Harold R. Johnson
Harold R. Johnson is a Canadian lawyer and writer, whose book Firewater: How Alcohol Is Killing My People (And Yours) was a shortlisted nominee for the Governor General's Award for English-language non-fiction at the 2016 Governor General's Awards.[1] The book, an examination of the problem with alcohol consumption among Canadian First Nations, draws on Johnson's work as a Crown prosecutor in northern Saskatchewan.[2]
Harold R. Johnson | |
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Born | Saskatchewan, Canada |
Occupation | lawyer, writer, trapper, fisher, mechanic, heavy equipment operator, miner, logger, firefighter, tree planter |
Nationality | Canadian |
Notable works | Firewater: How Alcohol Is Killing My People (And Yours)
Corvus, The Cast Stone, Charlie Muskrat, Two Families Treaties and Government, Back Track, Billy Tinker. |
Notable awards | Governor General's Award for English-language non-fiction
Saskatchewan Fiction Book Award 2011 for The Cast Stone. Saskatchewan Aboriginal Publishing Award for Two Families Treaties and Government. All titles shortlisted for Saskatchewan book awards in years published. |
Johnson told CBC Radio interviewer Shelagh Rogers in 2016 that his father was a Swedish immigrant and his mother a Cree aboriginal in Saskatchewan, where he was born. He enlisted in the Royal Canadian Navy and worked as a logger, trapper and miner before going to university as an adult, completing his education in law with an MA at Harvard.[3]
Bibliography
Fiction
- Billy Tinker (2001)
- Back Track (2005)
- Charlie Muskrat (2008)
- The Cast Stone (2011)
- Corvus (2015)
Nonfiction
- Two Families: Treaties and Government (2007)
- Firewater: How Alcohol is Killing My People (and Yours) (2016)
- Clifford (2018)
- Peace and Good Order: The Case for Indigenous Justice in Canada (2019)
- Cry Wolf: (2020)[4]
References
- "Two Sask. authors up for Governor General's awards". Saskatoon Star-Phoenix, October 5, 2016.
- "Indigenous people need to tell their stories of sobriety, says lawyer". The Current, September 27, 2016.
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"Harold R. Johnson on changing the narrative around alcohol in Indigenous communities". CBC Radio. 2017-01-30. Retrieved 2020-04-09.
Harold R. Johnson is a Harvard-educated lawyer and crown prosecutor who works in Northern Saskatchewan in Treaty 6 territory. He's also a fiction writer, a trapper and a member of the Montreal Lake Cree nation.
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"The CBC Books spring reading list: 40 great books to read this season". CBC Books. 2020-04-09. Retrieved 2020-04-09.
Johnson takes on wolves and the mythology around them in Cry Wolf. He explores Carnegie's death and other wolf attacks and suggests that we should take wolves more seriously.