Testimonio: Canadian Mining in the Aftermath of Genocides in Guatemala by Catherine Nolin and Grahame Russell (editors) Toronto: Between the Lines Press, 2021 $29.95 / 9781771135627 Reviewed by Howard Macdonald Stewart * Catherine Nolin and Grahame Russell both teach in the Geography Department at the University of Northern British Columbia in Prince George; she’s department…
Read more 1326 Witness to Canadian mining
To Impersonate the Supernatural: Music, Ceremony and Culture of the Bella Bella by Anton Frederik Kolstee Vancouver: Granville Island Publishing, 2020 $24.95 / 9781926991146 Reviewed by Mark Turin * To Impersonate the Supernatural draws heavily from the author’s 1988 doctoral dissertation from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Ethnomusicologist, educator, and musician, Anton Frederik Kolstee…
Read more 1319 Heiltsuk ceremonial songs
Murders on the Skeena: True Crime in the Old Canadian West, 1884-1914 by Geoff Mynett Qualicum Beach: Caitlin Press, 2021 $24.95 / 9781773860671 Reviewed by Ron Verzuh * Not a Hollywood murder: move aside Deadwood and make room for BC’s wild north When people exist on the extreme edges of a place, unexpected yet sometimes…
Read more 1316 Colonial law vs Gitxsan tradition
Five Little Indians by Michelle Good Toronto: HarperCollins Canada (Harper Perennial), 2020 $22.99 / 9781443459181 Reviewed by Harper Campbell * Teaching and healing have always been important aspects to Indigenous writing in Canada. Look at any famous Indigenous author, whether that be Pauline Johnson or Richard Wagamese, and you’ll find that teaching and healing are central…
Read more 1309 The object of Indigenous writing
Geography of British Columbia: People and Landscapes in Transition (fourth edition) by Brett McGillivray Vancouver: UBC Press, 2020 $55.00 / 9780774864329 Reviewed by Ken Favrholdt * Brett McGillivray’s Geography of British Columbia: People and Landscapes in Transition has withstood the test of time since its first edition in 2000, which I reviewed for BC Studies…
Read more 1305 McGillivray’s essential geography
Linda Rogers reviews two books: Indian in the Cabinet: Speaking Truth to Power by Jody Wilson-Raybould Toronto: HarperCollins Canada, 2021 $34.99 / 9781443465366 * From Where I Stand: Rebuilding Indigenous Nations for a Stronger Canada by Jody Wilson-Raybould Vancouver: UBC Press, 2019 $24.95 / 9780774880534 * CHARACTER, a drama with some bad actors and some…
Read more 1302 Lessons from the Big House
Richard Wagamese Selected: What Comes from Spirit by Richard Wagamese, with an introduction by Drew Hayden Taylor Madeira Park: Douglas & McIntyre, 2021 $24.95 / 9781771622752 Reviewed by Paul Falardeau * When he died at 61, Richard Wagamese still had a lot to say, though he had already said so much. The Ojibwe author was…
Read more 1298 A tribute to Richard Wagamese
Scofflaw by Garry Thomas Morse Vancouver: Anvil Press, 2021 $18.00 / 9781772141726 Reviewed by Danny Peart * Scofflaw has been described as a long poem, a playful exploration of Indigenous-Settler relations and globalized pressures. The long poem is divided into 14 poems, to give us a breather in between, in a paperback edition of 72…
Read more 1270 Scofflaw & the corn-fed media
Lost Kootenays: A History in Pictures by Greg Nesteroff and Eric Brighton Lunenburg, NS: MacIntyre Purcell Publishing, 2021 $29.95 / 9781772761641 Reviewed by Ron Verzuh Editor’s note: the full photo captions below are taken directly from Lost Kootenays. * Kootenay Home: A prize collection of historic images shares the Kootenays’ rugged past Growing up in…
Read more 1269 A choice Kootenay collection
Joseph William McKay: A Métis Business Leader in Colonial British Columbia by Greg N. Fraser Victoria: Heritage House, 2021 $22.95 / 9781772033403 Reviewed by John R. Hinde * By coincidence, Greg N. Fraser’s biography, Joseph William McKay: A Métis Business Leader in Colonial British Columbia, arrived on my desk the same day that the Tk’emlups…
