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Gitwaałtk (Novel)

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The Resilient Writers Radio Show: Interview with Crystal AJ Smith – Full Episode Transcript

Intro:

Well, hey there, Writer. Welcome to The Resilient Writers Radio Show. I'm your host, Rhonda Douglas. And this is the podcast for writers who want to create and sustain a writing life they love. 

Because let's face it, the writing life has its ups and downs, and we want to not just write, but also to be able to enjoy the process so that we'll spend more time with our butt-in-chair getting those words on the page. 

This podcast is for writers who love books and everything that goes into the making of them. For writers who want to learn and grow in their craft and improve their writing skills. Writers who want to finish their books and get them out into the world so their ideal readers can enjoy them. Writers who want to spend more time in that flow state. 

Writers who want to connect with other writers to celebrate and be in community, in this crazy roller coaster ride, we call the writing life. We are resilient writers. We're writing for the rest of our lives and we're having a good time doing it. So welcome, Writer. I'm so glad you're here. Let's jump right into today's show.

Rhonda:

Well, hey there, Writer. Welcome back to another episode of The Resilient Writers Radio Show. Today I'm talking with Crystal AJ Smith. Crystal is Haisla and Ts’ymsen and was adopted into the Heiltsuk Nation. She's a writer, poet, playwright, and activist. She holds a master's in educational administration and leadership from UBC with a focus on Indigenous leadership. And she and her partner live in Liǧʷiłdax̌ʷ territory with their four children. Do I have that right? Territory with their four children.

Crystal:

Yes.

Rhonda:

Yeah. And her debut novel is called uh Gitwaałtk. I think I got that right. Gitwaałtk. I'll put it in the show notes. OK. I'm sure I butchered at least one of those um Indigenous words, Crystal, so I apologize. um Welcome. I'm so glad you're here.

Crystal:

Yeah, G̱ila k̓isla. If you don't mind, I could introduce myself as well in the language.

Rhonda:

I would love that. Thank you.

Crystal:

So I'm going to introduce myself in Lik̓wala, which is the language of the Liǧʷiłdax̌ʷ people. And that is where I'm residing right now. And so it's just to honor the space that I'm in.

Rhonda:

Wonderful.

Crystal:

[Introduction in Likwala]

And then I said I'm from Misqyuusa'k, um, Gitlax̱mda̱mks, which is Kitimat, um, and the Haisla people, so Haisla and Haisla. And then I've been adopted into the Heiltsuk Nation. And I said my grandparents were Amy and Sam Wilson. They have passed on. And Colleen White um was my adopted grandmother from the Heiltsuk Nation and Eddie White. And I said my grandfather was G̱abag̱a̱x̱, um which is on my Haisla side. So just really honoring all the people that brought me into being and made me who I am today.

Rhonda:

Thank you for that. So we're going to have a conversation about your debut novel and there are people listening from all over the world. So I thought we should probably kind of just get on the same page with some things. So I don't know that anyone outside of Canada would know what the Highway of Tears is. Can you explain the Highway of Tears for us?

Crystal:

For sure. So the Highway of Tears spans from Prince George all the way up to Prince Rupert. They call it Highway 16, but it's been dubbed the Highway of Tears since, I think it's like 19, 1968, 1998 maybe. But at some point, um our families knew that women were going missing along this highway. And there were several marches and vigils and um kind of things to bring attention to this highway. And then it was named the Highway of Tears.

Rhonda:

And these are all Indigenous.

Crystal:

Not just Indigenous women, but mostly yeah majority of them are Indigenous women and girls that have gone missing along this highway.

Rhonda:

Right. Thank you for that. So Crystal this book is not a standard like prose narrative like beginning middle end. Can you talk about well, let me ask you first. Why did you write this particular book?

Crystal:

Well, Gitwaałtk was born in a writing workshop and I have Mía Mir to thank for that. She was very much a mentor of mine and really like a big sister and really helped me hone my craft and the ancestors, obviously, speaking through me.

