Darrel J McLeod

Early Life & Education

Darrel McLeod grew up in the small village of Smith in Treaty 8 Territory in Northern Alberta. McLeod grew up near the Athabasca River, one of several natural features he wrote about later in life. He described them as sources of inspiration or comfort. He had six siblings. His father was Clifford James McLeod. His mother, Bertha Dora Villeneuve (nee Cardinal) was taken from her family, along with her sisters, and placed in residential school as a young child. She escaped with the help of an aunt; however, she suffered considerable abuse. The abuse she suffered would affect her throughout her life, leading to a multigenerational cycle of abuse and violence that would later affect Darrel McLeod (see Intergenerational Trauma and Residential Schools). McLeod describes growing up amidst many siblings and cousins. As a child, he had to contend with his mother’s alcoholism as well as physical and sexual abuse from his brother-in-law. During his childhood, McLeod was often moved between living with his mother and an older sister. He described having difficulty maintaining good grades and an interest in music while dealing with abuse, violence, caring for his siblings and experiencing the breakdown of his family life. McLeod had a complicated relationship with his mother, who was also a source of inspiration and a direct connection to his Nehiyaw (Cree) ancestry. McLeod stated his mother passed onto him a traditional Nehiyaw method of storytelling, which builds the narrative in a non-linear, spiraling fashion that McLeod later incorporated into his writing style. McLeod’s mother also taught him how to observe and draw comfort from the natural environment, how to listen to the birds and to be proud of his Nehiyaw heritage.

In his memoir Mamaskatch (the Nehiyaw word for a shared dream), McLeod described moving away from the Catholic Church. He stated the Catholic Church had a profound and negative impact in his youth and family life. He also discussed his process of finding comfort and meaning in the stories and lessons of his Nehiyaw culture.

McLeod studied education and French literature at the University of British Columbia. He received his BA in 1984 and his BEd in 1985.

Career

Before becoming a celebrated memoirist, Darrel McLeod had a successful professional career as an educator and in government. He wrote the handbook Developing Culturally Focused Aboriginal Early Childhood Education Programs for the British Columbia Aboriginal Childcare Society.

He began teaching French immersion and later became a school principal. He was also the director of the K’noowenchoot Centre for Aboriginal Adult Education Resources at Okanagan University College. After his work at the K’noowenchoot Centre, he was a Special Advisor and Acting Manager at the Aboriginal Program unit of the British Columbia Ministry of Skills, Training and Labour. McLeod remained dedicated to education throughout his life, lecturing and leading workshops on curriculum design at the elementary and secondary levels.

Throughout his life, McLeod held several other important positions. Among others, he was a land claims negotiator who worked for the federal government (later becoming chief negotiator).

In addition, McLeod was the executive director of education and international affairs with the Assembly of First Nations. He was also part of an Indigenous delegation to the United Nations in Geneva.

Personal Life

As a young man, Darrel McLeod lived in the Kitsilano neighbourhood of Vancouver. After one of his older siblings underwent a gender transition, McLeod questioned his own sexual identity. Ultimately, McLeod came out as gay. At different points in his life, he also lived in Calgary and Ottawa. In his retirement, he lived in Sooke, British Columbia, outside Victoria.

Interested in music from a young age, McLeod was also a noted jazz musician. He performed with a band in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, where he chose to spend winters. Additionally, he played with a band in Victoria, BC called the Mamaskatch Jazz Project. McLeod performed with that band shortly before his sudden and unexpected death in 2024. He played guitar and piano. Additionally, he was an accomplished jazz singer.

McLeod was a polyglot, fluent in English, French and Spanish, and he was learning the Cree language when he passed. At the time of his death, he had recorded two albums and was thinking of working on a third.

Published Works

Darrel McLeod published a short story, two memoirs and one novel during his lifetime. In 2015, literary magazine Numéro Cinq published his first short story and work of fiction ”Hail Mary Full of Grace,” which Numéro Cinq stated was the first short story by a Cree author in Canada. Additionally, he wrote Mamaskatch: a Cree Coming of Age, published in 2018, which details his childhood, family and young adulthood. A sequel, Peyakow: Reclaiming Cree Dignity, A Memoir, was published in 2021 and recounts McLeod’s adulthood, his successful career and reconciling the loss of his culture as well as his efforts to reclaim it. The book details McLeod experiences of the defeats, death and self-destruction of people close to him. It also addresses his concerns that these too would pull him down. It provided insight into how Indigenous people navigate contemporary Canada from the perspective of a man who has experienced these struggles personally. McLeod’s last published work, his first novel, was titled A Season in Chezgh’un and contained biographical elements, drawn from his own life as a young man living in Vancouver and his efforts to reconnect with his Nehiyaw culture.

Awards

Darrel McLeod won the Governor General’s Literary Award for Non-fiction for Mamaskatch in 2018. The same book was also shortlisted for the RBC Taylor Prize. Mamaskatch has since been translated into French and German, and it was shortlisted for a number of other major awards. His second memoir, Peyakow, was shortlisted for the Hilary Weston Writer’s Trust Prize for Nonfiction in 2021. His debut novel, A Season in Chezgh’un, was also a winner of the 2024 BC and Yukon Book Prizes.