Robert Feagan still has a lot of northern light in him. The 51-year-old St. Albert-based author, originally from the Northwest Territories still remembers what it was like to be the son of a member of the RCMP, always getting transferred from town to town, all the way to the east coast.
“I saw a lot of the country. My dad always insisted on driving, which at the time I didn’t appreciate but I do now,” he laughed.
This firsthand experience has not only inspired his creative output but also helped shape its authenticity. One only has to look at his other titles in the young adult category. Napachee was about a young Inuit boy who seeks life in the big city of Edmonton. Mystery at Shildii Rock has a group of friends struggle to understand a murder amid the mythology of Fort McPherson, Feagan’s hometown near Inuvik.
Now he is getting ready to promote his third novel, Arctic Thunder, the story of a young man’s success in sports and struggles in life. Mike is a lacrosse champion but when his dad is transferred to Inuvik, he finds that he has more trouble adapting to some personal circumstances than the change of address. It’s only when he gets introduced to the world of Arctic sports does he regain his momentum and grow as a person with the help of an elder.
“There’s this wise elder giving this young guy from the south advice. He tells him to accept himself and dig into his own culture and figure out who he is — more than lacrosse, figure out who you are and where you come from.”
Feagan said that it’s important for him to maintain that tie to the north, especially since that is one of the most unique features of his books in the youth market.
“Both of those have been adopted by a lot of the schools across Canada for the Northern Studies program. The draw for the schools is that I have used a lot of the DenĂ©, the Inuit, Inuvialuit dialects in the book, the culture and real places up there and a lot of the real traditions and different things like that. I was kind of frustrated that across Canada and even here in Edmonton, how little people really know about the north. I’m proud of my heritage growing up in the north and being born up there.”
He certainly wears his pride with him and with his work, describing it as one of his main drives to educate the rest of the country about the wonders of Arctic culture. His book launch tomorrow will even feature a display of his own artifacts from the north, including harpoons, beadwork and carvings.
“I have some pretty unique pieces that you don’t even see in many museums such as very traditional moose wedding gloves that are 80 or 90 years old.”
There will also be a demonstration of the Arctic sport called the airplane, where one person remains rigid and straight while being lifted up by two others. It should be an exciting and edifying spectacle for the first opportunity to get a look at Feagan’s newest book.