Um, so Gitwaałtk was born in this writing workshop and it would just, it seemed to be something that, um, was on my mind. Um, I had just recently moved back to Vancouver, um, the Lower Mainland. Um, and I had lived in Terrace and I had lived in, um, Gitanyow, um, both of which are on the Highway of Tears.

And so as like a young person, knowing about this, um and knowing that I'm not safe, you know, um was a big, a big part of it. And it's like a blessing that I'm still here, that I'm still alive. Because a lot of Indigenous women, um they don't make it this far. And so to be 35 is a blessing and to have a book out is a blessing as well.

And so I just really wanted to bring attention to the Highway of Tears attention to how we as a Bak̓wa̱m and Lik̓wala as like, person like a being. And so as a Bak̓wa̱m person, to really kind of, my hope is that you'd feel what we feel. And that through this narrative, through this book, um you'll get a greater understanding because there's lots of facts out there.

There's a lot of documentaries out there. But I feel like reading a novel is just a whole different avenue in which people can connect. And so my hope is that you get a taste of what we go through on the daily.

Rhonda:

What does the word Gitwaałtk mean?

Crystal:

Yeah, so Gitwaałtk um is written in Sm'algya̱x, which is the language of the Ts’ymsen people. And it's shared Sm'algya̱x. There's um families. So there's the Nisg̱a'a Nation, the Gitxsan, and the Ts’ymsen all have our own dialect of Sm'algya̱x. And Sm'algya̱x is, or Gitwaałtk is warrior. So it means warrior.

Rhonda:

Okay. Yeah. And the cover has this beautiful image of two sea otters, I think, yeah? It's sort of a sea otter and almost like the shadow of a sea otter. Did you have input into that? What's the significance of the otter?

Crystal:

Um, well, the otter um in Sm'algya̱x is Watsa. And so the Watsa play a very important role in this book. I don't know if I should, if I'm giving like spoilers. But the Watsa, um I kind of, grew up knowing that they were um a transformation being so that they could transform into beautiful women. And then they would lure you to um the river or the ocean to drown you.

Rhonda:

Okay.

Crystal:

And then you become part of the Watsa. And so when using this and thinking about the Highway of Tears and how the majority of people who have gone missing are women, Indigenous women. And so like who better to um support the main character in finding the killer than the Watsa who then can lure and take the killer.

Rhonda:

We won't say anymore just in case. So it's not a straightforward narrative, right? Like if someone picks it up expecting, you know, a prose a la, I don't know, Anne of Green Gables or whatever, like, you know, beginning, middle and straightforward prose narrative. It isn't that it's an interplay of prose and poetry and um or Indigenous oral storytelling. How did you make decisions about structuring a novel in this way?

Rhonda:

Um, when it comes to writing, I don't have the, I'm trying, I'm attempting to do the whole like build characters, build plot, build. Um, but really, um, the story just comes through me. So it's like pen to paper, or fingers to keyboard type. Um, whichever one I'm, whichever one's available.

And so I didn't structure it. It just came into being as it is. And then there was a little bit of movement when we were doing the editing with Gordon Hill Press. That kind of like tiny bit of restructuring, but really it just kind of came together on its own. And it flowed really well.

Rhonda:

So feel it has the structure it was always meant to have.

Crystal:

Yeah. For sure.

Rhonda:

Okay. What are you hoping someone reading the book is gonna take away from it?

Crystal:

Um, so like I said earlier, I'm really hoping that people can really feel and see um the pain that we as Indigenous people carry, like the intergenerational trauma, the constant erasure of us as Indigenous people.

The world is becoming more I mean, it wasn't safe to begin with, but it's becoming more unsafe, um especially here in BC, especially with um the kind of mentality where m it's so often easy for Indigenous people to be ignored and not thought of as human or not thought of as citizens or not thought of as part of our society.

