When the Feb. 23 issue of Canadian Mennonite arrived in my inbox last week, I set it aside. My schedule was just too busy to spend time with it.
When I opened it again yesterday, however, I was amazed. My early skepticism about editor Will Braun‘s use of illustration, similar to a graphic novel, to tell a little-known yarn from Indigenous-settler history, dissolved within a few pages. Here was a compelling story, carefully written and drawn to capture nuance while shepherding the reader from page to page. Within minutes, I was putty in storyteller Jonathan Dyck‘s hands.
I’ve been fascinated by graphic novels since childhood. I remember my parents’ disapproving looks when I checked out volume after volume of Hergé’s The Adventures of Tintin from the Leamington Public Library. And at one point, our neighbour, Paul Morse, sold me his entire collection of comics — mostly Superman, Batman and Peanuts — for a few dollars. Admittedly, I’ve paid scant attention, during the intervening decades, to the rise of the graphic novel as a art and literary form that extends far beyond children’s or niche markets.
The story told by Dave Scott, an elder in the Swan Lake First Nation in Manitoba, and beautifully illustrated by Dyck, is called The Secret Treaty. It chronicles the early interactions between Mennonite settlers in Manitoba and Indigenous peoples during the latter half of the 19th century. It contains a few interesting surprises.
As a former magazine editor, I appreciate the resources, time and editorial risks that must have gone into those 12 pages. I expect that some readers will push back against this style of storytelling in a faith-based magazine. Too unserious, they might say. Too worldly.
My guess: This issue is a future award-winner. Look for it to pick up some citations at the next Canadian Christian Communicators Association‘s competition.
ArtsBeat 