Joe Pete

The late Ian McCulloch has crafted a novel of fluid storytelling of the interconnected lives of a family tree with his novel, “Joe Pete.” Branching out from the rising action surrounding a young girl named Alison, Joe Pete, she discovers a wounded dog at an abandoned camp site on a secluded island close to where her own father had perished falling through the ice. She had been searching for her father. He has not, nor his body, been found and Joe Pete’s world is rocked by this tragedy. With the rescue of the dog, Joe Pete is anchored to a wild canine surviving on his own terms. My interpretation of this surviving is a metaphor of how other members of this family, currently and historically, have navigated an increasingly colonized Canadian society. The novel spans multiple generations and weaves through topics of the trauma of serving in war, family peril and togetherness, survival of residential schools and just how unfair and brilliant life can be, simultaneously. Embedded in character lives is the spiritual, executed as Magic Realism, parallel of Manitou and the influence of ancestors, of animal guides and religious residue result in a gripping text.

This novel will enter into Canadian society as a special text. Published posthumously, “Joe Pete” is inspired by the author’s familial legacy as a member of the Chapleau Cree First Nation (Fox Lake). In an introduction to the novel, Dennis Stokes from Pine Lake conveys the significance of the novel’s meaning to the author: “It’s as if your whole life and inheritance has been meant for this novel’s arriving in this moment.” A novel of testimony and witnessing, there is healing medicine that this novel offers a world in process. An overarching theme of the novel is a message from the author to never give up. Indeed, it is expected that this novel will take its place alongside the forefathers of the author’s inspiration. “In spite of and because of ourselves, while all of us carry through this dark wood, this torch of story and song offered by artists from ancient nations to, as Jesse Wente suggests, a very young country, Joe Pete will take its rightful place. It will make its own fire beside your heroes (Wagamese, Maracle, Thomas King and especially your favourite, Tomson Highway.)” Here is a novel prepared to help move our country forward.

Ian McCulloch was born in 1957 and crossed over in 2019. He was born in Comox, B.C. and raised in Northern Ontario. His writing is influenced by his indigenous heritage. The author of three books of poetry and several chapbooks. His first novel, Childforever was published in 1996. He was a founding member of Northern Ontario’s iconic reading series, The Conspiracy of Three. He is deeply missed by friends and family.

I was interested to know more about “Joe Pete” in terms of the closeness to basing a novel on life experience. In an interview with CBC Sudbury, McCulloch’s brother, Bruce McCulloch spoke about “Joe Pete.” "Joe Pete is an allegory story of our family, our tribe, our ancestral history, about residential schools, about racism.” The author had grown up without access to his indigenous roots due to processual and systemic assimilation, his family wanting to “not appear Native,” but was the first family member to reclaim his heritage. McCulloch had moved to Alberta to work for Bell Canada and began to become connected with the literary community. Later, he moved back to North Bay. There, he became the editor of a literary magazine called Nebula and established the reading series, “The Conspiracy of Three.” After his passing, it was his widow, Laurie Kruk, a professor at Nipissing University who began putting “Joe Pete” together. McCulloch’s brother states that “Joe Pete” is “just like any great American novel. It's the story of a family surviving trauma." I wish we could know more about McCulloch’s writing process and the research conducted to lay the foundation of the novel. But, I have learned, sometimes there is purpose and learning in what is kept private and what is released into the universe. There is something to take from this in a reading experience of the author’s final writing piece to the world.

At the beginning of the novel there is a printed family tree. The reader can trace Joe Pete’s lineage back to her Great-Great-Grandparents. Descended from the Goodwyns, I found this visual helpful in situating myself at times to the stories shared from each generation. McCulloch braids storytelling into this family tree exemplifying the interconnected and holistic being of this family. Shouldering both the dark and light, redemption and injustice, the reader is left with the impression of memorable characters orienting through the world. The power of storytelling is channeled in the character of Poppa Sam that becomes an extension for the body of writing itself: “Then, after the proper interval of contemplation and expectation he would begin to tell stories, one leading to the next. Stories from his life in the bush and of the lives of their ancestors. Stories of people and relatives mixed in with legends of manitou’s and tricksters, and many times it couldn’t be distinguished when one merged into the other.” And amongst this web of life there is Joe Pete, she behaves against the currents of some around her pressuring her to push her world down and into something small. But, “she knew differently. Poppa Sam had taught her that the world was a much more complicated place and you had to be open to it.” Joe Pete becomes a literary female figure of grit and tenacity, persevering and not giving up. CanLit, or Canadian readers, they need Joe Pete.  

Thank you to Ian McCulloch, Latitude 46 Publishing and River Street Writing for the complimentary copy in exchange for an honest review!