And so my hope was that this lays the groundwork in saying, I feel like it's in a gentle way, like this is who we are. This is what we're going through. Take some of this feeling, sit with it, you know? And then also how resilient we are that despite all of these things, despite the constant, m the constant violence against us, against our land, against our relatives, whether that be the q̓ʷəx̌ʷə, the trees, the atli, the forests, the wał, the rivers, the dams, he the sea, everything is under threat. And that all of that is connected to who we are.

So if a spill happens in the ocean, that is affecting us, that's affecting future generations. If a forest is clear cut, that's affecting us, that's affecting future generations. And so like, we as people are very interconnected to everything around us, everyone around us. And so just... um. Yeah, that we're resilient, despite all of these harms. And that we're still here.

Rhonda:

Yeah. Can I, earlier you spoke about ancestors. Can I ask, do you feel like, or do your ancestors have a role in your writing life? Like, do you feel like...I don't know, either some kind, some form of honoring of them or, or like they are kind of coming through you. Do know what I mean? When you're writing. Cause I think a lot of writers have that sense of, you know, and sometimes in, the Western world, we talk about like channeling the muse, you know? But so do you have that sense of sort of ancestors with you as you're writing?

Crystal:

Oh, for sure. I mean, I feel I really feel like our ancestors are with us all the time. It's what keeps me safe. It's them with me. It's them guiding me on how to be a parent. It's them guiding me in language. ah I have a terrible memory. Like I can't tell you most of my childhood. I can't really tell you what happened like five years ago, like my memory is terrible.

But since September, I've been learning Lik̓wala and I'm retaining it. You know, that's ancestral. That's the ancestors saying, you need this. You need this to parent. You need this to live. And then hopefully you need this to write. So Gitwaałtk is in Sm'algya̱x um but my hope is to bring more language into my writing.

And um I'm not learning Sm'algya̱x anymore. I know how to introduce myself um and very basic, basic things, but really being pulled to one honor where I am. But Lik̓wala is also my shared language, oh same family as the Haisla. So the Haisla language was very similar to Lik̓wala.

So to learn Lik̓wala is to learn my language, basically, right? And so just having that in my life has been incredible. And when I'm writing, Um, it really is, um, that feeling of like, this story needs to be told and you are the person that's going to write it as opposed to being, I'm making the story up.

Rhonda:

Yeah.

Crystal:

It's like, this is it's coming through. Yeah, for sure.

Rhonda:

Is it, am I correct to say it's sort of like a sense of responsibility? Get it down, get it right. Share it. Yeah.

16:52
Yeah. Uh It's difficult to...Highway of Tears, I haven't lost anyone on the Highway Tears, knock on wood. But my family's there.

Rhonda:

Crystal:

I have relatives there. And I think about that often. And I think about like even the communities, the families that have lost and just I hope that... um I hope that this book helps them as opposed to harms them. That is my hope for this book. For those that have lost loved ones along the Highway of Tears.

It allows others to see the harms because the things that happen in the book are not um central to the Highway of Tears. Like as an Indigenous woman, I have been harmed in a multitude of ways, um whether that be fleeing my abusive ex or as a young child being abused.

Um, those are things that have happened and do happen to like non-Indigenous people as well. Um, but I just want, there is that responsibility of saying we need to share this. People need to hear this, need to feel it. And if my writing um helps them through that, then um that is a great gift to me.

Rhonda:

I think that's an incredible way. There is, uh of course, a tradition of thinking of writing and thinking of all creative work as a gift. And sometimes when the work has been hard for me, that's something that I draw on.

But I love the way you're describing the novel as helping people to feel what needs to be felt. Because I think, at least in Canada, know, the Highway of Tears, any conversation around it, as you say, it's all facts and documentary. And, you know, this has happened but for change to happen, people need to feel things. Yeah.

Crystal:

For sure.

