Tomson Highway 1951–

Canadian dramatist.

The following entry provides an overview of Highway's career through 1994.

One of Canada's most highly regarded dramatists, Highway is primarily known for his award-winning plays The Rez Sisters (1986) and Dry Lips Oughta Move to Kapuskasing (1989). In these works Highway uses Native humor, language, and mythology to address the effects of European colonization on Native North American cultures, the realities of reservation life, and contemporary Native issues. Commenting on the numerous influences evident in Highway's work, Denis W. Johnston has stated: "Highway is perhaps the first Canadian member of the international tradition of accomplished writers who work in their second language. Among playwrights, this tradition included Samuel Beckett in French and Tom Stoppard in English. Like them, Highway delights in linguistic estrangements and paradoxes. Furthermore, the fact that Highway's first language is Cree contributes to his unusual dramatic style."

Biographical Information

Born in northwest Manitoba, Canada, Highway spoke only Cree until age six when he began attending a Roman Catholic boarding school. He stayed there until age fifteen, returning to his family for only two months each year. A musical prodigy in high school, Highway studied music in Canada and England and later obtained degrees in English and music from the University of Western Ontario. After spending several years working for various Native support organizations and with Canadian writer James Reaney, Highway stated that he "started writing plays, where I put together my knowledge of Indian reality in [Canada] with classical structure, artistic language. It amounted to applying sonata form to the spiritual and mental situation of a drunk." Highway was also the artistic director of Native Earth Performing Arts, Inc., Toronto's only professional Native theater company, until 1992.

Major Works

The Rez Sisters and Dry Lips, the first two works of a proposed cycle of seven plays, are set on the fictional Wasaychigan Hill Indian Reserve on Manitoulin Island, Canada. The Rez Sisters involves seven women, who plan to go to the world's largest bingo game in Toronto, and a male Nanabush—the Ojibway name for "The Trickster"—a Native mythological being who can assume various guises and who is a central figure in Cree culture. While the women experience many difficulties, Highway emphasizes the importance of creativity and humor in their lives. He has stated: "I'm sure some people went to Rez expecting crying and moaning and plenty of misery, reflecting everything they've heard about or witnessed on reserves. They must have been surprised. All that humour and love and optimism, plus the positive values taught by Indian mythology." Dry Lips revolves around a female Nanabush and seven men (who are mentioned but do not appear in The Rez Sisters). Considered less optimistic than The Rez Sisters, this work addresses such issues as alcoholism, rape, violence, and misogyny. Johnston has observed that "we find in Dry Lips a litany of disturbing and violent events, set within a thin frame of hopefulness."