On the Cusp of Contact: Gender, Space, and Race in the Colonization of British Columbia by Jean Barman, edited by Margery Fee Madeira Park: Harbour Publishing, 2020 $34.95 / 9781550178968 Reviewed by Robert Hogg * Editor’s note: The West Coast Book Prize Society announced on April 8, 2021, that On the Cusp of Contact: Gender, Space,…
Read more #973 Barman’s BC fundamentals
Yams Do Not Exist by Garry Thomas Morse Winnipeg: Turnstone Press, 2020 $19.00 / 9780888016775 Reviewed by Candace Fertile * As yams do exist, it’s clear right from the first page that Garry Thomas Morse’s novel falls into the category of experimental. The 33 chapters or short stories linked by the character of poet Farinata…
Read more #962 Experiments in Morse code
Contested Boundaries: A New Pacific Northwest History by David J. Jepsen and David J. Norberg Hoboken, New Jersey: Wiley-Blackwell, 2017 $34.95 (US) / 9781119065487 Reviewed by Jamie Morton * Editor’s note: when The Ormsby Review moved to its own website in May 2019, a few reviews fell between the cracks. We noticed the absence of…
Read more #955 A glance to the south
Iroquois in the West by Jean Barman Montreal and Kingston: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2019 $40.95 / 9780773556256 Reviewed by Jamie Morton * Nineteenth century records and travellers’ narratives that document the fur trade and colonial era in western Canada often note as a curiosity the presence of groups of people identified as “Iroquois” in unexpected…
Read more #952 The Iroquois diaspora
Seven Sacred Truths by Wanda John-Kehewin Vancouver: Talonbooks, 2018 $18.95 / 9781772012132 Reviewed by Savana Alphonse with Rebecca Fredrickson * Seven Sacred Truths offers an unfettering of writing styles, including prayer, poetry, prose, and letters, that reflect Wanda John-Kehewin’s personal exploration of self through a healing journey. The title relates to what Indigenous people know…
Read more #939 The path to regeneration
Masters and Servants: The Hudson’s Bay Company and its North American Workforce, 1668-1786 by Scott P. Stephen Edmonton: University of Alberta Press, 2019 $44.99 / 9781772123371 Reviewed by Ron Verzuh * Radishes and Gooseberries: Meet some of the people who are missing from your high school history textbook… “Radishes and Gooseberries!” Our high school social…
Read more #937 Radishes and Gooseberries
Carpe Fin: A Haida Manga by Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas Madeira Park: Douglas & McIntyre, 2019 $29.95 / 9781771622240 Reviewed by Molly Clarkson * I can’t help but chuckle as I read through the reader reviews on goodreads of Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas’ Carpe Fin: A Haida Manga, two of which read: Exuberant art and a non-linear…
Read more #935 Haida cosmology transformed
A Garden of Thieves by Dean Unger Duncan: Village Lane Press, 2018 $24.00 / 9780981306421 * Blessed Be the Bones: A Garden of Thieves, Book II by Dean Unger Duncan: Village Lane Press, 2019 $24.00 / 9780981306452 Both books reviewed by Valerie Green To purchase copies of these books see here or call Dean Unger…
Read more #934 Murder on Texada Island
Kiskajeyi — I Am Ready: A Hermeneutic Exploration of Mi’kmaq komqwejwi’kasikl Poetry by Michelle Sylliboy, edited by Michael Calvert Nanoose Bay: Rebel Mountain Press, 2019 $19.95 / 9781775301929 Reviewed by Paul Falardeau * On a first approach to Mi’kmaq poet Michelle Sylliboy’s work, one might quickly notice her interdisciplinary approach to interacting with the world…
Read more #929 Sylliboy’s hieroglyphic poetry
Distorted Descent: White Claims to Indigenous Identity by Darryl Leroux Winnipeg: University of Manitoba Press, 2019 $27.95 / 9780887558467 Reviewed by David Milward * The arrival of Europeans on the shores of the Americas centuries ago made certain results inevitable. The colonization of Indigenous peoples, with its attendant atrocities and exploitation, certainly constitute a great many…
Read more #919 The Métis & the race-shifters
