Rez Dog Blues & The Haiku — with William Lindsay

William Lindsay worked as an educator at Simon Fraser University, the University of British Columbia, and Concordia University. In this episode, Am and William discuss the writing process for his latest book, “Rez Dog Blues & The Haiku: A Savage Life in Bits and Pieces,” and its focus on music and movies, horror and hope, and the honest depiction of Indigneous life, in the 60s and 70s, on reserve and then in the Downtown Eastside of Vancouver.

Content Warning:
The stories in this series deal with difficult and sometimes traumatic topics. Please practice self care, stop listening and seek support if you need to. Help is available!
Mental Health Support:
Crisis Centre BC: crisiscentre.bc.ca/
Indian Residential School Survivors Society: www.irsss.ca/services
KUU-US Crisis Line: www.kuu-uscrisisline.com/
WAVAW Rape Crisis Centre: www.wavaw.ca/
BC Mental Health and Substance Use Services: www.bcmhsus.ca/

Full episode details: https://www.sfu.ca/vancity-office-community-engagement/below-the-radar-podcast/episodes/177-william-lindsay.html

Read the transcript: https://www.sfu.ca/vancity-office-community-engagement/below-the-radar-podcast/transcripts/177-william-lindsay.html

Resources:
Rez Dog Blues & The Haiku: A Savage Life in Bits and Pieces: https://www.amazon.ca/Rez-Dog-Blues-Haiku-Savage/dp/177792040X
The First Nations House of Learning (FNHL): https://indigenous.ubc.ca/longhouse/fnhl/
The First Nations Longhouse: https://indigenous.ubc.ca/longhouse/
Office for Aboriginal Peoples annual newsletter: https://www.sfu.ca/sfunews/stories/2022/01/special-edition--office-for-aboriginal-peoples-annual-newsletter.html
Marilyn Dumont: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/marilyn-dumont
The Warriors (1979): https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0080120/
Saturday Night Fever (1977): https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0076666/
On The Road by Jack Kerouac (1957): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On_the_Road
Sherman Alexie: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/sherman-alexie
Cahokia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cahokia

Bio:
William G. Lindsay (Cree-Stoney) B.Ed. M.A. is retired as of 2021 after working for a quarter century in post-secondary education. This was preceded by a career in the hotel-restaurant industry. He served most recently as the Senior Director, Indigenous Directions at Concordia University in Montréal. He has experience as a college professor, university educator, researcher and published writer, student services coordinator, Associate Director, Director, and Senior Director, across the following institutions: Concordia University, Simon Fraser University, University of British Columbia, Douglas College, Institute of Indigenous Government, and Native Education College.

William's book Rez Dog Blues & The Haiku: A Savage Life in Bits and Pieces was released on Amazon in December 2021. The Vancouver Sun and The Province newspaper published book reviews on May 7-8, 2022, calling it a "new classic of Indigenous literature" and "An Indigenous Odyssey for TRC times". The book has been shortlisted for the prestigious 2022 Whistler Independent Book Awards. This is William's second book following The Eagle and the Fish which was published in Korea by Unibooks Inc. in 2002. William has presented at twenty academic conferences during his career, his presentations dealing with Indigenous social justice, life experience, and education.

Cite this episode:
Chicago Style

Johal, Am. “[title]” Below the Radar, SFU’s Vancity Office of Community Engagement. Podcast audio, June 21, 2022. https://www.sfu.ca/vancity-office-community-engagement/below-the-radar-podcast/episodes/177-william-lindsay.html.