[But if Boyden grew up canoeing across cold-water lakes and tramping through the birch forests with his relatives, no one ever explained their connection. His parents were raised during the 1930s when native heritage was considered shameful and many mixed-race people would pretend to be white.] I think my grandmother lived with this quietly, unhappily, ... My mother just refused to recognise it so didn't grow up with any kind of prejudice.

Joseph Boyden