Basil H. Johnston
Canadian writer (1929–2015)
Basil H. Johnston (13 July 1929 – 8 September 2015) was an Anishinaabe (Ojibwa) and Canadian writer, storyteller, language teacher and scholar.
Biography
Johnston was born July 13, 1929, on the Parry Island Indian Reserve to Rufus and Mary (née Lafrenière) Johnston. He was a member of the Chippewas of Nawash Unceded First Nation, formerly Cape Croker (Neyaashiinigmiing), in the Bruce Peninsula.
Johnston was educated in reserve schools in Cape Croker and later sent, along with his sister Marilyn, to residential school in Spanish, Ontario. He wrote about his experience as a student at St. Peter Claver School for Boys in his 1988 book Indian School Days. After graduating high school as class valedictorian, he earned his B.A. with Honours from Loyola College (1954) and a high school teaching certificate from the Ontario College of Education (1962). In 1959, Johnston married Lucie Desroches, with whom he had three children – Miriam, Tibby and Geoffery.
Johnston died in 2015 at Wiarton, Ontario. Before his death he donated his papers, including photographs, correspondence and manuscripts to the McMaster University Library for use by researchers in the William Ready Division of Archives and Research Collections.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Basil H. Johnston” is canadian writer (1929–2015). The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Basil, Johnston and Canadian, not as a finished interpretation.
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The entry’s evidential value lies in the named roles, institutions and publications that can be tested against primary documentation. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 26, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q810033. VIAF identifies the subject as 79140021. The Library of Congress control number is n82003564. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1929, 2015, 1988 and 1954.
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This entry incorporates text from “Basil H. Johnston” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.