“Joseph’s book is more than a field guide to plants. It reflects her philosophy and love of nature.” Kenneth Favrholdt reviews Held By The Land: A Guide to Indigenous Plants for Wellness, by Leigh Joseph (New York: Wellfleet Press, 2023) $24.99 / 9781577152941 & Held by the Land Deck: 45 Ways to Use Indigenous Plants for Healing and Nourishment, by Leigh Joseph (New York: Wellfleet Press, 2024) $19.99 / 9781577154440
Bilingual—Tla’amin and English—picture book “inspires us to be more sharing, community-minded, and aware of nature’s abundance (and the importance of preserving it).” —Ron Verzuh reviews laget hiyt toxwum (Herring to Huckleberries), by ošil (Betty Wilson) (illustrated by Prashant Miranda) (Winnipeg: Highwater Press, 2025) $24.95 / 978177492118
“While the essays in this volume are multi-vocal, the predominant voice is of the scholar. The language is complex and heavily cited. These authors are, for the most part, scholars speaking to each other in the expected and specialized language of the academy.” Wendy Burton reviews Making Space for Indigenous Feminism, 3rd edition by Gina Starblanket (ed.) (Halifax: Fernwood Publishing, 2024) $40 / 9781773635507
“Wilson-Raybould’s approach—based on learning, understanding, and acting—clarifies complex issues surrounding Indigenous justice and colonial history, making them approachable for readers of all backgrounds, including newcomers.” Amy Tucker reviews True Reconciliation: How to be a Force for Change, by Jody Wilson-Raybould (Toronto: McLelland & Stewart, 2024) $22 / 9780771004407
“Their book, a collection of case studies, reveals the parallel experience of Indigenous women living on the Canadian prairie in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, the ‘nuance and diversity in their everyday lives, in how they responded to, resisted, and refused settler colonial intrusion, and in the ways they persisted in the face of the many transitions that infringed on their traditional ways of life.'” Linda Rogers reviews Métis Matriarchs: Agents of Transition by Cheryl Troupe and Doris Jeanne MacKinnon (eds.) (Regina: University of Regina Press, 2024) $34.95 / 9781779400116
“This important book spans five decades and a global geography. In its ten chapters, historical geographer and professor emeritus at York University, James R. Gibson weaves together the complex economic and transportation history of the maritime fur trade along the northwest coast of North America in a remarkable study.” Kenneth Favrholdt reviews the revised edition of Otter Skins, Boston Ships, and China Goods: Voices of the Maritime Fur Trade of the Northwest Coast, 1785-1841, by James R. Gibson (Montreal: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2024) $47.95 / 9780228007319
“Of course, throughout the book Butler wrestles with the degree of knowledge a non-Indigenous person requires to have a truly culturally informed appreciation of Coastal Peoples’ artwork. As a reader, I was somewhat enmeshed in this wrestle at first, then found a kind of community in Butler’s struggle in the knowledge that I was not alone in my wish to be respectful and culturally informed.” Trevor Marc Hughes reviews What Is This? Who Am I? Culturally Informed Appreciation of Coastal Peoples’ Artworks by Richard Butler (Victoria: A&R Publishing, 2024) $12.65 / 9798339967507
“At first, I was intimidated by the complexity and scope of the book. Especially with so many voices involved. But very quickly Wake provides a conduit into Berger’s story that makes it reader-friendly.” Sage Birchwater reviews Against The Odds: The Indigenous Rights Cases of Thomas R. Berger by Drew Ann Wake (Calgary: Durvile & Uproute Books, 2024)
$37.50 / 9781990735486
A baker’s dozen of engrossing stories range broadly—from militaristic dystopias to the Vietnam War—and often portray the volatile dynamics of men in imbalanced relationships. —Theo Dombrowski reviews Unsettling Dreams, by Michael Whatling (Victoria: Mortal Coil Books, 2024) $16.99 / 1777569958
“Like many other books in this genre, Murray’s stories speak of the victimization of Indigenous people. But Murray is nobody’s victim and by his example others may heal themselves and their loved ones from intergenerational trauma, just as he had.” Richard Butler reviews Who We Are: Four Questions for a Life and a Nation by The Honourable Murray Sinclair CC, Mazina Giizhik (as told to Sara Sinclair and Niigaanwedom Sinclair), (Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 2024) $29.95 / 9780771099106
Captivating historical novel set on the BC coast features diplomatic posturing, a restless crew, a Nuu-chah-nulth chief, and a dash of magic realism. —Ron Verzuh reviews The Wind from All Directions, by Ron Thompson (Toronto: Double Dagger Books, 2024) $22.99 / 9781990644900
2024 donors to the British Columbia Review, a thank you from Richard Mackie.