Read more 1252 J.W. McKay & the Métis mystery
Unsettling Native Art Histories on the Northwest Coast by Kathryn Bunn-Marcuse and Aldona Jonaitis (editors) Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2020 $39.95 (U.S.) / 9780295747132 Reviewed by Liz Hammond-Kaarremaa * A few years ago, a First Nations man told me a story of two masks. The original, held in a museum, had been lent to…
Read more 1238 Decolonizing Northwest Coast art
ESSAY: Tragic Legacies: The Residential School System in Canada (1876-1998) by Lily Chow * Editor’s note: Today, September 30, 2021, is the first National Day for Truth and Reconciliation in Canada. “The day honours the lost children and Survivors of residential schools, their families and communities,” states a Government of Canada website. “Public commemoration of…
Read more 1237 Tragic legacies of colonialism
Four books reviewed by Kenneth Campbell: The Sockeye Mother by Hetxw’ms Gyetxw (Brett D. Huson), illustrated by Natasha Donovan Winnipeg: Portage & Main Press, 2018 $23.00 / 9781553797395 * The Grizzly Mother by Hetxw’ms Gyetxw (Brett D. Huson), illustrated by Natasha Donovan Winnipeg: Portage & Main Press, 2019 $23.00 / 9781553797760 * The Eagle Mother…
Read more 1235 The Mothers of Xsan series
Angie Tucker reviews four books: Pemmican Wars (A Girl Called Echo, volume 1) by Katherena Vermette, illustrated by Scott B. Henderson, colour by Donovan Yaciuk Winnipeg: Highwater Press, 2017 $19.95 / 9781553796787 * Red River Resistance (A Girl Called Echo, volume 2) by Katherena Vermette, illustrated by Scott B. Henderson, colour by Donovan Yaciuk Winnipeg:…
Read more 1228 Echoes of Rupert’s Land
Two books reviewed by Harper Campbell: SH:LAM (The Doctor) by Joseph Dandurand Toronto: Mawenzi House, 2020 $19.95 / 9781988449715 * The Sasquatch, the Fire and the Cedar Baskets by Joseph Dandurand, illustrated by Simon Daniel James Gibsons: Nightwood Editions, 2020 $14.95 / 9780889713765 * Joseph A. Dandurand is a man of many roles. A member…
Read more 1221 Dandurand in tandem
Brotherhood to Nationhood: George Manuel and the Making of the Modern Indian Movement by Peter McFarlane with Doreen Manuel, with a foreword by Pamela Palmater Toronto: Between the Lines Books, 2020 (second edition; first published 1993) $32.95 / 9781771135108 Reviewed by Sarah Nickel * Indigenous women “were every part of organizing [because] the women are…
Read more 1212 Considering George Manuel
Empire of Wild by Cherie Dimaline Toronto: Penguin Random House (Vintage Canada), 2019 $21.00 / 9780735277205 Reviewed by David Milward * Cherie Dimaline, a member of the Georgian Bay Metis community in Ontario, has emerged as a leading writer of Indigenous fiction. One of her novels, The Marrow Thieves, has won multiple awards including the…
Read more 1198 Land, colonialism, & temptation
Deep and Sheltered Waters: The History of Tod Inlet by David R. Gray, with a foreword by Nancy J. Turner and Robert D. Turner Victoria: Royal British Columbia Museum Press, 2020 $29.95 / 9780772672568 Reviewed by Matthew Downey * With Deep and Sheltered Waters: The History of Tod Inlet, David Gray provides an account, both…
Read more 1192 The histories of Tod Inlet
Pinkerton’s and the Hunt for Simon Gunanoot: Double Murder, Secret Agents and an Elusive Outlaw by Geoff Mynett Halfmoon Bay: Caitlin Press, 2021 $24.95 / 9781773860503 Reviewed by Tyler McCreary * There has been a recent resurgence of interest in the story of the Gitxsan outlaw Simon Gunanoot. Accused of killing two mixed-race men, Alex…
Read more 1172 Gunanoot at large, 1906-1919
Under the Midnight Sun: Journey with the Sahtu Dene by Mary-Anne Neal Victoria: Reciprocity Publishing, 2021 $21.95 / 9781928114338 Reviewed by Valerie Green * Under the Midnight Sun is a beautiful memoir of a spiritual journey written by Victoria educator Mary-Anne Neal. It tells the story of an adventure she undertook as a teenager to…
Read more 1155 Journeys with the Sahtu Dene