Rhonda:

So, Crystal, can I ask you have four children? And you have you finished your masters, but like, how do you manage to get writing done with four children?

Crystal:

Yeah, so Gitwaałtk, um it's taken over 10 years for it to be completed. And a lot of the times it was because it was on the back burner. So I did my BA and then I did my masters immediately after. And then during my masters, I've left an abusive relationship. um And so all of that had to be dealt with before I could get back to Gitwaałtk.

But throughout all of it, pieces came like, ah, something, I got to write this down. And so whenever that's the hard thing right now is, um like, I'd like, I'm currently writing a sequel to Gitwaałtk. But I'd also like to write a poetry book, poetry collection before the sequel comes out. It’s finding that time. And like, honoring

honoring me as a, as a Bak̓wa̱m person, like as a Bak̓wa̱m, like as a human, m not just as a kind of ba̱k̓ʷəm, a mother, but to really just like, these are my needs. And in order to support my children and their needs, I have to have my needs met.

Rhonda:

Amen, sister. Amen.

Crystal:

Right now I'm going, I'm studying the language since September. And so like right after class, um usually I'd stay at the college and just use that time to um write a little bit. With the sequel, I'm doing a little bit of research and doing homework for my language courses as well.

And so just like really making sure that I'm carving out the time that needs to happen. And then afterwards, I'm trying to be a good uh mom. So yeah.

Rhonda:

It's hard to balance it all. Like it is challenging to do everything we want to do and achieve our creative dreams as well.

Crystal:

Yeah. I think part of the problem these days is that our society thinks of family in the nuclear. Whereas Indigenous ways, and probably even in the Mamathla ways way back when, uh Mamathla being non-Indigenous, um we weren't nuclear we had villages and so I'm really grateful for K̓wa̱n Wat̓sə, I'll shout out to the daycare that's watching my two little ones.

Because they're the aunties and uncles that um we would have had if colonization didn't happen. They're the ones that are taking care of our kids, teaching them, guiding them. Because often I find, mean, even growing up, like, if my auntie told me something that was a little bit more important than what my mom told me, you know, know, like, um I think children need their aunties and uncles. They need the community to help guide them.

And so there's a lot of, um there's a lot of g̱ig̱a̱me and a lot of grandmothers and grandfathers in the community here that when I do take my children out um to community events are also guiding them.

And so like not taking it to heart, um but saying like, ah, yes, this is how our ancestors worked. This is what they're teaching us. They're not trying to say I'm a bad parent. They're just trying to support me.

And so, and then with my two older ones, they're teenagers now, so they want me, but most of the time they don't want me. So it does give me the time to write and for sure, 100% I'll put everything down if either one of them needs me.

Rhonda:

You do manage to carve out the time even with everything. Even with four kids and learning language and everything else. Yeah. Which is hard to do, but so necessary.

Crystal, thanks for being with me today. I've really appreciated our conversation and uh I loved also how you just brought in all the language and then translated for us. I just, yeah, I really appreciated hearing that. Thank you.

Crystal:

Before you go, so Gitwaałtk. um All of the chapters are in the language. And so I did this on purpose and I didn't provide translation because I want people to do the work. So our ancestors had to do the work to learn English. And it's a small ask for you to do the work to find out the meaning of um these words.

So um Sm'algya̱x or the Ts’ymsen language, you can just Google it and there's dictionaries and there's multiple resources online that you can go to try and find the meaning behind these words. And I hope that you do that. Yeah, that is my hope.

Rhonda:

Yeah. That’s great. All right, thank you so much Crystal, I appreciate you being here.

Outro:

Thanks so much for hanging out with me today and for listening all the way to the end. I hope you enjoyed today's episode of The Resilient Writers Radio Show. While you're here, I would really appreciate it if you'd consider leaving a rating and review of the show. You can do that in whatever app you're using to listen to the show right now, and it just takes a few minutes. 

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