam-Cromarty’s books during a family trip to Chisasibi two years ago that the seed was planted.
“I was really impressed by the writing,” said Couture-Grondin. “I came back to Montreal and started to talk with Isabella about them. She has a powerful voice to speak to all the devastation that Hydro had in her territory – it’s still so relevant.”
As Sam-Cromarty’s three poetry books are currently out of print, it was initially difficult to access her writing or much information about her. Eventually they got in touch through her daughter Jane and arranged to meet the now 89-year-old writer in Val-d’Or, where she lives with her son Eddy Cromarty.
“In our early conversations, she told us she had been looking to get her books back in print,” Huberman said. “Folks in Chisasibi and the Cultural Centre had been asking for copies. We happened to know the University of Manitoba Press publishes texts by Indigenous authors specifically that are out of print.”
Connecting her with Warren Cariou, the editor of the First Voices, First Texts series, they began working with Sam-Cromarty to compile as much of her writing as possible. The first priority was including the entirety of her three books: James Bay Memoirs, A Cree Woman’s Ode to her Homeland; Indian Legends and Poems; and Cree Poems and Stories.
With an estimated 5,000 copies of these books in circulation, they found some of the earlier editions had been rushed, with several typos and inaccurate translations in French. It was decided to keep the compilation fully in English, the language she wrote in, exchanging with Sam-Cromarty throughout the editing process to integrate her feedback.
“We wanted to ensure that her writing got the care and respect that it deserves,” said Huberman. “Margaret’s work can have that wider audience and never go out of print again. I was drawn to the story about her family’s personal experience with the Hydro transformation. She’s incredibly funny in her writing – it’s hard not to be drawn in.”
Born in 1936 on Fort George Island where there was no electricity or running water, Sam-Cromarty lived on the land most of her life. Learning to read at residential school, she told the Nation that she was the only person who would go to the little school library.
“Kids in those days didn’t care about books,” said Sam-Cromarty. “Books were really hard to get – you had to sneak in. I was the only one that read. I didn’t have the luxury of pencils and paper for a long time, so I wrote on anything.”
The community’s forced relocation to Chisasibi during the first phase of Hydro-Québec’s James Bay project in 1980 informed much of her writing, documenting community life and experiences on the land before and after the move. Sam-Cromarty started writing in her 50s when she was no longer taking care of her mother.
“When I write, I just imagine myself in the picture, and the poems make music and pictures as I go along,” she once explained. “In my memory stands a Cree village of Fort George not flooded or abandoned, but full of happy Crees.”
After sharing poems with some women working for the band council, a summer student connected Sam-Cromarty with the late Georgia Elston from Waapoone Publishing in Lakefield, Ontario. Sam- Cromarty’s books were published between 1992 and 2000 with her poem “Trees” selected in a nationwide search to appear in a book alongside other Indigenous poets.
“I thought I should do it for the next generation or whoever is interested in our culture,” reflected Sam-Cromarty. “I found a lot of people are interested in our culture. That’s the most amazing part. It started in a remote place and yet it went far – I never thought it would come this far.”
With growing attention, the Cree School Board occasionally hired Sam-Cromarty to do presentations in other communities, and she learned to enjoy speaking to large crowds at various colleges and universities. The new book includes some of her speeches from these US tours and some of the many articles she wrote in the Nation magazine during the 1990s.
“We found three articles online, but she kept saying I’ve published a lot in the Nation,” Huberman recalled. “Last winter, I spent weeks in the Nation‘s office, combing through every issue to 2003 and she’s right. She does not mince words with governments, getting straight to the point but with flair and humour.”
From over 35 articles and numerous interviews in the Nation, the compilation includes about 15 representative samples, alongside a new interview with Sam-Cromarty and a contextualizing essay by the editors. The cover artwork is by Eddy Cromarty, an accomplished painter and huge supporter of his mother’s writing. There are also several family photos and illustrations by her cousin Irene that appeared in the first book.
“There’s the hope this will be translated into French after,” added Couture-Grondin. “All of this started with a desire for people to see her books in print. We hope people get inspired by her story to learn more about her people in Chisasibi and Fort George.”
Sam-Cromarty’s publishing income is appreciated as she never worked outside the home during her marriage so receives no pension. With her late husband William, she ran an eco-tourism business on Fort George Island for years until it got too hectic. Returning to the beloved island of her childhood memories this summer, Sam-Cromarty observed substantial erosion.
Gazing every morning at the Lifetime Achievement Award she received from the Cree Native Arts and Crafts Association in 2021, Sam-Cromarty marvels at how her simple books have crossed the world.
“All my old publishers died off, then these two girls came along and revived the books,” said Sam- Cromarty, adding with a laugh, “I’m happy the Nation has thought about me again to fill pages.”
“Life”
In this time
of steel
and of speed,
we need
poetry.
Like a friend
warm and true
shedding a tear.
See it hang,
roll down,
feel things unseen.
Drawn
to things we see,
like the setting sun
of breathtaking colours.
A new dawn:
in its blue-shadow world
things move so fast.
.
Now moving faster and faster.