I thought I would share this excerpt from The Summer of the Ennead to help you understand more about how this book came to be.
​This is a work of fiction and not an anthropological study. At times, I refer to practices common among Native people in our province. I do this out of respect because I believe that to save our environments here and around the world, we need to look back at the old ways when humans were not so separated from other life forms and from the earth on which we depend. Some of these ancient ways are still practised in parts of Canada, as they are on other continents and other countries.
I do not pretend to be an expert on Native cultures and philosophies, but I have done my research. In the past, I sat on the KW Powwow Committee and taught Native Studies at Open Door Secondary School in Waterloo. I spent time with Native colleagues and friends and have participated in a sweat lodge ceremony. I have tried not to make assumptions about my references, and when I have not been sure, I have avoided them altogether. If I have erred, I apologize. It was never my intention to mislead or to appropriate.
Essentially, the ideas that I put forth represent my thoughts about what is required if we are to save the Earth at this time. I should say life on Earth because the Earth will survive regardless of the destruction we wreak. The very real threat to existence is that which faces our many and varied life forms, and we need to think about this. The values that I present in this story are our only real hope, but I am not optimistic.
I offer special thanks to my first small group of readers: my sister, Diana Snider; my friends, David New, Jane Sherk, and Kaylind Thiessen; and my wife, Song Anny Wang. You have often inspired me and helped me complete this task. I also want to extend my thanks to my FriesenPress team, beginning with Emily Perkins, who encouraged me at the early stages before I began the formal job of publishing, and later with my publishing team of Kayla Lang, Katie, Teresita, and Sisilia Zheng. You have given me the confidence to critique my work and make it better and have contributed much to making the final product something of which I can be proud.
I offer thanks to my grandparents Fern and Allen, who blessed me over the years of my youth simply by listening to me and to my ancestors, whose names I used for all the human characters in this story.
I offer thanks to my teachers: Charlie Campbell, who believed in me and thus showed me how to believe in myself; Jacques Goutor, who taught me the importance of imagination when looking beyond the world that we know; David Pratt, who helped me realize and be confident in the extent of my ability; and to William S. Griffith, who helped me gain the discipline required for effective writing.
I offer thanks to the thinkers who have guided me on my search for truth: Jiddu Krishnamurti, who taught me that “truth is a pathless land”; Julien Musolino, who helped me free myself from the confines of my cultural upbringing; Richard Wagamese, whose many books have taught me about the sacredness of nature and natural life; David Suzuki who, over the years, has inspired me to look at Mother Earth and her problems from a different perspective, and whose words of wisdom I have used in this tale to set the themes for Parts I, II, and III; and finally, Bernie Siegel, who once said,
“Expect the best.”
Finally, a few words about someone special. Cliff Chamberlain was, at different times in my life, a colleague, a mentor, and a dear friend. He was a gentle man, a philosopher, and a lover of humour. It was from my memories of him that Grandpa Will came to life.
This story is the result of the life I have lived. It would not have happened had I not lived it the way I did with both its successes and failures, and I could not have imagined it at any other time in my life.