Written Interview with Mohawk Science Fiction Writer Cathy Smith
An author in Canada gives a unique perspective
Talking Non-American Science Fiction
Science fiction has long been a tool for cultures to envision how they would evolve and examine and comment upon contemporary issues. As I consumed more science fiction in various forms of media and met other authors, I began to appreciate the differences and similarities of foreign science fiction.
Motivated to learn more, I am contacting non-American scifi creators to get their comparisons of science fiction from around the world. If you are interested in being interviewed or know someone who would be, please comment below!
See previous interviews with creators from Canada, England, Nigeria, Pakistan, Scotland, South Africa, and Ukraine.
Cathy Smith
Cathy Smith is a Mohawk writer who lives on a Status Reservation on the Canadian Side of the Border on Turtle Island (North America).
She is a Mohawk writer which is why she’s chosen “Khiatons” as her motto. It means “I am a writer” or “I write” in Mohawk. She writes soft scifi, fantasy and the occasional non-fiction piece.
She writes soft scifi and reads classic scifi. So far “first contact” is the theme that resonates the most with her. Either there is an arrogance in the name of science that is triggering to her given her heritage. Or else there is a ridiculous amount of timidity about reaching out to the “other.”
Her love of myths and legends makes her a fan of modern fantastic literature that acts as modern myth. Though she thinks it’s best for today’s writers to be aware of pop culture not a slave to it. She hates to see the richness of myths reduced to an over-simplified soundbite.
She has seen people give opinions when they’re less informed than she is. Sometimes in a display of ignorance or of inspiring confidence. This has encouraged her to reach out with opinion writing. Though she makes sure she gives a list of the sources she cites.
Her goal is to contribute to the discussion in whatever genre she writes in.
Her Substack is below and her Wordpress sites links to many of the books she has written.
So, before we start, you have a unique identity compared to the standard nationalities that I have interviewed before. How do you identify in terms of First Nations, First Peoples, Native American, American Indian, or some other term?
I don’t mind First Nations. We prefer to call ourselves Haudenosaunee, settlers called us Iroquois. My people were a group of First Nations that formed a Confederacy in the Eastern Woodlands. My particular First Nation is Mohawk, we call ourself Kayen’kaha.
Tell us about your science fiction works.
I am interested in the niche genre of Indigenous Futurism, if only because I don’t want to be told I can only write historical fiction if I write about my people. So far I concentrate on genre fiction with some indigenous characters in the narrative and perform the indigenous futurism experiments as short stories.
What makes your science fiction works unique?
I like writing Indigenous characters in mainstream genre fiction to prove we do have something to contribute to a futuristic story and aren’t just throwbacks. We are capable of adapting and my people have an ideal of thinking 7 generations ahead and not just of the immediate situation which is something mainstream society can learn from us.
Science fiction creators have had difficulty thinking about First Nations cultures in the future. Star Trek the Motion Picture depicted a Starfleet officer in a combination of traditional garb and uniform, and the Star Trek The Next Generation’s episode Journey’s End had First Nations settlers living primitively, while the story was a rehash of the exiling of First Nations in the 1800s. Why do you think First Nations depictions in science fiction are limited? What’s the difficulty of showing the culture changing like science fiction does with other cultures?
I don’t mind when mainstream writers write of indigenous people in scifi rather than assuming we’ll go extinct like the Victorians did. However, it may be best to look for examples of published Indigenous futurism from Indigenous authors for an example of how it would work as well as research our historical and modern cultures.”
As things once thought of as science fiction become reality, how do you see First Nations culture adapting, and what can everyone learn from First Nations as we move forward together?
First Nations traditional knowledge may be good for ecological best practices. We’d settled Turtle Island for millennia yet it was in such good condition that the Settlers thought it was ‘virgin territory.’ They also thought we weren’t putting the land to full use unless it was ploughed and farmed but my people were farmers so that argument was weak for the Haudenosaunee. Plus the hunting and gathering practices of the other First Nations was often a sophisticated resource management system that satisfied their needs and kept the land in better shape than the European systems.
I believe that First Nations will develop their own fashions with the materials they have on hand. My people would all be wearing leather at their traditional ceremonies if they wore pre-Contact garb. Instead we wear special fashions create with woven cloths we didn’t have access to until the Settlers came with their trade goods though we use it in ways they don’t expect. Sometimes we’ll copy popular Settler fashions in ways they don’t anticipate. For example lace was popular in Victorian times and this gave rise to Iroquoian beading techniques on fabric with white beads that mimic lace designs.
We have no qualms about using technology that is useful. For example when Settlers came with their iron pots clay pots were no longer used for cooking. Now craftspeople make the traditional pottery designs to be pieces of artwork instead of cookware.
In the modern era we are using the internet and mobile apps to teach our culture and languages. I have done historical research and my people are quicker at pivoting than they used to be. In the old days a consensus had to be made in Council and the speakers would give long leisurely speeches regarding their POV on issues. Now we prefer decisive action be made quicker. We talk faster than we used to. In some ways we are better at adapting and pivoting than mainstream culture is because we had to adapt to so much.
Living in an ecological manner doesn’t mean living like primitives and First Nations are finding ways to adapt that are true to their values and culture. I haven’t got some grand vision of what this will look like yet and my writing performs the function of thought experiments to me to see how a situation will logically develop or if someone can make things work in an ethical manner even if I know there will be bad actors when I hear of new technology coming down the pike.
What bit of science fiction do you think will be a reality soon?
Basically we’re living in science fiction now though we’re not as advanced as the early scifi writers thought we’d be. The change from the Victorian age to the 20th century was jarring and they assumed we’d advance at the same pace. I’m getting a laugh at how robots and AI is panning out. Asimov envisioned a Law of Robotics but a fair subset of people using AI are cybercriminals so a ‘lawless robot’ won’t be an anomaly despite what he liked to think on the issue.
What’s next for you?
So far my plans are to write my space opera as my long form work and serials of Robert E Howard inspired fiction on Substack as an experiment to see if I can write male characters right even if I’m not as action oriented as male writers. The Haudenosaunee were a matrilineal culture where genealogy went down the maternal line but our men were still feared warriors. The fallout for me is I prefer, and have more freedom, than women in traditional Settler culture do but I don’t want to see males reduced to brow beaten simps. We had our gender roles but woman’s voices and opinions were respected and their voices were embedded in our political structure.
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Unit Next Time
Next time, I will discuss the ancient view of the planets being evil that still exists in fringe sections of society. This started off as a Aliens and Religion: Mandeanism post but it evolved past the Aliens and Religion series.
As always, please leave a comment with any questions, reviews, thoughts, whatever about Fallen, Risen, Dormition, An Odd Pilgrimage, The Savannah Paranormal Detective Agency or whatever else I have discussed. I promise to reply!
Interesting reading