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Isbister adds written word to his artistic repertoire

Article Origin

Author

Laura Stevens, Sage Writer, SASKATOON

Volume

10

Issue

11

Year

2006

Renowned Native artist Arnold Isbister has written his first short fiction book, called Stories Moshum and Kokum Told Me.
The book contains seven short, easy-to-read stories meant for any age. The stories may be fiction but they draw their inspiration from tales Isbister's parents told him when he was young, and they are rooted in fact and history.
"Some of these stories are based on true things that actually happened," said Isbister. "These are stories that I heard around the kitchen table with the kerosene lamp lit, which gave off a soft glow."
He said that when he was a child, his family didn't have electricity, so he and his brothers and sisters would listen to stories told by his parents and visitors.
"Storytelling is probably one of our few ways of entertaining," said Isbister. "Therefore, when relatives or visitors came over it was exciting. That was our ways of occupying ourselves."
Each story in the collection is written with much emotion and passion that can be easily recognized by the reader. For example, in the story Going Home, Isbister introduces the harsh realities of residential schools. This particular story also illustrates how people would go to visit Isbister's parents as a source of comfort.
"Most of the stories kind of have a little lesson to be learned and that would be geared to the younger readers," said Isbister.
Isbister isn't new to the role of storyteller, having used paint and brush to share his tales for close to 35 years, but it wasn't until recently that he decided to try his hand at expressing himself through the written word.
"I thought, well I'm telling stories with my paintbrush. Why don't I try and write it down? And that's when I first started in the late 90s," said Isbister.
In 1999, he decided that these stories, along with others to follow, would make for a good book, "because not only did you have the stories in there but the paintings to accommodate them as well."
Now that he is working in both mediums, he said he often finds inspiration for one from the other. Sometimes he will get a visualization of a painting from a story, and other times he'll hear a story it gives him an idea for a painting.
Stories Moshum and Kokum Told Me is written to appeal to all ages, but Isbister said he has a specific target audience he's like to see buy the collection.
"The best scenario would be for the grandfather to buy the book for his grandchildren and then read the stories to them because that's the whole context of the book," he said.
Isbister is currently working on a new book that he is hoping to have completed by next spring. He said these stories would be more contemporary and "not so far back."
"It's again ideas, stories and words of wisdom from Moshum and Kokum," said Isbister.
"What I hope to transfer is that feeling of being there or a part of the storytelling as I remember it," he said.
Isbister said he believes his book could be used in the school system as a teaching tool. He recently found out that a number of universities from across Canada and the United States have bought the book, "which I found really strange," he said.
"I found out that people in anthropology, Native studies and cultural anthropology bought the book," Isbister said. Stories Moshum and Kokum Told Me is published by Wingate Press and sells for $25.95. The softtcover book can be purchased through the publisher's Web site at www.wingatepress.com.