Award-winning Cree author Darrel J. McLeod died on August 29, 2024, in Victoria, BC, at the age of sixty-seven.
McLeod served on The Walrus board of directors since March 2023 and was recently appointed the chair of the Educational Review Committee. He is the author of three books, two memoirs, and most recently a novel. His memoir, Mamaskatch, won the prestigious Governor General’s Literary Award for nonfiction. Its sequel, Peyakow: Reclaiming Cree Dignity, was shortlisted for the Writers’ Trust Prize for Nonfiction in 2021. Across his writing, McLeod lays bare the deep wounds inflicted on his family and community by cultural genocide, residential schools, and addiction.
