Publisher Greg Younging nurtured Indigenous voices in Canada GlobeArts
Gregory Younging, who died in Penticton, B.C., on May 3 at age 58, helped to set the direction for Indigenous literature and publishing in Canada during his tenure as the longtime managing editor of the publishing house Theytus Books.“We believe that a human is composed of two parts: the body which belongs to the Earth and is bound to the Earth and goes back to the Earth.
In addition to being a photographer, editor, writer and poet, Dr. Younging was also a professor and co-ordinator of the Indigenous Studies program at the UBC Okanagan Campus and served as assistant director of research for the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. “Greg is a child of many traditions. Our father’s family is Chinese, our mother’s family is Cree,” his younger brother, Ted Rohn, noted in his eulogy. “Our dad was a military man, and Greg was raised in Europe. He never really connected with his heritage as a boy, so when he started university at Carleton, I think he found a great solace in meeting other Indigenous friends and finally feeling a part of something – the traditions of our people.
“What he was constantly about was building up Indigenous writing in North America. That was creativity building, as poet and editor, but also infrastructure building,” Canadian historian Christopher Hugh Moore, a two-time Governor-General’s Literary Award winner, wrote on his blog.was one example. . But so was his energetic campaigning, in Canada and globally, for creators’ rights and particularly for the legal recognition and protection of TK, traditional knowledge.
In all of his work, whether it was related to Indigenous publishing, his work with the UN World Intellectual Property Organization on Indigenous traditional knowledge and intellectual-property rights, or Indian residential-school research, “Greg saw things before the rest of us did. He had such a quicksilver intelligence and such deep compassion,” journalist Ms. Rogers says. “He was a visionary.”
“He always raised up the people around him, and he didn’t seek attention for himself,” University of Manitoba professors Niigaanwewidam James Sinclair and Warren Cariou wrote in a message to Dr. Younging’s family. “We will remember Greg as a humble leader, one who didn’t care about hierarchies but instead cared about helping the people around him find their voices, allowing them to truly contribute in their own best possible ways.
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