Cataline: Uncovering the Life of BC’s Legendary Packer by Susan Smith-Josephy and Irene Bjerky Halfmoon Bay: Caitlin Press, 2020 $22.95 / 9781773860244 Reviewed by Harold Rhenisch * This is a book about the making of British Columbia by the simple hard work of carrying industrial material, strapped to the backs of horses and mules, across…
Read more #887 A legend of British Columbia
Potlatch Blanket for a China Man by Mei-Li Lee Victoria: Printorium Bookworks, 2019 $19.95 / 9780991808410 Reviewed by May Q. Wong For a complete list of BC booksellers that stock this book see here. It is also available from Amazon. * Mei-Li Lee draws the reader into her novel through a potlatch ceremony, where a…
Read more #874 Keeping company at Fort Hope
Service on the Skeena: Horace Wrinch, Frontier Physician by Geoff Mynett Vancouver: Ronsdale Books, 2020 $21.95 / 9781553805755 Reviewed by Tyler McCreary * Service on the Skeena, Geoff Mynett’s first book, presents the story of the northern medical missionary, public healthcare advocate, and later provincial politician, Horace Wrinch. The first doctor to serve Gitxsan and…
Read more #868 Hazelton mission and medic
Understanding Northwest Coast Indigenous Jewelry: The Art, the Artists, the History by Alexander Dawkins, with a foreword by Corrine Hunt Vancouver: Greystone Books, 2019 $24.95 / 9781771642972 Reviewed by Victoria Wyatt * Northwest Coast Indigenous artists working in jewellery have long deserved more attention on these arts. Understanding Northwest Coast Indigenous Jewelry: The Art, the…
Read more #859 Celebrating Indigenous jewellery
The Oxford Handbook of the Archaeology and Anthropology of Rock Art by Bruno David and Ian J. McNiven (editors) Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2019 $175.00 (U.S.) / 9780190607357 Reviewed by Chris Arnett * “Rock art,” for those who don’t know, is a general term for Indigenous paintings or carvings found on rock surfaces inside caves,…
Read more #856 Alas, poor British Columbia
Assembling Unity: Indigenous Politics, Gender, and the Union of BC Indian Chiefs by Sarah A. Nickel Vancouver: UBC Press, 2019 $32.95 / 9780774837996 Reviewed by Chelsea Horton * Assembling Unity is an important book. The first monograph by Tk’emlupsemc, French Canadian, and Ukrainian scholar Sarah Nickel, this historical case study of the Union of BC…
Read more #844 A pan-Indigenous enterprise
Turtle Island: The Story of North America’s First People by Eldon Yellowhorn and Kathy Lowinger Toronto: Annick Press, 2017 $16.95 / 9781554519439 * What the Eagle Sees: Indigenous Stories of Rebellion and Renewal by Eldon Yellowhorn and Kathy Lowinger Toronto: Annick Press, 2019 $16.95 / 9781773213286 Both books reviewed by Kristina Hannis * Congratulations to…
Read more #824 From Bonavista to Turtle Island
Epidemics and the Modern World by Mitchell L. Hammond Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2020 $54.95 / 9781487593735 Reviewed by Jody Decker * This textbook by a history professor at the University of Victoria, Mitchell Hammond, focuses on epidemics of infectious diseases which, he argues, have left the greatest impact on the modern world, even…
Read more #819 Pandemics past and present
Lowering Simon Fraser by Maddie Leach (concept and editing) and Michael Kluckner (drawings and interpretation) Vancouver: Contemporary Art Gallery, 2019 [catalogue; no price] / 9781989503027 Lowering Simon Fraser (the catalogue) is available from the shop at the Contemporary Art Gallery Reviewed by Forrest Pass * 1908 should have been a bumper year for commemorations in…
Read more #802 Cutting Simon Fraser down to size
Epistle to the Pope: Memoir and Survivor-Impact Statement from a Shipwrecked Orphan by Dharel Verville Victoria: FriesenPress Publishing, 2020 [price unknown] / 9781525554292 Reviewed by Constance Brissenden * Epistle to the Pope is the memoir of a seeker, a classical pianist, and a sometimes drug dealer and addict. Author Daryl Verville, known by his pen…
Read more #798 Shipwrecks, orphans, pianos