“The poor will always be with us. Reverend Al’s book challenges each of us on how we are going to respond. Do we, in Sonia Furstenau’s memorable phrase, continue to ‘drive our Lamborghinis through the tent city on Pandora Avenue?’ We can do better.” Richard Butler reviews Muddy Water: Stories from the Street, by Al Tysick (Eugene, OR: Wipf and Stock Publishers [Resource Publications], 2024) $25 (USD) / 9798385215010
“Throughout this book, the reader is taught that Yah’guudang (respect) should guide all aspects of daily living, and as the book progresses, we see more specifically how this practice should be carried out while one is out on the land for harvesting and when materials are being processed for basketry.” Sharon Fortney reviews From A Square to A Circle: Haida Basketry by Ilskyalas, Delores Churchill (Madeira Park: Harbour Publishing, 2024) $34.95 / 9781990776854
BCR asked some of our regular contributors about books they read in the past year that really stuck with them. “Eclectic” is our word of the year.
An “honourable and compassionate compendium of heartfelt statements from people who were willing to go to jail for their beliefs.” Sadly, it’s “over-long and at times tediously repetitive” too. —Ron Verzuh reviews Standing on High Ground: Civil Disobedience on Burnaby Mountain, edited by Rosemary Cornell, Adrienne Drobnies, and Tim Bray (Toronto: Between the Lines Books, 2024) $29.95 / 9781771136631
“George went back to post secondary school at the University of Lethbridge with the goal to becoming a high school history teacher. With every history course she made the point of viewing the narrative through an Aboriginal lens.” Sage Birchwater reviews ALHA DISNII – My Truth: Words from a Wet’suwet’en Woman by Corinne George (Calgary: Medicine Wheel Publishing, 2024) $19.99 / 9781778540417
The selection of 50 poems highlights “sites of feeling,” which is to say “sites of inquiry, resistance, resilience, regret, provocation, play, grief, desire, glee.” —Mary Ann Moore reviews Best Canadian Poetry 2025, selected by Aislinn Hunter (Windsor: Biblioasis, 2024) $23.95 / 9781771966320
“Eager to explore the tale during the centenary of B.C.’s joining Confederation, their objectives were to ‘separate fact from fiction in Pitt Lake’s lost-creek gold-mine story.’ The authors write: ‘What we discovered instead was a fabulous collection of fabrication, mistruths, and wilful embellishments, all construed into an astonishing tale.'” Daniel Gawthrop reviews Slumach’s Gold: In Search of a Legend—and a Curse by Brian Antonson, Mary Trainer, and Rick Antonson (Victoria: Heritage House, 2024) $32.95/ 9781772035186
“Aside from the copious illustrations and comparisons of passages from Kane’s primary journals, the scribes account, and the final publication, there are the 14 sections of the preface, detailed maps, “Discussion” and “Notes” for each of the 25 chapters, which bring to life the “times, which is academically thorough and comprehensive.” Christina Johnson-Dean reviews Paul Kane’s Travels in Indigenous North America: Writings and Art, Life and Times, by I.S. MacLaren (Montreal: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2024) $450 (cloth, boxed four-volume set) / 9780228017479