Out of Muskoka

by James Bartleman

"A senior Canadian diplomat is viciously assaulted in his hotel room in South Africa. His world collapses in post-traumatic shock and he is haunted by flashback images of the discrimination he and his family endured when they moved to a small community in central Ontario immediately following World War Two. To exorcise these ghosts, he returns to the past to relive his childhood and youth. In the ensuing memoir, he describes the colorful personalities of a small northern community in which individuals, Indian and white, are larger than life, and in which race relations reflect the unenlightened attitudes of the times." Throughout Out Of Muskoka Jim Bartleman contrasts the universal existential conditions he faced as a child (discrimination, poverty, suicide, religious quest) with what he experienced as a diplomat serving in five continents over 35 years. In the process, he discovered that to feel whole, he had to feel accepted by the two worlds of his ancestry: Native and white.

Genres: Canada

Paperback

First published January 30, 2004

About the author

James Bartleman is the former lieutenant governor of Ontario and the bestselling author of the novels As Long as the River Flows and The Redemption of Oscar Wolfe. A member of the Chippewas of Rama First Nation, he is also a retired ambassador and a member of the Order of Canada. He lives in Perth, Ontario.

Reviews

[Canadian 791 · Rating 4 out of 5]

An autobiographical account of growing up in Port Carling, a resort village in the Muskoka Lakes region of Ontario. The author is a member of the Chippewas of the Rama First Nation, whose traditional lands include Port Carling, where they had a summer village. He recounts experiences in white and Indigenous society in stark contrast to the common perception of the Muskoka area as a playground for the wealthy. This is an account of growing up with racism and poverty, and the denial of civil and political rights to members of the author's family and community. The author also describes experiences of humanity and compassion from unexpected quarters, including a wealthy American summer resident who funded the author's university education, which propelled him "out of Muskoka" into a distinguished diplomatic career and his appointment as the first Indigenous Lieutenant-Governor of Ontario. I recommend reading this book together with "Raisin Wine", by the same author.

[Mike Steinborn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a very long book as autobiographies go, but still a fascinating read of a young boy growing up as half-Indian & half-white, rising from a poor background to become the 27th Lieutenant Governor of Ontario.

[Barbara Gard]

interesting historical novel of growing up in Muskosa