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The First
Annual Indian Authors' Conference was held on March 30, and 31,
1979, at the Sheraton Centre in Regina. The conference was one of
many sponsored by the Canada Council as part of a National Book
Festival. Authors familiar to those in Saskatchewan who were in
attendance included Eleanor Brass and Maria Campbell. Others from
out of province were George Clutesi, Basil Johnston, and Don
Whiteside (sin, a paw).Perhaps, the one element that contributed to the success of the Conference more than any other was the warm friendly feeling generated by the participants. This feeling allowed the audience to empathize, to smile and to laugh with the authors as they related their experience.
The Conference was successful in its aim to bring Indian Authors together, as well as to stimulate public awareness, both Indian and non-Indian, of Indian Authors. Through a publishers' panel, on Saturday morning, aspiring writers and non-writers gained much information about the publishing field.
A number of important points were brought out at this Conference. Primarily, most works about Indians are written by non-Indians. Indian people are not reading about themselves, especially they are not reading those books written by Indians. Somehow, Indian people must be helped to be made aware of their history through these books. It was also proposed that sometime in the near future an Indian Writers' Guilde could be established to help beginning writers and to create a strong voice for Indian writers.
A special thanks to all those who participated as well as to Shannon Two Feathers, who provided the entertainment at the Cultural evening.